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Practice Management Alert

Follow These Safety Instructions When Billing Auto Insurance Claims
Billing auto insurance for motor vehicle accidents can be risky business for phy... Read more
Your Manual for Billing Auto Insurance
If you're going to travel the auto insurance route, you had better know how to nav... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Appeal Untimely Filing
Test your knowledge. Determine how you would handle this situation before loo... Read more
Squeeze the Most Productivity out of an Understaffed Office
Your office may never have enough employees to run a tight ship, but with these organi... Read more
Buckle Up for Patients Involved in Auto Insurance Lawsuits
Strap in tight: Your automobile accident patient's legal proceedings can mean a ... Read more
Medicare Increases the Reimbursement for Physicians Rendering Split E/M Services
Good news, medical office billers: You'll be seeing more reimbursement from your split... Read more
Prevention Form for Auto Insurance Patients
Date: Patient Name: Account #: Outstanding Balance: (Name of Your Business) agrees to h... Read more
Reader Question:
Improve Collections One Day at a Time
Question: I want to make my office's collections more effective on a day-to-day basis.... Read more
Reader Question:
Get Paid for Patients No Longer Insured
Question: Our physicians provided services to a patient after we verified her insu... Read more
What Goes Around, Comes Around:
Your Guide to Reciprocal and Locum Tenens Billing
Mastering the details of reciprocal and locum tenens billing is enough to make any m... Read more
Using Locum Tenens Billing for MDs, NPPs
Locum tenens sounds fancier than reciprocal billing, but don't be fooled by the Lati... Read more
Bars Card,You Should Too When You Verify Insurance Eligibility
Do your investigative homework: Sniff out ineligible patients and other insurance ... Read more
Technology Can Make Eligibility Verification Easier
For verifying patients' insurance, technology can be a good investment for your prac... Read more
Patient Discounts:
Tips to Keep Your Practice Compliant
An occasional discount for a physician's elderly mother or a single parent scrapin... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Billing for New Physicians
Test your knowledge. Determine how you would handle this situation before lo... Read more
Alert:
Medicare Shortens the Appeals Process
Heads up, medical office billers: The window of time you have to file Medicare appea... Read more
Reader Questions:
Claims for Attempted Suicide
Question: I have been told that there is a new federal law prohibiting health ... Read more
Reader Questions:
Payer-Mix Statistics
Question: Would you explain how to use payer-mix statistics in practic... Read more
Send a Clear Message to Patients A Guide to Collections for the Whole Office
"It takes a village" applies not only to rearing children but to your collection p... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Billing for New Drugs
Test your knowledge. Determine how you would handle this situation b... Read more
Strategies That Work:
Get Your Due
You get more flies with sugar than vinegar. That old adage works well for a billin... Read more
Analyze EMR Costs Before You Start Counting the Savings
As your practice gauges the cost of converting from paper to an electronic medical rec... Read more
Financial Policy Statements Grease Collection Wheels
What your patients don't know can hurt your accounts receivable. The more you tell pat... Read more
Reader Question:
Bounced Checks
Question: Every once in a while, a patient's check bounces. Not only do we lose the ... Read more
Reader Question:
Preventive Services
Question: Many of our claims for physical exams get denied. Is it true that physic... Read more
Reader Question:
Medicare Overpayments
Question: We file our Medicare claims electronically. Recently, we received a paym... Read more
Beat the Silent Reimbursement Foe
Can you keep track of which payers you participate with? Some repricing companies ar... Read more
Once Denied,Twice Shy? Proper Appeals Boost Pay
With Medicare rates plummeting, Medicaid falling apart, and managed care groups cont... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Know Your Rights
Test your knowledge. Determine how you would handle this situation before look... Read more
News You Can Use
Starting Oct. 1, there are new time limits on filing a Medicare appeal. In a program... Read more
Capture More Charges, More Quickly
An electronic medical records system may seem as if it has more to do with practice op... Read more
Fight Refund Requests
When an insurance company requests a refund because of a mistake the insurance company... Read more
Reader Question:
Payer-Specific Codes
Question: I have a payer that says it doesn't recognize certain CPT codes. What should... Read more
Reader Question:
Refusing Care to Delinquent Patients
Question: When we don't receive timely payment from patients, we send them two letters... Read more
Reader Question:
Billing for Physician Assistants
Question: A patient received services from a physician assistant (PA) at our practice.... Read more
Find a Billing Manager Who Fits the Bill
In a time of declining reimbursements and increasingly restrictive Medicare regula... Read more
Are EOBs a Mystery? Get a Clue on How to Review
Are you tossing aside the explanation of benefits (EOB) that your insurance company in... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Charging for Lab Services
Test your knowledge. Determine how you would handle this situation before lo... Read more
Four Tips for Spotting a Silent PPO
When you examine your EOBs, you may discover that the payer has illegally reduced your... Read more
Swipe Your Way to Easy Fee Collection
If your practice does not accept credit and debit cards, you may be missing out on h... Read more
Reader Question:
Incomplete Documentation
Question: I have been attending different audit meetings and am repeatedly told that i... Read more
Reader Question:
Charging Late Fees
Question: We do not add any late fees to patients' accounts if they become delinquent.... Read more
Reader Question:
Certified Letters
Question: My physician sends a certified letter to patients right before turning their... Read more
Reader Question:
Discounting PPO Versus Non-PPO Benefits
Question: If we admit a patient to the hospital who has PPO (physician provider organi... Read more
Reader Question:
Medicare Guidelines
Question: Where can I find specific rules for billing Medicare? I went through our Medic... Read more
How to Get the Most From Your A/R Reports
A/R reports can be a pain in the neck, but with careful planning they can help you m... Read more
Seven Tips for Capturing Data From New Patients
A well-designed patient registration form prevents a slew of claim-submission headache... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Noncovered Services
Test your knowledge. Determine how you would handle this situation before lo... Read more
What If Your Office Is Not Computerized?
For offices that file only paper claims, creating a log system or suspension fil... Read more
Education Improves Physician/Biller Relationships
So, you've performed yet another internal audit and are still finding the same documen... Read more
Communication in a Nutshell
Educating physicians on new coding, billing and compliance issues can be summarized in... Read more
Reader Question:
Payment to Beneficiary
Question: Is it insurance fraud when an insurance check is mailed to the beneficiary, ... Read more
Reader Question:
Deceased Patient
Question: Our collection agency told us that if a patient is dead and there is no signed... Read more
Reader Question:
Choosing Fee Schedules
Question: Do we need to use different fee schedules for private insurance, Medicare an... Read more
Reader Question:
Billing Resources
Question: Can you provide me with some good resources for new billers? New York Subsc... Read more
Include Documentation for New Procedures to Speed Reimbursement
Practices that perform new procedures, or use new medical devices and products, of... Read more
Advance Beneficiary Notice Must Qualify as Timely
If you do not provide the patient with a "timely" advance beneficiary notice (ABN) ti... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Discounts for Cash,Prompt Pay
  Test your knowledge. Determine how you would handle this situation b... Read more
ABN Basics
Medicare requires that physicians give beneficiaries an advance beneficiary notice (AB... Read more
Know When to Appeal and How
Insurers deny payment for various reasons, some of which may be invalid. However, ... Read more
Stop Losing Copayments, Deductibles With Four Tactics
Because the cost of trying to collect by mail and telephone can quickly outpace the do... Read more
Copayment Collection Fast Course
You can improve your copayment and deductible collection rates without hounding patien... Read more
Reader Question:
Timing of Collection Agencies
Question: When should I turn an account over to a collection agency? California Subsc... Read more
Reader Question:
Tracking Lost Paper Claims
Question: Our office still uses paper forms to file Medicare claims. The paper claims ... Read more
Reader Question:
Key Financials
Question: Which basic financial records should we track regularly? Missouri Subscribe... Read more
Look for Five Personality Traits When Hiring Collections Staff
To collect accounts receivable (A/R) promptly, you need collections staff with certa... Read more
Test Candidates Knowledge with Sample Collection Questions
The following are examples of the types of questions iLIANT Management Directions in W... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Overzealous Collection Agency
Test your knowledge. Determine how you would handle this situation before look... Read more
Use ABNs to Educate Improve Your Collections
Using advance beneficiary notices (ABNs) properly with Medicare patients can mean th... Read more
Reader Question:
Billing Medicare for New Doctors Services
Question: If our physicians add a new doctor to the practice and the doctor is not crede... Read more
Reader Question:
Tracking Accounts in Collection
Question: When we turn a patient balance over to a collection agency, should we writ... Read more
Reader Question:
Waiving Charges for Employees
Question: Should our practice waive charges for our employees who are seen by our phys... Read more
Reader Question:
Contractual Payments
Question: Our practice has many managed care contracts, and I do the payment posting... Read more
Reader Question:
Suspended Claims
Question: What should we do with suspended claims? Michigan Subscriber Answer: Most ... Read more
Filing and Follow-Up Tactics for Secondary-Insurer Claims
Automatic claim crossover from Medicare to secondary insurers should be painless and produ... Read more
Ease Claim Refiling with Medicare Crossover Know-How
 When dealing with crossover claims, practices often confuse Medicare secondary i... Read more
As a Last Resort, Complain to State Insurance Commissioner
If an insurer is not responding to claim appeals within the contracted 30 days, and nu... Read more
Sort Accounts by Doctor to Maximize Staff Responsibility
Inability to respond to your physicians inquiries about the status of particular accounts ... Read more
Reader Question:
Nurse Copayments
Question: Must we collect a copayment for a visit with a nurse? Texas Subscriber &nb... Read more
Reader Question:
Neglected-Claim Follow-Up
Question: Ive just become the billing manager of a practice that has neglected claim follo... Read more
Reader Question:
Payer Downcoding
Question: I have a payer who routinely downcodes our E/M services. What can I do about thi... Read more
Reader Question:
Billing with No Insurance Card
Question: How should I file a claim on a patient who has new coverage but has not receiv... Read more
Reader Question:
Looking for a Collection Agency
Question: I am looking for a new collection agency. What should I look for when selectin... Read more
You Be the Coder:
Free Postsurgical Care
Test your coding knowledge. Determine how you would code this situation before looking a... Read more
To Prevent Compliance Problems, Make Refunds Promptly
Practices that conduct retrospective audits often find such a review gives them a comple... Read more
Dont Shortchange Yourself Analyze Your Charges, Payment
Are you confident your payers are reimbursing all they possibly can on your practice's c... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Methods to Post Interest Payments
Test your coding knowledge.  Determine how you would code this situation before loo... Read more
Prove Patient Neglect to Avoid Write-Off for Untimely Filing
If you've had a claim denied by a commercial insurer for untimely filing but you filed... Read more
Reader Question:
Disappearing Charge Slips
Question: We have gone back through our records for a year to see if our physicians are ... Read more
Reader Question:
Making a Claim When Patient Files Bankruptcy
Question: If a patient has filed bankruptcy, should I make a claim for a bill from a year ... Read more
Reader Question:
Lost in the Mail
Question: What steps should I take when an insurance company says it never received our cl... Read more
Reader Question:
Handling Global Periods
Question: Were a new surgical practice. Whats the best way to keep track of which services... Read more
Improve Billing Department Efficiency with Four Management Techniques
To operate your billing department effectively and efficiently, you need to recognize th... Read more
Start Collection Process Before Problems Develop
If you have many patient bills and insurance claims outstanding month after month, i... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Flu Shots as Revenue Producers
Test your knowledge.  Determine how you would handle this situation befor... Read more
Avert Patient Payment Troubles with Surgical Cost Quotes
If your surgical practice is in a market that has high insurance deductibles or coinsura... Read more
Reader Question:
Patient Statement Requirements
Question: What information must be on a patients statement? How can I make it easier to un... Read more
Reader Question:
Handling Insurer Overpayments
Question: How should I handle overpayments by insurers? How fast do I have to repay? If ... Read more
Reader Question:
Posting Payments on Outstanding Accounts
Question: How should patient payments be posted? If a patient has an outstanding account... Read more
Use Documentation in Appeal to Medicare Fair Hearing Officer
When your Medicare Part B carrier conducts a review of your appealed claim and upholds... Read more
Math Magic:
Find Amount in Controversy for Medicare Appeal
The Medicare Part B appeals process requires appellants to begin at the first review s... Read more
You Be the Expert:
Copayment Responsibility for Children
Test your coding knowledge.  Determine how you would code this situation before loo... Read more
Focus on Reasons for Denial To Make Follow-Up Easier
Although practice managers and billers agree that following up on claim denials helps ensu... Read more
Collecting Medicare Deductibles in Advance
Question: I have been told that it is wise to collect deductibles before patients see the ... Read more
Free Anthrax Coding Report on Web
Physicians and other healthcare professionals who provide services to any patients with ... Read more
Reader Question:
Getting Paid When Insurer Reimburses Patient
Question: My practice filed a claim with the benefits assigned to us. But, the insurance c... Read more
Reader Question:
Charging for Meet-and-Greet Appointments
Question: Can an obstetrics practice bill for initial physician interviews, or so-called m... Read more
Reader Question:
Obtaining Updated Fee Schedules
Question: Experts say that practices should have updated fee schedules from their pay... Read more
Available Years:  2002  2001