Medical billing & coding are often challenging for getting right. Medical billing errors are especially common among small practices. However, the incoming revenue flow must be steady for the growth and sustainability of the business. This is only possible when there are no billing errors.
Different Ways Your Practice Can Avoid Critical Medical Billing Errors
So, you know the importance of error-free medical billing as part of the revenue cycle. Now, it is essential that you avoid all common mistakes in medical billing by following these helpful tips to avoid errors in medical billing:
1. Be Updated with Billing & Coding trends in the Healthcare Industry
The codes in medical billing change constantly because healthcare regulations modify often. Newfound treatments and new illnesses also become a cause of constant changes in billing codes. Therefore, it is essential that you stay updated with the latest procedures and billing codes.
2. Don’t do Duplicate Billing
You can also avoid medical billing errors by ensuring that you are not doing duplicate billing. Therefore, make sure that you don’t bill the same service twice. Duplicate billing often occurs when multiple persons are inputting information.
3. Be Cautious of Inadvertent Under-Coding or Up-Coding
Under-coding and Up-coding are both illegal. If a practice is caught doing it, they will face criminal prosecution or fines. Don’t do this deliberately to benefit financially. Do not enter codes into the bill of patients that you didn’t offer. However, this error can happen accidentally. Therefore, be careful about this error.
4. Don’t Forget to Verify Patient Insurance
Insurance issues are often the main cause behind claim denials. Therefore, it is essential that you must check and confirm the eligibility of a patient before submitting the claim. Otherwise, it may result in a denied claim.
5. File Every Claim within the Given Deadline
If you file a claim after the designated deadline, that claim would end up as a denied claim. It is a time-sensitive task, so make sure that the staff is submitting claims within the given deadline. A calendar event or recurring alarm can help solve this issue.
Apart from the above-discussed tips, you should also double-check insurance information before entering it. It will also help you avoid medical billing errors. Once the claim is submitted, there is nothing much you can do.
You May Also Read: 5 Common Denial Codes in Medical Billing with Their Reasons