The No Surprises Act (NSA) took effect at the beginning of this year. It established new federal protections against surprise medical bills. The new legislation came into place in order to have unwitting patients avoid having bills sent to them that include charges from out-of-network hospitals, doctors or other providers they did not choose.
The No Surprises Act protects consumers from surprise medical bills by requiring private health plans to cover out-of-network claims and apply in-network cost sharing. It also prohibits doctors, hospitals and other covered providers from billing patients more than in-network cost sharing amounts for surprise medical bills.
In the past, the Allegiant Experts Blog has listed ways in which health care providers can avoid medical billing errors. We would like to revisit that theme in this week’s blog by offering a few more helpful tips.
Verify the correctness of all patient information.
Sometimes, it’s the smallest things that lead to the biggest problems. It’s imperative that all patient data listed on your bills is 100% correct. That includes their names, insurance policy numbers and birth dates. The information needs to be up to date.
Has the patient changed his/her name? Sometimes, even the incorrect placement of a correct name can cause a claim to be rejected. Has his/her insurance provider changed? It’s important to not assume that the information you have on record, from previous claims, is correct.
Utilize modern technology.
Thankfully, we have the ability to use rapidly-updating technology to ensure the accuracy of the medical bills we produce. The days of old when bills were handwritten or typed on typewriters are long gone. By using billing features in electronic health record (EHR) systems, a medical provider can easily check for errors in the billing before the bill goes out to a patient.
Maintaining accurate patient data in an EHR helps doctors to prevent future errors in patient information found in claims. Because a patient’s data only needs to be entered once, the potential for future errors is minimized.
Keep your entire clinical staff informed.
The world of health care is always changing. For example, rules and regulations set forth by both Medicare and Medicaid are updated on a fairly regular basis. It’s vital that your staff members are informed of these changes. Conduct regular training sessions about coding and billing updates among other variations in policy. With so many changes to be abreast of, it’s important to stay aware of trends.
Use the latest medical coding manual.
Speaking of staying aware of current trends, it’s imperative to utilize the most up-to-date medical coding guidelines. By staying on top of the latest billing rules and regulations, you can ensure accurate claims and avoid having them denied. Coders should always have the latest coding manuals. It’s also wise for them to attend seminars on the matter in order to refresh their coding strategies.
At Allegiant Experts, we identify facts, locate errors and illuminate the truth. We also ensure that we keep our clients informed during every step of the process. It’s part of our mandate to always provide our best and most qualified opinion as we strive to meet your needs. For more information about how we help to both dispute and minimize medical billing errors, please don’t hesitate to call us at 407-217-5831. You may also email us at info@allegiantexperts.com.
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