If an ASC is not achieving its performance metric benchmarks, evaluating revenue cycle management policies and procedures may be necessary, according to Lakewood, Colo.-based Pinnacle III.
Pinnacle Billing Operations Director Bethany Bueno shared the following tips for improving your ASC's bottom line:
1. The starting point. Begin with looking at the possible errors made by schedulers and insurance verification personnel, such as inaccurate data entry. To decrease errors when the billing office submits a claim, develop a scheduling checklist with guidelines on what information schedulers should collect.
2. Patient benefit monitoring. Schedulers and insurance verification personnel must also be familiar with patient benefits such as deductibles, copayments and coinsurance. Automate the process by integrating the clearinghouse.
3. Denial tracking. Using denial tracking to determine areas of improvement for coders and surgeons can improve the accuracy, efficiency and effectiveness of the verification and scheduling team.
4. Workflow improvement. Double checking critical information improves the ASC revenue cycle by reducing billing delays and denials.