5 Things You Need When Separating From Your Biller
Changing your billing service from one company to another is a daunting task, and one that we have undertaken many times. Each time a customer changes billers there are specific steps and pieces of information that are invaluable to have to make the process much easier.
If you follow these 5 things when separating from your billing service, it will make the transition better for you and your new billing service.
1. Make a Plan
The first thing you can do that will make the transition much easier is to develop an internal plan. A good rule of thumb is to give your new biller 35 to 45 days to complete the transition. The reason why so much time is needed is because the new biller has to set-up the payers in the clearinghouse.
Once you have a plan, make sure that you check your contract to be sure of any minimum term limits or notification rules. This will help you stay out of any legal trouble. And finally, work with your biller to create a schedule of due dates and action items. These will greatly help the transition process and manage your expectations.
2. Obtain Dates of Service for the Last Year
Your current biller should be able to provide a file that outlines the dates of service for the last year. This report or file should also include patient names, dates of birth, and insurance information. This information helps to give an accurate picture of the state of your practice and provides all the necessary information to continue billing.
3. Obtain Insurance Aging and Patient Aging Information
Once piece of the puzzle that providers sometimes think about is the aging reports. If your new biller doesn't have an accurate map of your finances, how can they follow-up on patient or insurance amounts? They could but it is labor intensive and you would probably be charged some fee for this service.
If you can, obtain all your aging reports, so your biller knows where your A/R stands and how they are to proceed with specific accounts or payers.
4. Obtain Practice Information
Your practice information (i.e. NPI, Tax ID, PTAN, Address, etc.) is absolutely essential. This information helps the biller to follow-up on claims, check eligibility, set-up your practice in the EHR, and to get the insurance companies set-up in the clearinghouse.
Without this information your biller can't verify any of your information or your patient's information.
5. List of Payers and Contracted Rates for All Service Codes
Finally, the most important pieces of information are a list of payers, service codes, and contracted rates. The contracted rates are the rates that are listed in the contracts of the insurance companies that you are in-network with.
These will help track what you are getting paid, what your patients owe, and if you are getting under or over paid.
Conclusion
Even if you think that you won't switch billers, it is a good idea to have this information on hand at all times. The information listed here is everything that you need to switch billers and is critical to the success of your practice.
