Patient Eligibility Verification ? How is it important for faster collections?

Posted by mgsionline on December 10th, 2014

Determining a patient’s verification for insurance and benefits coverage is critical. This process affects the reimbursement directly and is crucial prior to a patient’s appointment in the Provider’s office. The most accurate way to protect a Provider or Hospital’s reimbursement and keep the cash flow steady is to partner with a medical billing and collections company that can offer patient eligibility verification services for the Providers. This will certainly make collections faster and will improve cash flow significantly. Staff members at the outsourced medical billing company can provide a daily snapshot of financial health as it pertains to the billing status of all patients. .

Challenges for in-house billing teams:

Healthcare eligibility verification accuracy is important and requires constant education and training to all staff participating. Keeping billing in house can cause potential billing/payment delays as staff members do terminate their positions or are out sick. Timely and accurate healthcare eligibility verification is significant as it impacts how fast collections are received and affects the bottom line directly.

Impact of eligibility verification on Collections:

Healthcare eligibility verification in general can be time consuming and inaccurate if not done correctly. Billing without doing proper patient eligibility verification can be confusing to the in-house billing staff, as plans for patients do change or terminate. This can cause a delay in reimbursement, not to mention patients becoming unhappy with the Provider or Hospital, especially when higher patient responsibilities are collected upfront or when patient statements get delivered. How can such a situation be avoided?

Outsourcing can help:

A company that specializes in Medical Billing and Collections reduces the potential errors and delays that are typically experienced when keeping billing in-house. Choosing to outsource patient eligibility verifications and medical billing and collections can provide relief, as companies offering this service employ medical billing and claims specialists. These specialists get frequent refresher training in medical billing and collections and also are qualified to speak with patients about their current bill or benefit/coverage information. When choosing to utilize a company that is qualified to handle medical billing, it is important that their medical billing and collections teams are also familiar with how you are performing patient eligibility verification, so that they can suggest addition or modification of information that is being verified.

By partnering with a company that can offer outsourced medical billing, Providers and Hospitals gain additional staff that take away all of the medical billing and collections nightmares. This facilitates them to focus more on patient care and seeing more patients, thereby increasing the cash flow and making the bottom line better.

About MGSI:

MGSI is adept in handling medical billing and collections prudently. Therefore, providers can get help from this top-notch outsourced medical billing company that has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare space. Based in Florida, MGSI is a national billing company that has been managing medical billing and collections, patient eligibility verification, and healthcare denial management for its clientele of Providers, Medical Groups, and Hospitals. To learn more details, visit us at www.mgsionline.com/