F.A.Q.

• How can C.T. Medical Billing improve my medical practice?

    C.T. Medical Billing can improve the bottom line for your practice by reducing billing costs, accelerating claims processing, increasing claims revenue, reducing denials,
    Now more than ever, medical insurance billing is a complex and specialized field.  Proper medical billing requires not only dedicated man-hours by an experienced biller, but also continual education in the field, as changes in billing coding and processing procedures are made several times every year.  Simply forcing codes into a billing software solution without the intricate knowledge of the billing process and insurance providers results in a large number of denials. 
   Payroll is generally one of the largest expenses in a medical practice.  At C.T. Medical Billing, we eliminate a large part of office staff duties allowing for more focus on patient care time.  And as no special software purchases are required, we save you the cost of purchasing medical billing software, a well as updating the software several times per year.  Prices for these software, including updates, are several thousands of dollars recurring every year.
    Revenue from claims is one of the most important aspects of your business.  Without a steady income from services rendered, the life of any medical practice is quickly cut short.  Keeping you AR (Aged Receivables) down is key to your practice's financial survival, and is dependent on multiple factors.  C.T. Medical Billing understands this, and makes quick, accurate reimbursement the hallmark of its service.  When a claim is submitted to us, it is checked for completeness, checked for errors, and submitted to the insurance provider within one business day for over 90% of claims.  Your office will be contacted if any additional information is required to optimally process a given claim.  Our thorough inspection process reduces over 60% of the most common reasons for slow claim reimbursement before the claim even reaches the insurer.  Once claims are submitted, they are tracked and continuously followed-up to ensure smooth processing through the insurance company.  Should any expected claim be denied or underpayed, we will immediately contact the insurance company and begin addressing the cause of denial or underpayment.  The 2011 AMA Report Card on Insurers noted a national average of errors by private insurers for 19.3% of all claims they process.  C.T. Medical Billing is able to spot these errors and correct them on your behalf.
   Denials are a large issue for nearly every practice in the U.S. today.  The AMA notes insurer-denied payment for the year 2010-early 2011 averaged nearly 25% across the board.  This can be one of the most frustrating financial aspects of running a practice, and C.T. Medical billing is ready to reduce your denials.  Our thorough claim inspections reduces the chances of denials before the claim is even sent.  Due to our rigorous follow-up process, we are able to spot issues with insurer payments early in the process.  Our billing staff has previous experience working for several large insurers as both repricing and claims auditing staff, and understand how to quickly address and reverse denials for your claims when payment is not appropriate to your contract.

• What information do you need from my practice?

    For each claim, we will need a patient information sheet/face sheet, a copy of the patient's insurance card (if changed from last image received), and a list of diagnoses and procedures performed (or superbill).  When the claims are processed, we will immediately contact your practice should any further information be needed for a particular claim.

• Do I need to purchase any special software?

    No.  You continue to run your practice using your preferred software.  Information needed for billing can be sent via scan or .pdf file via SECURE e-mail (HIPAA does not allow use of unsecured e-mails in transmission of patient data) for via toll-free fax.  In many cases, offices with electronic medical records software will want to add us as a licensed user for their software.  Doing this allows us to pull claims information needed in daily batches, minimizing the need for your staff to send us information.

• Is your firm HIPAA compliant?

    Yes!  Our firm is compliant with HIPAA and the new HITECH standards, and has a Compliance Plan in effect.  We have physical safeguards of written patient data, password-protected ePHI data access, secured e-mail and internet connections, and both on-site and off-site backup of data.

• Will I remain in control over over the billing for my business?

   Absolutely.  C.T. Medical Billing is a service to your practice, and does not remove control from any practice owner or appointee.  Along with sending you monthly reports on all active patient accounts, you may request any information at anytime on current billing activity, set alternative patient contact guidelines for your practice's accounts, etc.