Weak billing processes cost medical and ABA therapy practices billions of dollars a year in the United States. Medical payment posting is an integral factor in ensuring that practices have a strong cash flow and seamless revenue cycle management.
In this blog, we’ll examine what it entails, how to post payments in medical billing, the benefits it offers medical practices, and how we can boost your ABA therapy practice’s billing processes.
What does payment posting in medical billing entail?
Payment posting in medical billing is a part of the revenue cycle that includes examining, keeping track of, and recording payments. Payments are logged into a medical billing system that gives oversight of all payments, such as:
- Tracking incoming patient payments: It’s important to reconcile incoming payments with a patient’s account, as payment may come in the form of cash, card, check, and more.
- Tracking insurance checks from Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA): Posting medical insurance payments is crucial. Each insurance claim is checked to identify any exceptions which would need to be addressed.
- View payment from Explanation of Benefits (EOBs): Payment posting allows practices to track payment from EOB via the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system and File Transfer Protocols (FTPs).
- Posting denials: Practices must track all denials. They must then ensure that they correctly file ABA claim submissions to avoid denial, rebill to secondary insurance, transfer the balance to the patient, or write off the amount.
- Identifying internal issues: Reviewing essential payment information can reveal internal payment processing issues. This could include prior authorization or coding issues. Once identified, issues can be prevented in the future.
- Data analysis: Payment posting is important not just for payment processes, but for business operations as a whole. It provides oversight and can help with business strategy, revenue forecasting, and more to improve overall business operations.
How to post payments in medical billing
There are two methods of payment posting in medical billing: auto and manual posting.
When posting is done manually, it gets filled out and completed by administrative staff at your practice. This is undoubtedly a slower process than auto-posting and can cause delays. Of course, human error is a factor here, too, and there are bound to be specific errors, such as typos, missed payments, and more, when it’s done manually.
Auto posting is all about accelerating the medical billing process. This is one of the innovative software-driven processes that will be part and parcel of the future of medical billing processes. It’s more reliable than the manual posting process and is especially effective for larger practices to have more control and oversight of their payments and day-to-day business operations.
Benefits of meticulous payment processing in ABA therapy
Whether you handle the bills at your practice internally or you outsource them to a company like us, an air-tight payment process can be an absolute game changer for your practice. There are so many benefits of accurate payment processing in medical billing, but there are two that stand out.
Accurate financial tracking
Keeping track of financial transactions is one of the most crucial aspects of running an ABA therapy practice. It gives understanding and insight into the practice’s overall financial health. A clear and comprehensive record of services rendered and payments made helps create a daily financial picture, which can help locate new opportunities to streamline or increase revenue.
Prompt reimbursement
Delayed reimbursement is a common problem for ABA therapy practices. Whether that’s through the denial process, prior authorization problems, or other issues that delay payment. Having exceptional payment posting software and expertise ensures that any denials are picked up quickly, and the reasons for denials can be swiftly screened and sent back with the correct information. It also helps to uncover any claims that need prior authorization. The right payment posting software will keep patient data current, which gives medical billing teams insight into what services are covered, payments received, and much more.
Errors are stopped before they happen, which means that you don’t have to worry about denials in the future. This way, your team can spend more time on patient care and collecting revenue and less time on fixing errors in payment paperwork.
Outsource medical payment posting to Missing Piece
Missing Piece acts as a medical billing payment poster for some of the top ABA therapy companies in the country. If your payment posting and management are taking too much of your focus and not leaving enough time for the day-to-day running of your practice, then outsourcing is the ideal solution.
We offer specialist ABA billing services for ABA therapy and behavioral health providers that include complete revenue cycle management. We have an entire department dedicated to payment posting, which allows the Accounts Receivable team to work on other areas that ensure your practice is paid promptly and more accurately.
Contact us to talk to one of our expert consultants today.