Mental Health
Billing

Insurance Verification Made Easy: Making Mental Health Billing Hassle-Free

Dealing with insurance is something most mental health clinicians find a bit of a pain. It's not straightforward, and there are many rules to follow. Plus, it can be confusing for people who aren't familiar with the process.

Insurance verification is the first significant step in the medical billing and coding process. In today's complicated healthcare world, it's crucial to really focus on checking if your patient’s coverage is valid, understanding its benefits, knowing its co-payments, and figuring out the deductibles.

Let’s get ready to grasp what the process of insurance verification is about.

What is Insurance Verification in Medical Billing?

Making sure insurance is in order is a big deal when it comes to handling denied claims in mental healthcare. The key to getting the billing right depends on making sure the patient's eligibility is verified. In a nutshell, health insurance verification is all about confirming that a patient's coverage is active with the insurance company. It also verifies if a patient's insurance eligibility can support their claims.

A patient's insurance status can be categorized across various claim statuses, encompassing stages such as submission, reception, pending review, acceptance, and rejection. In essence, these categories signify the progression of an insurance claim through distinct phases of assessment and determination.

Insurance Verifier Minimizing Denials and Maximizing Reimbursements in Billing for Mental Health Services

An insurance verifier is someone who ensures that eligibility and benefits verification goes smoothly. They are one of the most vital members of the billing team. They interact with patients, manage all paperwork, and check patient information with their own insurance carriers in order to enhance the revenue cycle and maximize reimbursement.

Insurance verifiers ensure that the following elements are verified:

• Payable benefits
  Co-pays
  Co-insurances
  Deductibles
  Patient policy status
  Effective date
  Type of plan and coverage details
  Plan exclusions
  Claims mailing address
  Referrals & pre-authorizations
  Life-time maximum

and much more.

Insurance Eligibility Verification – Step-by-Step

Verifying patient insurance coverage may appear to be an overwhelming task, but it can be completed in few crucial steps!

Let's have a simplified view on the steps:

Get Patient Schedules:

The process kicks off by obtaining schedules of patients from the hospital, clinic, or medical practice.

Reach Out to Patients:

If more information is needed, get in touch with patients for additional details.

Update Billing System

Put all the verified details into the billing system. This includes important data like when the patient's insurance plan starts and ends, their member ID, group ID, co-pay details, and other relevant information.

These steps ensure that the mental health billing workflow is up-to-date and accurate, helping the healthcare facility run smoothly.

Effective Strategies to Improve the Efficiency of the Insurance Verification Process

Here are top ways to improve the efficiency of the Insurance verification process:

• Begin with scheduling appointments.
  Double or triple check the information during pre-registration.
  Check eligibility at registration if the plan needs it.
  Verification of eligibility post-appointment.
  Know the requirement for pre-authorization.
  Record/Note the verified information.
  Assess patient’s knowledge about insurance-related concepts and educate them.
  Provide the patient with a cost estimate.
  At check-in, remind patients of their financial responsibilities.
  Keep track of the frequency and reasons for eligibility based denials.

In Conclusion

Proper insurance verification before a patient encounter can boost up positive patient experience. It’s good to use your time and resources wisely!

An outsourced medical billing partner can speed up approval and authorization while you can focus on providing value-based treatment, improving your practice's financial line.

Aegis has a team of experts, well-equipped with the uptrend technologies and tools to promptly check your patients' insurance eligibility. As part of your medical billing team,we can make sure your cash flow, claim denial rates and patient satisfaction are on the line.

Looking for Insurance Verifiers for your billing for mental health services? Contact us today!