Medicare/Medicaid Billing---Ind. to Agency?

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I've been an S-corp for a little over a year now and working IC. I've done well but need to be able to expand billing and have gotten an application for medicare certification. While I understand this can be daunting, collecting that is, I am hoping this will expand my base of patients; medicaid and private insurance also. Anyone out there gone through getting an agency going? I am not interested in hiring many people, just enough to keep myself and others in work, less of it for more money. I am truly loving home/patient care and would like to continue to concentrate on this aspect and will tolerate the business end of the deal to do so. Anything but go back to "employment!!!!!"

Anesthesia billing services charge about 6-8% of collections, which gives them an incentive to collect the money. The one I use has changed from that method to a set rate based on the number of billings per month. Their collection rate is over 97%, so I am happy to pay their fees. Flat rates are fine, as long as they produce results for you. Also, billing services are subject to audits from CMS. Look for a firm that understands the importance of those audits and will make sure your filings will pass muster. You don't want to be accused of Medicare fraud. It is not necessary that you use a local billing agency, but you should have an account rep assigned to you. You will need to stay in frequent contact with them. Interview several firms, including some who are in your area. Find out their experience, get a handle on their knowlege of insurance billing in your field and how they handle your money. For example, my billing service deposits the money directly into my checking account once a week and sends me a weekly statement and monthly analysis.

I also keep my own billing data on my computer. Every week, I enter in the database (Filemaker) my insurance cases billed and payment received. Remember no one is as concerned about your money as you are and it is up to you the maximize billing and collections.

Yoga CRNA

Once again, I really appreciate the heads up. I got out the phone book and started looking. I've got a medicaid billing service and I do things on the computer. It's easy and nice. Waiver is a dream compared to what I am looking at! I've been using Excel and passing things on to the acct. monthly and that is working well also. I am just in new territory with this billing and like to do my homework. I've been reading but hearing from another is comforting.

Thanks so much for your time.

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Anesthesia billing services charge about 6-8% of collections, which gives them an incentive to collect the money. The one I use has changed from that method to a set rate based on the number of billings per month. Their collection rate is over 97%, so I am happy to pay their fees. Flat rates are fine, as long as they produce results for you. Also, billing services are subject to audits from CMS. Look for a firm that understands the importance of those audits and will make sure your filings will pass muster. You don't want to be accused of Medicare fraud. It is not necessary that you use a local billing agency, but you should have an account rep assigned to you. You will need to stay in frequent contact with them. Interview several firms, including some who are in your area. Find out their experience, get a handle on their knowlege of insurance billing in your field and how they handle your money. For example, my billing service deposits the money directly into my checking account once a week and sends me a weekly statement and monthly analysis.

I also keep my own billing data on my computer. Every week, I enter in the database (Filemaker) my insurance cases billed and payment received. Remember no one is as concerned about your money as you are and it is up to you the maximize billing and collections.

Yoga CRNA

Once again, I really appreciate the heads up. I got out the phone book and started looking. I've got a medicaid billing service and I do things on the computer. It's easy and nice. Waiver is a dream compared to what I am looking at! I've been using Excel and passing things on to the acct. monthly and that is working well also. I am just in new territory with this billing and like to do my homework. I've been reading but hearing from another is comforting.

Thanks so much for your time.

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