Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Avoid problems caused by unexpected bills.When you know that a MAC won't pay for certain services or procedures that a physician performs, usually the way out is to get the Medicare patient to sign an advance beneficiary notice (ABN). For a non-Medicare covered patient you can still collect with this expert advice.Don't Skip ABNs for Private PayersYou should, in fact, use some form of waiver or ABN-inspired document for patients who do not have Medicare coverage when you know the insurance they do have won't cover a service or procedure. Doing so not only increases your chances of collecting from the patient but is also a good patient relations move."I've done this on occasion," says Elizabeth Hollingshead, CPC, CMC, corporate billing/coding manager of Northwest Columbus Urology Inc. in Marysville, Ohio. "It's more of a way to notify the patient ahead of time that they might be responsible for the charges. [...]