Psychiatric and Behavioral Health Therapies Should Pay Better, Especially in Private Practice

You’ve reviewed the finances of your practice and your suspicions are founded. Your practice is losing a lot of money, maybe even as much as $10,000 per month – or more.

Going into private practice made sense. You love what you do. The investment made in your experience and education should allow you to support yourself, your family’s financial goals, and your practice. But the pitfalls of private practice are all-consuming. Inconsistent billing and revenue processes have begun to lead to big money problems.

As the practice owner and manager, it’s your job to ensure your revenue cycle management is clean and that all money leaks are plugged. If you suspect – or know –  your front office processes are seriously leaking money – from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars – then you need to move quickly and decisively. As a leader, you’re increasingly aware that the system you’ve cobbled together doesn’t work, and you need sound billing and reimbursement strategies.

You need a plan to turn the situation around, and the support to make it happen as quickly as possible.

Let’s take a closer look at the challenges you face:

  1. Insurance claims – When filing insurance claims, the most effective outcome of processing is the primary goal, and you want and expect maximum pay for the work. If claims are delayed, so is your money.
  2. Posting payments – The focus should be on revenue, but the dedicated biller in your office is likely wearing too many hats. Without enough time to tend to the details of each claim, errors occur, and there’s little to no follow up on denials. Whether salaried or hourly, your employee isn’t vested in your outcomes, and may lack the motivation you need to see the improvements you require. You’re paying her, and it’s costing you.
  3. Benefits verification – This vital task directly affects practice revenues and the bottom line. Is the money your practitioners are owed at the end of the client’s visit covered? You need to know.
  4. Cash payments – Even if your practice serves dwindling numbers of private pay clients, you still need a good system for invoicing and tracking payments.
  5. Collections – Unpaid claims and unpaid bills are not maximizing practice revenues, and you’ve already established your biller is over-extended. Account aging is a full-time job all by itself. Letting this go is not an option.
  6. Client communications – Ideally, your front office is communicating with your clients before they’re seen. Confirming consent, insurance coverage, coverage changes and copays, mailing addresses, or new medical details can’t wait until the end of the visit.

At Medical Practice Consulting Services, we help practices like yours save money by focusing exclusively on revenues. With a dedicated, trained staff and no learning curve, we make it possible for practices like yours to turn around their situation quickly and decisively without expensive hires or huge drains on time or energy. We work for our clients daily, with no sick leave, vacations, or distractions. We’re vested in outcomes and always look for opportunities to maximize returns. Our primary goals include a clean, fully functioning revenue cycle and greater margins for each behavioral health or psychiatric practice we serve.

No holes, and no money leaks, vested interest, and undivided attention.

How does that sound to you?

Let’s Talk