Cabillingllc

Month: June 2023

doctor working on a laptop with a stethoscope on desk

4 Tips For Choosing The Right Medical Billing Software For Your Practice

As a behavioral health practice, you know that having the right medical billing software is essential to keeping your business running smoothly. But with so many options on the market, how do you choose the right one for your needs? The first thing you want to consider is what medical billing software qualities your business could benefit the most from. CA Billing offers a well-rounded software that is flexible, adaptable, and accurate to ensure your business is generating as much revenue as it can. Here are a few services our software offers to help you get the most out of your billing system. Verification of Benefits Verifying a patient’s benefits is the first step in the billing process. By having a software that provides this service for you, you can save time and money on determining if you should take this patient on. CA Billings team of verification experts can verify a patient’s benefits within an hour, giving the utmost attention to detail. We use a personalized algorithm that is tailored to your facility’s need to determine the estimated reimbursement for various policies across all levels of care. With this system, we help you get the optimum reimbursement from insurance carriers without any hassle to you. Billing and Collections Billing codes are constantly being updated and changed, putting you at risk of making a mistake that could result in a large fine or worse. To protect your business, it is important that your medical billing software is constantly updated on changes made to billing codes. With CA Billing, you never have to worry about the accuracy of your billing process. We stay on top of industry trends that are specific to behavioral health so that we may employ a constantly evolving billing strategy. And when collections become necessary, we take an aggressive approach to ensure your services are adequately covered by insurance providers. Reporting Your medical billing software should do more than simply keep track of the billing process. Accurate and detailed reports about revenue generation and how each service is billed is an effective way to keep better track of your behavioral health clinic’s growth. By partnering with CA Billing you can generate these informative reports from the billing data collected from our software. These reports are customizable, allowing you to adjust your treatment billing, making it easy to determine payment for out-of-network providers. When you provide clients with personalized bills, you are more likely to receive timely payments. Analytics One of the most challenging parts of relying on medical billing software is relinquishing control over this crucial part of your business to a stranger. They may make mistakes and you wouldn’t know about it until they send you a status report. Finding medical billing software that keeps you fully informed of your billing process at all times is the best way to ensure you’re running your behavioral health clinic effectively. The CA Billing software gives you total transparency over your billing analytics so you can see the same data that we do. Choosing the right medical billing systems for your behavioral health clinic can be difficult. But with CA Billing, you know that you are getting a quality product that will help your business grow and succeed. Our software offers verification of benefits, collections services, reporting capabilities, analytics, and transparency so that you always have control over your billing process. We consider each of our client’s partners and work with you to ensure you are maximizing your revenue. Contact us for more information about our CA Analytics.

Read More »
Stethoscope on a computer keyboard - medical billing

4 Important Qualities Of Medical Billing Software

If you are a healthcare provider, then you know how important it is to have a good medical billing system in place. Not only does this make the billing process easier for you, but it also helps ensure that your patients’ bills are processed correctly and on time. That’s why CA Billing has put together a medical billing system that has been shaped using data accumulated over the years of working with a variety of clients. Here are just a few qualities our medical billing software provides your business to make your life easier and avoid the hassle of inaccurate bills. Ease of Use Ever-changing billing codes make billing patients a frustrating and difficult process. You have to stay up to date on industry trends to ensure you are charging clients fairly. With CA Billing, we take care of all the hassle so you can focus on getting your patients the care they need. However, we understand that outsourcing your billing can cause anxiety, as you are not directly in control of this major part of your operations. That’s why our medical billing system comes with CA Analytics, where you can easily access and track the various transactions of your business. Accuracy Medical billing is a complex process, and even the slightest mistake can cause inaccuracies in bills. This can lead to higher claim denials, loss of revenue, federal penalties, and fines. Often these detrimental billing mistakes are not caught until it is too late, as the law does not require intent to be a factor when determining the impact of an inaccurate medical bill. With the CA Billing team on your side, you can rest easy knowing our team stays up to date on the latest billing code information to keep your bills as accurate as possible. Security Many businesses have fallen victim to cybercrime that breaches their data and collects sensitive customer information, effectively ruining the business’s reputation. While these types of crimes may be out of your control, measures can still be taken to thwart any attempts of data theft. CA Billing takes data security and compliance seriously, as we understand the importance of protecting your patients’ information. That’s why we are HIPAA compliant and use the highest level of encryption to protect your data. Flexibility Every business is different, that’s why we made sure our medical billing system is adaptable to fit the unique needs of your medical institute. We translate our years of industry experience, and the data that comes with it, directly into effective strategies for our clients. Combining our data-driven approach with our boutique billing style, we create tailor-made solutions that meet our clients’ needs while staying in front of the changing industry landscape. Don’t fall out of date with your billing, or spend large amounts of time ensuring your medical billing system works for your business model. Instead, get CA Billing Software to maximize your revenue and take the stress out of billing. Medical billing software is an important tool for any healthcare provider. But not all software is created equal. With CA Billing, our medical billing software for small businesses takes the anxiety out of billing patients and can help maximize your revenue. Our team takes data security and compliance seriously, so you don’t have to worry about your patients being impacted by a data breach. We are also adaptable to fit the unique needs of your business, so you can maximize revenue while keeping up with industry changes. We even give you a full overview of the process with our CA Analytics, where you can track and review the billing process. Stop dealing with the hassle of medical billing software, and leave the work to the team at CA Billing! Contact Us For More Info About CA Analytics!

Read More »
someone woking on billing at a laptop computer

4 Reasons To Hire CA Billing

Efficiency and effectiveness can get stunted if your medical practice is overwhelmed by the billing process. At CA Billing, we relieve you of this burden through our expert service and medical billing software. Here is what you can expect when partnering with CA Billing. Open Communication At CA Billing, we value open and frequent communication. As your practice’s partner, we are dedicated to getting you paid for the services you provide. To do this, we collaborate with you and develop a relationship that ensures you are in the loop about the status of your bills. Keeping our lines open for our partners all hours of the day, you can access your revenue reports and stay in touch. Dedicated Specialists Our team of medical billing specialists has extensive experience processing claims in the medical industry. This comes into play when we perform audits, handle appeals, verify benefits, and conduct third-party negotiations. Trained to optimize your business practice, the CA Billing team is here to help you maximize your efficiency without sacrificing quality or accuracy. Custom Reporting Another area where CA Billing really shines is in the reports we create for our partners. Our medical billing system allows us to deliver custom reports that are tailored to your company’s specific requirements. Attention To Detail Attention to detail is critical when it comes to medical billing and coding services. We aren’t interested in simply getting medical records from doctors’ offices so we can feed them through our systems like a piece of paper through a shredder. We want to develop a solution that meets the needs of your practice by improving the accuracy of your reporting so you can maximize your revenue potential. Incorporating our team of specialists and billing software into your medical practice will help you save time, money, and keep better, more accurate records. To learn more about becoming a CA Billing partner, contact us today!

Read More »
4 Ways Medical Billing Software Helps Your Practice

4 Ways Medical Billing Software Helps Your Practice

Medical billing is not an easy task. With so many policies and regulations to follow, ensuring your billing is done correctly can take a lot of time and can even get expensive when you don’t bill correctly. However, CA Billing is here to help practices like yours. Our specialized industry knowledge allows you to prioritize your client care, while we focus on helping you obtain maximum revenue for continued high-quality service. Here’s a look at four ways our medical billing services will make things easier for your practice and operations. Save Time As medical professionals, we all know how valuable your time is. You would rather spend your days seeing patients than doing paperwork and figuring out billing details. You can save huge amounts of time by using our medical billing services because we will utilize the patient information that you have already entered into the database while our team handles the entire medical billing process from patient intake to payment posting. This, in turn, saves your staff valuable hours that would otherwise be spent on repetitive clerical tasks such as manually filling out forms and payer-specific documentation. On top of this, having everything electronic makes it easy for us to provide you with the documentation you need, when you need it, so you are not constantly digging through folders. By streamlining your billing process, your staff will have more time to concentrate on higher-level revenue cycle management tasks like policy and appeals compliance and helping with insurance verifications. Save Money Medical billing can get tricky with so many regulations regarding claims and how and when they should be submitted. Instead, when you let our medical billing service team do all the work for you, you can prevent medical debt because every claim will be filled out and filed correctly. Instead of worrying about incomplete claims or mistakes in your paperwork, your practice has a team of professionals to look over everything and ensure it’s all done properly. No more worrying about your practice ending up owing money instead of getting paid for the services you provided! As an added plus, many insurance companies offer discounts if you provide electronic claims, which saves them money too. Medical billing services ensure that everything is done correctly, every time. Ensure Billing Accuracy Using our team’s extensive knowledge and experience in the medical billing industry not only helps your medical practice operate more efficiently by streamlining the claims submission process, but also ensures that you have a source for answers to any of your billing questions or woes. The streamlined workflow provided by a dedicated medical billing services team can lead to fewer mistakes in your billing process, ultimately resulting in improved cash flow for your practice. Better Record Keeping With medical billing services from CA Billing, you can get a better idea of relevant details for your practice, such as which services are most profitable for your practice, how many claims are typically denied each month, and more. Our medical billing service team provides you access to records immediately through a digital platform, which allows you to make sure every patient gets the care they need without any delays. Having insight into what happens within your practice’s billing process will also help you to make better business decisions in the future. If you don’t already have medical billing services for your practice, consider partnering with CA Billing. Helping your practice with our optimized billing plans and services is only one part of our comprehensive approach toward helping behavioral health practices like yours operate more smoothly. Learn more about our dedicated specialists and open communication policies, or get started with your practice’s medical billing service and contact us today!

Read More »

What is the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act?

Prior to this law passing at a federal level, mental health and substance abuse was covered at a much lower level than physical illness in the eyes of insurance providers. This meant that it was very difficult to get coverage for long term stays at mental health or substance use disorder facilities. In fact, prior to 2008 going to treatment was almost all a “cash pay” system- this meant people who were in need of these services did not have the access they so desperately needed. Then in 2008, Congress passed the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act that requires health insurers and group health plans to guarantee that financial requirements on benefits are not anymore restrictive than they are for the financial requirements for medical and surgical benefits. This means that an insurance provider could not have a different deductible for substance abuse than it does for surgical benefits. In fact, below are all of the financial responsibilities that must be equal between mental health + substance abuse and medical + surgical: As for all healthcare coverage, the treatment must be shown to be reasonable, necessary, and appropriate under medical necessity. However, the MHPAE also applies when it comes to medical necessity determinations. There are some some exceptions when it comes to MHPAE, some insurance providers may choose to not provide any mental health or substance abuse benefits. Exceptions also include self-funded small private employers with less than 50 employees. At CA Billing we make sure to advocate for our facilities when it comes to insurance companies providing equal benefits for mental health and substance abuse.

Read More »
What You Need To Know About Telemedicine and Insurance

What You Need to Know about Telemedicine and Insurance

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on the way most people live their daily lives. More people are working from home, children are attending virtual classes, and greater effort is being made to avoid unnecessary trips to the store or even to the doctor’s office. As people continue to shelter in place, more behavioral health providers are offering telemedicine sessions as a way to provide their patients with the essential help and support they need. The pandemic has been mentally and emotionally difficult for everyone, but for those who struggle with a pre-existing mental health condition, COVID-19 has made things even more challenging as access to treatment, support groups, and family and friends have been limited for almost a year. Fortunately, the use of telemedicine has expanded as a way to meet with a professional without having to leave the safety of home. If your office provides telemedicine or you’re considering adding it to your list of services, there are some things you should know with regard to insurance. In today’s blog from CA Billing, we’re going to discuss how insurance companies view telemedicine and what you can do if your patients don’t have coverage. Keep reading to learn more and then give us a call to learn how we can help your business with all of your behavioral health billing needs. What Is Telemedicine? Telemedicine, also known as video therapy, e-therapy, or online therapy is a safe and convenient way for patients and treatment providers to connect virtually with the aid of technology. It’s similar to video chatting with a friend or family member, but it takes place with a doctor or therapist on a HIPAA-compliant web portal. Telemedicine sessions work much the same way as traditional doctor’s visits or therapy sessions with only one significant difference — the provider and the client are not in the same location. Instead, a computer, smartphone, or tablet is used to deliver consultations and treatments in a live, interactive, (but long-distance) setting. Not only can telemedicine be used for one-on-one sessions with a behavioral health provider, but this form of video conferencing can also be used for therapist-mediated group sessions or counseling. Benefits of Telemedicine For Behavioral Health Specialists It’s easy to see how patients can benefit from telemedicine, but there are quite a few reasons why it’s also good for behavioral health facilities. COVID Safety Even though we are in a global pandemic, people still need treatment for substance use disorders and mental health conditions. Utilizing telemedicine is a way to be able to connect clients with group counseling, therapy, and psychiatrists while still being able to maintain distancing and safety protocols for your staff and your patients. New Opportunities If you’re looking for ways to expand your business, telemedicine can help you reach more clients in different places outside of your local area. Because it can be done from just about any location, telemedicine lets you reach out to people who may not otherwise have the means to travel to your facility. Telemedicine and Insurance Despite the growing popularity of telemedicine among psychologists, therapists, and other behavioral health facilities, some insurance companies have yet to get on board and still do not cover the cost of this service. While most insurance providers have increased telemedicine coverage throughout the pandemic, some patients may be denied coverage and have to pay for services out of pocket — but this will depend on the provider and the circumstances for using telemedicine instead of seeing patients in person. To make the process more seamless, insurance providers have taken steps to make the billing process for telemedicine easier so facilities can care for their patients in a safe way while still getting timely and sustainable reimbursements. However, it is important that your in-house billing department or third-party biller becomes familiar with the subtleties and potential changes in billing codes when submitting claims for telemedicine services. We’re happy to report at CA Billing that we’ve been able to assist our clients in transitioning some of their services to telemedicine while still maintaining reimbursement rates. Protect Yourself and Your Patients To protect your patients from having to pay out of pocket and to ensure that claims are processed in a timely manner, you can do one of two things. Either you can take on the responsibility of checking with each patient’s insurance company to see if they are covered and at what rate you will be paid, or you can partner with a third-party behavioral health billing company like CA Billing who can do all of the legwork for you. Not only can we save you time and free up your staff so they can focus on more important things, but we’ll use our industry experience and connections to provide you with the most accurate information and the best chances for optimum reimbursement. Efficient and effective behavioral health billing isn’t just about assigning the right codes (although that is an important part of getting reimbursed) it’s about coming up with a comprehensive and data-driven strategy that involves verification of benefits, staying current with insurance requirements, authorizations, and enlisting the help of an experienced team to handle third-party negotiations and appeals. At CA Billing, we can assist you with all of this and more. We have extensive experience in behavioral health billing related to in-person therapy as well as telemedicine services. Contact a member of our team today to schedule a free consultation.

Read More »
What is HIPPA?

The Collections Continuum – Reimbursement Guide from Treatment to Payment

We teamed up with the law firm Nelson Hardiman to put on a webinar for professionals in the behavioral health industry to provide education and tips on how to get the most out of their collections. In this webinar, CA Billing Co-Founder Abdul Ahmed and Nelson Hardiman Partner, Zach Rothenberg talk about the importance of maintaining immaculate documentation, how to best execute appeals, how to be proactive in dealing with “special investigative units”, financial hardship, patient financial responsibility, and how to best maintain data to help you moving forward in your business. You can watch the full webinar below! Would you like to learn more about CA Billing and what we can do for you? Visit our website to learn about our services or check out our frequently asked questions page. You can also call or email us to request a free consultation.

Read More »
Behavioral Health HIPAA Compliance

Behavioral Health HIPAA Compliance

If you work anywhere in the realm of healthcare, you’re likely very familiar with HIPAA and the compliance required within the industry. In this blog post, we wanted to cover what HIPAA is, why it is so important within the behavioral health space, and what steps are needed to ensure compliance. What is HIPAA? HIPAA stands for the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act that was passed by Congress in 1996. The HIPAA Privacy Regulations require healthcare providers and organizations, as well as their business associates to follow procedures that protect health information and ensure the confidentiality of patients. This applies to all transferring, receiving, handling, or sharing of protected health information (PHI). What is PHI? Protected Health Information is considered to be any personally identifiable information as it pertains to the past, present, or future health status of an individual. This covers any health information that is created, collected, transmitted, or maintained by a healthcare organization. Examples of protected health information can include diagnosis, prescriptions, treatment information, and medical test results. This also includes personal information of the patient including their name, social security number, date of birth, emergency contact, phone numbers, and email addresses. All of this information needs to be protected and kept secure to ensure that a healthcare organization can be HIPAA compliant. Why is HIPAA So Important for Behavioral Health? Keeping privacy protected in healthcare is always important however with behavioral health-related issues it becomes even more important. Unfortunately, there are still so many stigmas associated with mental health. Many people still believe addiction to be a moral failing and so many still don’t see the validity of mental health conditions. There are ramifications that can come with someone’s treatment being discovered including loss of job, reputation, and relationship issues. Because of these reasons, behavioral health patient information must be protected. Precautions To Ensure HIPAA Compliance During the billing process, patient information including diagnosis codes, medications, clinical notes, and other information must be shared from facility to biller, and then to the insurance provider in order for claims to be processed and paid. This means it is essential that the billing company is HIPAA Compliant. All emails, communications, and transfers of information need to be done securely and with compliance in mind. HIPAA and Telehealth In the age of COVID-19, more than ever, people still need treatment for mental health and substance abuse-related issues. This has driven many providers to make the switch from in-person treatment to telehealth. This comes with concerns as providers must take extra precautions in order to ensure that HIPAA guidelines are still being met. Luckily there are many HIPAA Compliant platforms and services available including video conference and messaging applications. CA Billing takes HIPAA compliance very seriously. Each employee, no matter what their department is certified in HIPAA compliance. We take great care to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of each patient’s claim that comes through our office. Choose a Behavioral Health Billing Agency You Can Trust Healthcare providers must ensure they are in compliance with HIPAA laws and that means they must choose their business associates carefully. When you choose us for your behavioral health billing, you can rest assured that we will not take your trust for granted and will do everything possible to protect the privacy of each and every one of your patients. Would you like to learn more about CA Billing and what we can do for you? Visit our website to learn about our services or check out our frequently asked questions page. You can also call or email us to request a free consultation.

Read More »
Tips to Avoid Claim Denials

Tips to Avoid Claim Denials

The world of behavioral health billing can be a confusing one. There are a lot of moving parts that go into submitting claims, getting authorizations, sending the right paperwork, etc. The hope is that by doing all of this your claims will pay in a timely manner, so your business can continue operating. However, we all know that sometimes you think you’ve done everything correctly and claims still get denied. In this post, we’re talking about the top five things to consider in an effort to make sure your claims don’t get denied. Understand the relationship between Utilization Review (UR) and Billing In the billing process, getting treatment services authorized in a timely fashion by the UR team is extremely important. After authorization is obtained, it is equally important to bill correctly according to the authorization and the insurance providers’ preferences. Claims can be rejected because the billed codes don’t match what the insurance provider put on the authorization or because certain insurance providers don’t consider certain codes acceptable for a level of care (we’ll discuss this later in the article). We’ve also encountered insurance providers incorrectly inputting authorizations into their system, for example, filing it under the wrong tax ID or marking authorizations as denied when they were not Document, Document, Document Sufficient medical record documentation is key for successful behavioral health billing. Inadequate documentation can trigger all sorts of issues with insurance providers including medical necessity denials, allegations that services were not rendered as authorized or billed, as well as audits. All of which can lead to delays and denials for claims billed. Documentation training is also key so all clinicians and staff are fully aware of how to document properly. Be Familiar With Individual Insurance Providers While many insurance providers expect a lot of the same things when it comes to processing claims, there are differences and subtleties between providers. Different policies may require different documentation so it’s important to be aware of that. In addition, certain providers will only pay for certain types of facilities. Lastly, certain insurance providers are more likely to deny services for medical necessity. Because of this, it is so important to have knowledge and experience with the insurance landscape and the specific needs of each insurance provider. Keep An Eye On the Client’s Policies A simple mistake that can be made leading to a claim denial is if a patient’s policy ends or lapses during their stay at a facility. It’s key to ensure that all clients’ policies remain active throughout the duration of their treatment and that coordination of benefits is completed when needed. Ensure All Paperwork Is Signed Up Front Getting clients to sign paperwork is one of those things that can easily be breezed past, thinking you’ll just get to it later. However, the issue is that it can get missed entirely and facilities are unable to contact clients after they discharge. When the paperwork isn’t signed, reimbursement for entire stays can be lost. We advise getting all client paperwork signed upon admission — including documents assigning rights to the facility for payment. At CA Billing, we pride ourselves on extreme attention to detail so none of these key elements for proper claim processing slip through the cracks. As a business, we know how important it is that claims get paid, so you get paid — so we do everything in our power to make sure that happens. Learn more about how we can help you with behavioral health billing and avoid claim denials by contacting our office and requesting your free consultation.

Read More »
man examining charts on a tablet device

Let’s Talk About Verifying Benefits (VOBs)

What is a VOB? A VOB, or a Verification of Benefits is a process by which the insurance benefits are checked for a potential incoming client at a substance abuse or mental health facility. This process entails making sure their health insurance is active, the payments are up to date, finding out the deductible and out of pocket max, as well as a variety of other questions. This process can either be done by someone in-house at a facility or it is often times done by the outside billing company. Why are VOBs so important? Verifying benefits for an incoming patient is crucial. By checking all of the information needed a facility will do its best at limiting any surprises when it comes to a patient’s insurance coverage, or more importantly what it won’t cover. In addition, because the billing cycle is typically a week behind, if a VOB is not done properly there is a chance a patient will be in your care without valid benefits and as a facility you won’t receive any financial compensation. VOBs are also often times used when it comes to payment appeals. If an insurance company comes back and says something isn’t covered, the biller can refer back to the VOB and use that as proof that payment should be given. Most important factors of doing a VOB: 1. The right form asking the right questions You can’t do a proper VOB without having the right questions to ask. Often times insurance companies aren’t always the most forthcoming with information so it’s imperative to make sure you’re armed with the right questions.This is important because often times different insurance companies have different stipulations, variations, and needs for each policy. That means each VOB form should have the correct questions for each of insurance company. Asking all the right questions will also help identify any red flag policies that could potentially slip through the cracks. For example, every VOB form needs to include the insurance representative’s name and reference number for the call – if that isn’t noted it will be near impossible to appeal a claim later on. Ideally, the VOB call is recorded to refer to if necessary during claim follow up or the appeal process. 2. Accuracy Once you have the right questions to ask, the next step is to make sure everything is collected carefully and accurately. The information collected through a VOB is used by each facility to determine if a patient is going to be a good fit for their program. If the information collected is inaccurate, it doesn’t equip the facility to make the correct decision. In addition, as mentioned earlier in this post, VOBs are often referred back to and if the information is inaccurate this can affect every stage of the billing cycle. 3. Timeliness The behavioral health space can often times deals with immediate crises. Calls come in at all hours from patients needing help. This makes it all the more important that a VOB be done in a timely manner as to not miss the window of opportunity to have a patient come in. There is always going to be variation depending on hold times but most VOBs can be done within 60 minutes during a normal business day. 4. Having the right data set to refer to Once all of the information has been collected accurately and in a timely manner the final factor in determining whether or not an insurance policy is a good fit for a facility is the right data to compare it to. Even with all the right questions asked and information obtained, it can still be hard to determine how well a policy will pay. However, if you have a comprehensive data set to see how the same policy has already performed within a facility you’ll be able to make a much more informed decision. The bigger the data set you have to refer to, the less likely you are to run into a policy you’ve never seen that could end up not paying well. This is one of the benefits of using an outside billing company, they typically have a much broader scope when it comes to policy data.

Read More »