Common Physical Therapy Medical Billing Mistakes To Avoid

1. Common Physical Therapy Medical Billing Mistakes To Avoid Physical therapy medical billing and collection process is a lucrative and sound business in itself. It can be time-consuming and tricky at times. Even when a therapist has the best of intentions, common billing mistakes may happen, no matter the size of the business. Here’s a review of the most common billing pitfalls in the Physical Therapy Medical Billing business: Overbilling There can be many ways billing mistakes can happen, and overbilling is one of them. More often intentional than not, overbilling can be a result of several scenarios: ● Coding for services never provided ● Overcharging Overbilling happens when additional and unnecessary billing codes for treatment are piled up that were never performed. An effective system of checks and balances must be in place to ensure integrity and accuracy of billing statements. When reviewing the due medical bills, it becomes important to take note of the compensable injuries. As a therapist, correct diagnosis codes for the corresponding treatment provided need to be ensured. Many of the unnecessary charges are of services that are totally unrelated to the condition being treated. There could also be services a doctor does not perform yet bills for them. These could be a battery of tests or series of surgeries which were never administered but were still billed.

2. Incorrect billing Another common mistake, from manual errors, timing issues, to input oversights. It occurs when a practice fails to create a clean claim and identify correct billable codes. If the billing staff fails to identify the correct billing codes, then the clients are more likely to shortchange you. Some important factors need to be considered in order to create a clean claim. ● Mentioning the correct place of service ● Obtaining prior authorization ● Correct charges ● Avoiding typographical errors out of the data entry process ● Using the latest codes Minor errors Other billing mistakes consist of things which you may not even consider but can have a huge impact on the billing and collection process. Some of them include: ● Wrong gender documentation– where a female patient is mistakenly identified as male (and vice-versa) ● Mismatched dates ● Use of outdated codes ● Missing coding for multiple diagnoses

3. Little as they may, all of them result in billing difficulties in future. These kinds of mistakes all point to neglect for routine. Billers and coders rely on physical therapists for information to code claims accurately. In physical therapy, the terms and definitions taught in school may not be applicable. Therefore, it is important to include medical notes so that coders get enough information to bill at the highest acceptable level. Bikham Healthcare provides the most effective physical therapy medical billing services. With us, you gain the peace of mind as we take care of the billing and collections side of your physical therapy practice. Head on over to our website, and get to know more of our services.