Demystifying Payment Posting in DME Billing: A Comprehensive Guide

If you had to make a list of all the elements that are pivotal to running a successful DME practice, revenue cycle management would be somewhere at the top. Well, it is true that nothing is more important than the quality of care and experience you offer your patients. However, the story does not end there. In order to remain both competitive and secure the best possible outcome, your DME billing processes should meet the needs of your organizational goals.

Ensuring a strong cash flow and seamless revenue cycle experience relies on efficient DME billing, and payment posting is a crucial part of the same. It is one of the pillars of revenue cycle management that you cannot afford to overlook.

What is Payment Posting?

The term “payment posting” describes the process of examining payments and the financial status of your DME business. It also alludes to recording payments in the DME billing process. At its core, payment posting is the process of generating as much visibility as possible into your practice’s revenue cycle management. This means you have taken meaningful steps to:

• Keep track of and record all services rendered to patients.
• Send related claims to insurance companies accurately.
• Examine all the information the insurers are returning to you about those claims.
• Sync the posting and reconciliation of claim payments with the money that patients are paying.

If your goal is to run the most profitable DME practice while providing quality care, payment posting becomes a way to break that down into a series of smaller and more manageable steps.

Methods of Payment Posting

There are two methods of payment posting – manual and auto posting. Manual postings get filled out by administrative staff. The process is time-consuming and there are chances of errors within it too.

On the other hand, the auto payment posting accelerates your DME billing process. It is a software-driven strategy that reduces the chances of error and makes the process faster and more convenient.

The Process of Payment Posting in DME Billing

Sometimes the payment posting process varies depending on your organizational process. However, in the case of DME billing the payment posting steps are usually as follows:

• Claim submission to the payer for the services performed and equipment provided. This information will be provided to your patients too.
• At this point, based on the insurance verification, the payer will decide the amount to be paid. The insurance provider will provide the patient with extra details via an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) or Remittance Advice (ERA) after making this determination. In order to better understand what their insurance will cover versus what they must pay, patients receive an EOB in medical billing.
• You will receive reimbursements from the patients based on their EOB and ERA information. Furthermore, you will receive reimbursements from the payers as well.
• All the above information will be recorded in your billing system. From payment amount to the dates and payer of the reimbursements – all will be recorded.

The Importance of Accuracy in Payment Posting

This may sound dramatic, but it is not: an accurate payment posting process, which includes reconciliation, is literally critical to the existence of your practice. If you do not have a strong and healthy cash flow, you cannot continue to scale your DME business as needed.

Also, you can analyze the delays within the payments and look for loopholes within your DME billing and coding practices. Precise payment posting, coupled with robust cash flow, facilitates comprehension of your practice’s financial position and future direction. In this manner, you can make choices depending on your future financial requirements and produce the most astute budget to support your objectives.

Evaluate Your DME Billing Payment Posting

In terms of evaluating your existing payment posting process to help ensure it is the correct process and meets your practice’s needs. To evaluate the process, you must analyze your current DME billing process and staff-related skills. If you need an effective revenue cycle management process you will need a team of dedicated employees who will understand the rules and regulations and can resolve administrative issues.

To prevent you from writing off money that the insurance company says is a contractual allowance, make sure staff members are aware of what you should get so they can identify and investigate any anomalies. Additionally, confirm that all refund requests are accurate before approving them.

If you use a quarterly audit process you can analyze the gaps within the DME billing and coding process and take a step ahead to resolve the issues within the same.

Sunknowledge – The Revenue Cycle Management Partner you’ve been waiting for

We pride ourselves on our ability so much more than just any other medical billing organization. We are a reliable partner in efficient revenue cycle management. For more than a decade we have been serving some of the biggest DME providers within the country. At just $7 per hour we have been streamlining their DME billing and coding processes and revived revenue.

Our robust revenue cycle management system is designed to optimize your reimbursements and shorten your revenue cycle across the board. Everything from eligibility verification to the claims process, we can handle all your pre and post-billing operations with excellence.

To learn more about our processes, you can connect with our RCM experts over a non-commitment call today.