Many claims denials could be avoided if patient insurance information is verified before the date of service.
Jim Yarsinsky, CRCE-I, President, Founder, Expeditive: Educate frontline staff about proper collection of insurance information. If the information you initially collect is incorrect or incomplete, you're already off to a bad start and are setting yourself up for claim rejections. Make sure accounts are pre-certified or authorized to avoid any unpleasant surprises, and collect all relevant demographic information. Also, make sure staff continually follow patients throughout the treatment process and check that nothing has changed. Often, patients don't realize their insurance has changed and do not know they need to inform the hospital.
If you would like to share your RCM best practices, please email Carrie Pallardy at cpallardy@beckershealthcare.com to be featured in the "RCM tip of the day" series.