Technology
Is Practice Management equipped to keep up with ever-changing software requirements and coding regulations in the industry?
What information systems does Practice Management use?
Do your clients have remote access to their office's data?
Does Practice Management use direct electronic submission when billing third party payers (TPPs)?
What data security measures are used and how often?
Can Practice Management interface with my Electronic Health Record (EHR)?
Billing
How does Practice Management receive the billing information from the physician's office?
What is the turn-around time from services being rendered to the first bill being generated?
Who codes the diagnosis (ICD-9-CM or ICD-10-CM) information on the bill?
Are bills mailed first class?
What is your fee for billing services?
What is your fee for credentialing?
How long to be up and running?
How do I start?
Collections
At what point does Practice Management consider a patient or third party payer (TPP) delinquent?
Once an account is moved into pre-collection status, what procedures are in place to secure payment on the account?
Accounting
How frequently are a physician's accounts posted?
Where are the checks sent?
How often are deposit tickets and other remittance advice given to the physician?
How often is a physician's office invoiced for your services?
Reporting
What reports are typically sent with billing invoices?
Are additional monthly reports or custom reports available?
Does your system have the capability to provide physicians with information regarding the financial class of TPPs (e.g. PPO, Indemnity, Medicare, Medicaid)?
Do your reports include counts of individually CPT coded services per month?
Customer Service
Do you have a customer service phone line for patient questions?
What are your customer service hours?
How many clients is each representative responsible for?
Among your representatives, what is the average length of service?
Questions And Answers
Technology
Is Practice Management equipped to keep up with ever-changing software requirements and coding regulations in the industry?
Yes. Our human and technology resources are on the cutting edge of medical billing. With Practice Management, you get the peace of mind that comes from knowing your accounts receivable is in good hands. We stay one step ahead of changes in both software and coding requirements, saving you valuable time and money.
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What information systems does Practice Management use?
We use HEALTH PAC.
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Do your clients have remote access to their office's data?
Yes.
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Does Practice Management use direct electronic submission when billing third party payers (TPPs)?
Yes. We submit electronically to Medicare, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Commercial Payers, and the Illinois Department of Public Aid.
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What data security measures are used and how often?
To gain access to our system, each user is required to provide their unique user ID and password. Passwords - specific to each user - are promptly removed if the user should cease employment with Practice Management. Remote users only have access to their own practice's data.
Back-up files of all data are made daily. These files are then taken off-site for further protection. Two back-up files are guaranteed to be located off-site on any given day. In addition we have a secure off-site back-up service.
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Can Practice Management interface with my Electronic Health Record (EHR)?
Yes. Practice Management can interface with any HL7 compliant program.
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Billing
How does Practice Management receive the billing information from the physician's office?
Practice Management can receive electronic files from the physician's office through a secure encrypted site. Other methods include Priority Mail or another similar service. Practice Management pays for the cost to deliver all information necessary for billing. Frequency of delivery is related to practice volume: smaller practices will require delivery once or twice per week; larger practices, three times per week or more.
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What is the turn-around time from services being rendered to the first bill being generated?
An initial statement is sent as soon as the patient's balance appears on their account; follow-up statements will be sent every 30 days thereafter. Insurance claims are filed daily.
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Who codes the diagnosis (ICD-9-CM or ICD-10-CM) information on the bill?
The physician. The physician either indicates the diagnosis in their Electronic Health Record (EHR) program or checks off the diagnosis code on an encounter form/super bill. However, if diagnoses are hand-written, Practice Management can and will code them for the physician.
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Are bills mailed first class?
Yes.
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What is your fee for billing services?
Our fee is based on specialty, payer mix and volume. Complete the Practice Consultation Worksheet for a free, no obligation proposal specific to your practice. Click
here to download form.
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What is your fee for credentialing?
Our credentialing package for new clients is $500 per provider for the first year. Fees vary by carrier without credentialing package.
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How long to be up and running?
It typically takes 7-14 business days to be up and running if the practice is already credentialed with the plans; however, it is possible to begin immediately if needed.
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How do I start?
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Collections
At what point does Practice Management consider a patient or third party payer (TPP) delinquent?
If payment is not received within 60 days of the initial statement date, the payee is considered delinquent and their account is moved into pre-collection status.
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Once an account is moved into pre-collection status, what procedures are in place to secure payment on the account?
Once a patient's account has been given pre-collection status, we begin a systematic process to secure payment from them. This patient has already been sent 3 statements in an effort to both remind the patient of their aging balance, and motivate them to settle their bill; next, we follow-up with a series of automated phone calls to the patient; and finally, a delinquency notice will be sent. If payment is still not secured after this process is complete, a list of accounts intended for collection is presented to the client for approval on a monthly basis.
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Accounting
How frequently are a physician's accounts posted?
Daily. Patient visits and charges are entered as the information is received. Typically, accounts are posted within 2 days of receiving billing slips or sooner if the practice submits billing information electronically.
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Where are the checks sent?
You decide. Checks can be sent directly to the physician or to Practice Management. If you have the patient checks and insurance checks go to your address, we would need to receive copies of the checks, the statement remittance stubs and Explanation of Benefits (EOBs). If you want the patient checks and insurance checks to come to us, you would need an account at a bank that has national branches so that we could deposit on your behalf. Currently we deposit weekly at Bank of America, Chase Bank, Harris, and PNC for our out of state clients. If you do not have an account at one of these banks, we can check for a local branch of your bank.
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How often are deposit tickets and other remittance advice given to the physician?
They are passed on to the physician as they are received. Typically, they are sent on a weekly or semi-weekly basis. Frequency is, of course, dependent on volume.
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How often is a physician's office invoiced for your services?
Monthly.
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Reporting
What reports are typically sent with billing invoices?
- Annual Report
- Periodic Audit Recap Report
- Procedure Productivity Report
- Aged Trial Balance by Insurance Carrier
- Aged Trial Balance by Patient
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Are additional monthly reports or custom reports available?
Yes. Our information system is capable of generating hundreds of different types of reports that meet the needs of most practices at no additional charge. Custom reports are also available, but may require an additional fee depending on the report complexity and programming time required by our software vendor.
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Does your system have the capability to provide physicians with information regarding the financial class of TPPs (e.g. PPO, Indemnity, Medicare, Medicaid)?
Yes. We also have the ability to track your contracted rates vs. actual payments. Should actual payments/allowed amounts come in below your contract rate, we pursue this directly with the carrier.
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Do your reports include counts of individually CPT coded services per month?
Yes. The Procedure Productivity Report details this information by period, in addition to showing a year-to-date total.
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Customer Service
Do you have a customer service phone line for patient questions?
Yes.
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What are your customer service hours?
Monday thru Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm
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How many clients is each representative responsible for?
This, of course, depends on a client's patient volume. For example, one representative may be responsible for a single high volume physician; another representative, several lower volume physicians. Large multi-physician clients may require several representatives to service their account. All service representatives are cross-trained in order to provide our clients with consistent coverage in the event of vacation or illness.
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Among your representatives, what is the average length of service?
Our representatives, on average, have been with Practice Management for 3 years.
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