Quick Fixes for Cardiology Billing: Shorten Your AR Days

Increasing accounts receivable days is a pressing issue in the current healthcare industry. Cardiology practices and other healthcare providers are always on the lookout for a way to recover from old AR and keep their doors open. That is why, more and more time and effort are required for cardiology providers to concentrate on billing and coding, while their ultimate goal is patients’ quality of lives.

The healthcare industry is progressively dynamic and the cardiology billing and coding business specifically is more of a challenge in regard to AR older than 30 days.

Evidence shows that days in AR buckets greater than 90 tend to represent 15-20% of total receivables as a median. If the AR of your practice is above this, then it may be high time you considered revising your cardiology billing technique to yield better results.

What are the Reasons Behind the Increasing AR Days?

Maintaining a streamlined cardiology billing process is essential to obtain reimbursements and sustain functionality of your practice. But you can handle it better when you know the loopholes in the process.

Here we have listed the most common yet significant issues that are hampering your billing process, pushing you towards claim denials and increasing accounts receivable days.

• Inadequate insurance eligibility verification
• Lack of prior authorization
• Insufficient documentation and missing/incorrect information
• Inaccurate coding
• Delays in claim filing

These issues can be eliminated with a strategic approach, and you prevent the revenue leakage efficiently with time.

Effective Tips to Streamline Cardiology Billing and Reduce AR Delays

In this section we have discussed some of the proven techniques that can enhance your cardiology billing practices and prevent revenue leakage in your practice.

#1: Focus on the front end

The billing cycle starts from the front desk and efficient data management is crucial for this. You must ensure that the staff at your front desk can effectively collect accurate information and make data transition smooth. Furthermore, they must focus on eligibility verification and prior authorization process to ensure streamlined billing and revenue generation process.

#2: Collect payments upfront

As a cardiologist, you have put your years of hard work into patient quality care. But managing the financial aspects of your practice should also be a major concern considering the functionality of your practice.

Develop a culture of upfront payment collections to ensure there are no AR buckets from patients’ end. Also, you can ask your in-house staff to submit a report on the co-pays collected for the services rendered. This way, you can track your claims and reimbursements and reduce the days in AR buckets.

#3: Track and analyze performance

You need to monitor and track the key performance indicators for your practice. This can help you gain insights into your practice’s performance. Consider implementing data analytics within the process to get better results. Identifying denial rates, analyzing reasons for denials and patterns of the same are a good place to start.

#4: Develop follow-up and denial management system

A well-defined denial management system is your key to revenue generation and practice sustainability. You can consider a dedicated team for denial management and consistent follow-up to understand the status of your claim and obtain timely and accurate revenue.

Here are some additional tips to enhance your cardiology billing practices-

• Obtain accurate and comprehensive patient information
• Maintain accurate documentation and coding
• Verify insurance eligibility and benefits of each patient every time
• Obtain prior authorization
• Consider internal audits to identify the loopholes in your billing process
• Stay updated with the current coding regulations and claim submission guidelines
• Train and educate your staff

Cardiology Billing Company: A Strategic Approach

Well, revenue leakage is preventable and with some precautions you can achieve a streamlined cardiology billing process in your practice. However, increasing competition within the market and skyrocketing labor wages coupled with skill shortage is a massive roadblock for revenue generation.

Partner with a cardiology billing company that can wipe out your billing issues and piling up AR days.

At Sun Knowledge Inc we provide you with a team of expert medical billers and coders who have the exact knowledge and skill paired with industry best practices that can transform your revenue in a positive direction.

For more than a decade, we have been the trendsetter and have been defining growth with our consolidated performance. You can join us on a non-commitment call to understand our tailored RCM services that can drive your growth in the long run.