The process of posting payments involves inputting all payments into the program for medical billing. It allows a practitioner to view the total amount of money that they have received over the course of time. A glance at the post-payment records gives an accurate picture of payments received from patients and payments received in EOBs, as well as checks that are received through ERAs. This overview aids in identifying where revenue leaks occur and the best ways to fix these leaks.
A well-organized payment posting in Medcare (MSO) Medical Billing Services can help providers identify ways to boost revenue. Because payment posting is utilized to increase revenues and improve revenue cycle management, it is crucial to have a clearly defined process for posting payments.
Professional Medical Billing
Payment Posting - An Ignored Task
The posting of medical payments is usually seen by practitioners as a basic task of data entry. It is due to this that it's been an unnoticed aspect of managing revenue. The waning margins of profit have made payments a crucial aspect in the efficiency of managing revenue cycles.
The majority of providers are beginning to pay greater attention to the posting of EOB payments for medical billing. In the end, it's no longer seen as a job that requires the posting of data to EOB for health insurance providers. Healthcare providers now view it as a dues obligation that needs to be repaid by patients. They have therefore designed processes to simplify it. Large hospitals have teams for charging the appropriate patient accounts. The team is a vital part of the denial control teams. They work together to retrieve under-optimal reimbursements from patients.
The Importance of Payment Posting in RCM
Payment posting is a part of a lot of departments within an office for medical professionals. This includes the front desk, the billing department, and claims. In the age of COVID, the posting of payments has become a more significant issue for service providers. The majority of practices were unable to focus on this crucial aspect of RCM and were forced to deal with the results. Post-COVID practices must improve their processes and take better control over their entire revenue cycle.
An emphasis on the daily posting of payments will allow organizations to detect and rectify code and billing errors before they become significant problems. This improves the accuracy of claims that are submitted to secondary and tertiary payers. It also speeds up the time required to resolve denials.
Healthcare professionals who have been able to defy this trend have succeeded in streamlining billing processes as well as improving cash flow and reducing the workload of staff. This has resulted in an improvement in financial performance. In addition, timely payment posting lowers the expense of billing. This is because the posting of payments can be accomplished electronically.
Regular training of staff members is vital. The reason for this is the constant changes in the rules and attrition. Employees need to be able to read and comprehend the EOB properly. The unexpected reforms to billing are likely to result in a rise in the number of doctor-patient interactions, particularly out-of-network visits. This will boost the number of EOB and also the number of posts. Training personnel will minimize the risk of mistakes. They will improve their skills in understanding claims denials, overpayments, multiple adjustment crossovers, reverses, and second payments.
The world of healthcare has experienced significant changes in recent years. Modern-day advanced technologies such as automated payment systems, diverse payment methods, and sophisticated billing software have made it easier for payment posters to manage a variety of situations with greater efficiency. The first priority for the providers is to make use of the most modern technology.
Why is Medical Payment Posting Automation the Need of the Hour?
Automating the posting of payments will allow procedures to post automatic insurance payments using ERA. Furthermore, they can also post payments from patients and insurance checks directly from EOBs and even have receipts printed. This makes payments easier to post. Providers can automate the posting of ERA and patient payments as well as insurance checks directly from EOBs and receipts. Automatically updating this vital data helps providers make reconciliations between their financial accounts. They can also find the reasons for the denial and determine whether to file a new claim or look into alternatives.
On A Day-To-Day Basis, Practices Can Have A Clear View Of The Following
- All claims have been paid
- Correctly paid claims
- Adjustments are made to claims submitted after a resubmission
- Rejected claims
Services denied
Intelligent payment automation employs Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to produce a highly efficient, seamless, scalable, and seamless solution. The OCR used with automated software pulls data from paper EOBs and converts them to ERAs in HIPAA-compatible 835 format. This helps automate posting and reduces the requirement for human involvement, cutting costs and increasing efficiency.
Automated solutions are also capable of the creation of automated workflows. The workflows are customizable to meet the needs of the practice. Practices can use the custom workflow to redirect correspondence for denials or post ERAs. This can help get the job done with precision and reduce the number of days that receivables are outstanding, increasing collections by lowering write-offs and errors in payment.
Automated solutions can also help practices identify and send the exceptions to staff members for faster monitoring and resolution. Doctors can also use data from ERA and EOB information to study the reasons for denials and identify trends and patterns in billing work-in-progress as well as cash collection and team productivity to improve results.
Practices can also streamline the process of publishing to save important documents. Documents can be accessed at any time they are required by the group. This allows for an all-encompassing view as well as enables 360-degree reporting. Automated remittance posting solutions can also allow employees to work remotely. This is an essential necessity in a post-pandemic environment where staff requires the flexibility to work from any location they choose.
Some Features Of Automated Payment Posting Include
Auto ERN Retrieval
An Electronic Remittance Notice is a notification issued by the payer which informs providers, billers, and providers about the way in which the health plan has changed its charges. Posters must download this multiple times a day. Automation eliminates this requirement by automatizing downloads.
Automatic Cash Application
The poster's responsibility is to record the number of claims received on patient accounts and then send an electronic duplicate of the EOB in the mail to patients. Automation aids in automatizing the process, which includes automatically applying balances of responsibility for patients.
Quick Payment Analysis
Posters must quickly recognize the payments that have been rejected. Additionally, they must review non-posted payment transactions for revisions and reviews. This can be an overwhelming task. Automation makes sure that it is completed without any manual effort.
Check Posting & Reconcilement
A crucial part of the post's job is to be aware of which payments are closed and reconciled. It is done by marking the posting as completed. Automation assists in tracking the closed checks and then reconciling them with bank statements. Automation also offers providers post-payment solutions for batch payments.
This allows you to pay multiple times from one account at the same time, which makes the process more efficient and faster. Similar to this, automation speeds up processes for batch balancing. It will notify you whether your posting is in line with the amount on the check. This will allow you to make sure the money has been posted prior to closing the batch.
Conclusion
Automating the posting of payments is a huge problem. The solution should be created so that it is in total sync with your existing procedure. So, when you design your solution, it is essential to be aware of all the important factors that affect the posting of payments. This includes capturing remittances, automatic linking of remittances to payments; collecting payments from all sources, short-payment identification that matches open A/R invoices; and handling any exceptions. Only a system that is able to take into consideration every aspect of the posting of payments can improve the revenue cycle administration process more efficiently.
