There are literally hundreds of patient registrations available on line or through vendors that specialize in medical practice supplies. Choose the one that best fits your practice needs and be certain that each patient registration is completed prior to the examination or procedure.
The easiest way to insure that you have a complete registration on file for each patient is to mail or even e-mail a scanned registration to the patient prior to the visit, whenever possible. In addition to the registration you may want to include the following in your mailed package.
An appointment card.
Directions to your office with parking suggestions.
A practice brochure outlining the services your facility provides.
A reminder that patients bring their insurance cards, referrals if applicable and a reminder that co-payments are due at time of service.
Sending a registration in advance will avoid prolonged waiting times for the patient and the physician and will eliminate incomplete forms which may have implications for your billing department.
When it is necessary to add a new patient to your daily schedule, you will want to request that they arrive at your office 15 - 20 minutes prior to their appointment time to complete their paperwork and give the front office time to copy of scan their insurance cards.
All registration form available will contain areas that are dedicated to patient demographics, insurance and guarantor information and most importantly, for the purposes of insurance audits, and for Medicare requirements, the Assignment of Benefits.
The assignment of benefits allows the physician to bill on the patient's behalf. It also authorizes the physician to release the patient information to their insurance carrier.
This area appears on the bottom of the patient registration and requires the patient signature. This "signature on file" needs to be updated annually, since both Medicare and the commercial insurers will require a current signature whenever they conduct an audit of your practice.
If you create your own Patient Registrations in house, you will want to make sure that your Signature On File area looks something like this :
I hereby authorize John Doe Medical P.C. to release all information required by my insurance company to process claims for services on my behalf.
I hereby authorize assignment of benefits for services provided be paid to John Doe Medical, P.C.
This arrangement will remain in effect until I revoke such in writing. A photocopy of this agreement is considered to be as valid as the original.
I understand that I may be responsible for all services provided that are not covered by my insurance carrier, including the 20% due after Medicare reimbursement, along with any applicable deductibles and co-payments.
Patient Signature : Date :
Without a completed assignment of benefits, the physician does not retain the right to bill for any patient visit. Audits will be considered incomplete and Medicare may impose a fine for an incomplete assignment of benefits.
An additional reminder to the patient to bring their paperwork, insurance cards, and applicable co-payments should also be made at the time of your confirmation calls. Many vendors offer an auto-call service that will call your scheduled patients a day in advance to remind them of their appointment date and time. The patient confirms their appointment, usually by pressing 1 if they are home to receive the call, and urges them to call the office to confirm if they are not available.
Some physicians feel uncomfortable reminding patients that they have a co-payment responsibility for their visit. Patients should understand that their co-payment amount is deducted from the physicians reimbursement. You may want to add this statement when you are mailing out your registration forms.
The cost of mailing monthly patient statements can affect your bottom line and once your patient leaves the office without remitting their co-pay, the likelihood is that you will mail 3-5 statements before you receive this balance.
If for some reason, the patient does not have their co-payment, you should note the reason for non-payment on your daily data sheet. Unless there is a hardship that you plan to discuss with the physician, the patient who does not pay should be given a payment envelope, ( you may even want to provide the postage) and urged to mail their co-payment as soon as they return home.
You must provide a paid receipt for each patient who makes a co-payment. Order receipt books with a two part page to insure you have a record of the daily co-payments and mark the front of the receipt book with the date the first entry was made. When the book is completed, note this date also. Make sure you date each receipt to avoid billing disputes and to give the office manager or physician a good way to monitor the staff success for co-pay collections. Unfortunately, not everyone who will work for you will be honest, and co-pay theft is not uncommon in the healthcare industry. Your receipt book should be checked each day against your data sheet and your check copies to make sure you avoid the possibility of theft.....
If your office accepts credit card payments, please make sure the patients are aware of this service and list acceptable card vendors at your front desk.
All practices should also have a "self-pay" schedule available for any uninsured patient. Fees should be listed for office visits - new and follow up - and procedures and tests. If your practice recognizes hardship of so called "charity cases", it is important that your billing department have an understanding of this before charges are entered into your system. Patients with hardships are required to send a letter outlining their inability to pay for services rendered and this letter must be kept on file, especially when it comes to the 20% due after Medicare reimbursement.
Monday : Producing a Practice Handbook - A Must Have to Avoid Any Labor Dispute
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