Holistic Billing Services recognizes the importance of operating a streamlined holistic practice. This includes attracting the best patients, managing neverending administrative tasks, and ensuring your overall profit is the best it can be. One of the most critical factors to track is the Net Collection Rate of your holistic practice.
By accurately tracking your net collection rate, you can gain valuable visibility into how exactly your practice is truly performing. Learn more about the importance of your net collection rate and its relationship to your medical billing and coding process.
What is Net Collection Rate?
A holistic practice’s net collection rate is essentially a performance metric. It measures how effective the practice is at collecting all legitimate forms of reimbursement for services, which are typically the amount owed after all-payer contract adjustments are made. The net collection rate will reveal deficiencies in this process. If a practice is struggling to collect revenue due to bad debt, late filings, coding errors, or claim underpayments, it will have a low net collection rate.
Since the net collection rate is directly tied to a practice’s revenue stream, it’s one of the most important performance metrics to monitor. Typically calculated quarterly, the rate represents a snapshot of financial health and efficiency. A low net collection rate should be treated as an urgent priority because it indicates that the practice has a persistent problem when it comes to gathering revenue, which could indicate organizational inefficiency or an issue with patient relations and communication.
What Should Your Holistic Practices Net Collection Rate Be?
A 96% net collection rate is considered ideal across the industry. Anything lower than a 95% clean claims ratio means your holistic practice is losing revenue, which also indicates your holistic practice is wasting further money and time reworking rejected claims. In reality, most holistic practices have a rate that varies between 75% and 85%, which means that somewhere around 15–25% of claims submitted each month have to be worked on twice, at minimum.
Why Does A Strong Net Collection Rate Matter?
A holistic practice’s net collection ratio is one of the most significant collection metrics as it provides visibility into what is actually being collected and what your holistic practice is actually allowed to collect after factoring in any refunds, write-offs, or any other contractual and non-contractual amounts. As a result, your net collection rate is one of the most important collection metrics as it gives a clear picture of your practice’s benchmark performance.
Optimizing your net collection rate can indicate areas where your holistic practice is losing revenue. If your net collection ratio reveals that your practice is underperforming, you must investigate what processes need to be optimized for success. The reasons for a major gap between the score you have and the score you want can range from a variety of reasons, but they all have the same outcome: a negative effect on your holistic practice’s financial health.
What is the Net Collection Rate Formula?
Understanding your net collection rate is critical to your holistic practice’s overall revenue cycle. Optimizing your net collection rate starts with understanding how to assess your net collection rate. Calculating net collection rate involves several important steps:
- Identify the time period that you want to monitor (e.g., 90 or 120 days). Assess data from an earlier period in which the majority of claims would be closed and cleared; going about 6 months back is advisable.
- Calculate total payments (from payers and patients) for the designated time period.
- Calculate total charges minus approved write-offs (e.g., due to contractual reasons, bad debt, professional courtesy discounts, etc.) for the designated time period.
- Divide your calculation in step 2 by your calculation in step 3. Then multiply by 100.
- Do this consistently (e.g., every 90 days) for a period of at least one year to get the most accurate average rate.
Best Practices for Increasing Your Holistic Practice Net Collection Rate
Your strategy to help improve net collection rates will differ depending on your particular set of challenges and your target goals. Once you have the basics of improvement covered – by ensuring your front desk staff is on top of co-pays and that your patients understand your payment policies – you can take a more strategic approach. Auditing claims, coordinating more closely with payer reps, and empowering staff to handle follow-ups can ensure you collect every piece of revenue earned and that your net collection rate gets as close to 100% as possible.
Some strategies for improving your net collection rate include:
1. Implementing front-end point-of-service collections
One of the easiest steps to take is to collect 100% of copayments and deductibles from patients at the initial point-of-service. This ensures that no one walks out of your holistic practice with an outstanding bill and avoids the resulting hassle of collecting payments afterward, which can be just as inconvenient for the patient as it is for the practice. If a patient is unable to cover the cost at that time, the appointment can be rescheduled or other payment options can be discussed.
2. Comprehensively educating patients
Most patients have only a vague understanding of how healthcare practices collect payments from insurance providers; thus, they may not have a clear sense of their financial obligations when they use your holistic services. Providing a brochure or reference sheet to all patients that outlines their role and responsibilities in the payment process can clear up a lot of confusion. It’s also important to have someone on staff who has the financial expertise to answer any questions patients may have about how the claims and payment process works.
3. Provide patients with payment options
Expanding payment options requires some investment on the front-end, but it can have a major impact on net collections over time. As consumers, your holistic practice’s patients are accustomed to being able to pay for services in a variety of ways, whether it’s by credit or debit card, through an online portal, or via a mobile app. By providing a variety of payment options, patients are far more likely to find one that suits their needs and pay their bills promptly.
4. Calculate Your Net Collection Ratio Consistently
For the most accurate net collection rate, your holistic practice needs to be calculating this rate regularly. While the net collection rate can be measured monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually, the longer the time frame, the more data you will have to provide an accurate performance assessment of your practice. Figuring out your net collection rate every 90 days for a period of at least one year will help provide the most accurate average rate.
Why Does Tracking Your Holistic Billing Metrics Matter?
Although the net collection rate is one of the most valuable collection metrics of your practice, other holistic billing rates are important to track to receive the best understanding of your overall efficiency and success. Tracking other metrics can also prepare your holistic practice to stay ahead of any revenue challenges. It’s essential for the success of your practice to be monitoring all billing metrics possible to have a continuous understanding of your financial performance. By tracking these metrics regularly, you can evaluate the monetary success of your holistic practice over a period of time to identify fluctuations and then investigate where and why any problematic changes take place.
Improve Your Net Collection Ratio With The Experts at Holistic Billing
Whatever the causes of a low net collection rate, partnering with a reputable holistic billing service is one of the fastest and easiest ways to turn this key revenue metric around. Experienced holistic billing services can overhaul the way a practice codes its services and how it submits claims to payers to minimize the rate of denials. Outsourcing your holistic billing process over to a third party also frees up time for office staff to focus on providing the best service and care possible. Instead of spending hours on the phone trying to collect outstanding payments, a holistic billing company can focus on expanding the practice’s patient base and improving the practice’s healthcare experience to better retain the patients it already has.
Since 1999, Holistic Billing Services has handled coding and billing issues for a variety of healthcare practices. We understand that each practice is unique and requires a customized solution that aligns with its long-term goals and increase its medical billing metrics. That’s why we work closely with our clients to help them set up holistic billing services and solutions that meet their specific needs and allows them to deliver the best care possible. To find out what we can do for your practice, contact our team today for a consultation.
Over the last few years, more people than ever before are turning to acupuncture and other holistic treatments to alleviate ailments. As more people intentionally seek this service, your practice is likely to grow in size as members of your community begin to visit.
With this exciting growth in business comes the not-so-exciting amounts of medical billing paperwork – not to mention the headache of it all! Holistic Billing Services knows medical billing can be a challenge to navigate, especially for acupuncture practices. This post addresses some of the most frequently asked questions about billing for acupuncture to equip you with the fundamentals of medical billing.
What is Medical Billing?
Medical billing involves a healthcare provider submitting, following up on, and appealing claims with health insurance companies in order to receive payment for services rendered; such as testing, treatments, and procedures. It can be a long, grueling process that requires jumping through hoops left and right to receive payment for services rendered.
Why Is Medical Billing Important for Acupuncture Practices?
Though it may be a complicated process, it is also absolutely necessary for acupuncture practices because it is the most common way of getting paid for services rendered. The majority of your patients will likely have some form of insurance as payment, so your practice needs to be adept at navigating the many facets of dealing with insurance companies. This includes being knowledgeable of the appropriate medical billing codes for the treatment you provide to your patients, keeping track of the relevant patient records, and understanding how to communicate with the insurance company in order to be reimbursed.
Top Acupuncture Billing Questions and Answers
Medical billing can be a challenging portion of your acupuncture practice’s administrative needs. Let’s review some of the top acupuncture billing questions with our expert answers:
When Should I Update My Insurance Verifications and Medical Credentials?
Insurance verification is a critical component of billing insurances for acupuncture, and medical credentialing is a key part of this, too. Current verifications have the strongest correlation with successfully getting claims paid, which is obviously essential to your acupuncture practice. Patient plans and/or benefits will often change at the start of a new year, so it’s imperative you request new insurance verifications as soon as the new calendar year starts.
I am In-Network for a Couple of Insurance Companies, How Often Should I Re-Negotiate My Rates?
Managed care contracts are usually written to auto-renew on an annual basis so you will want to analyze your contracts annually. Use the end of the year to calculate your per-visit reimbursement for a given contract and compare it to per-visit reimbursements for your cash and out-of-network patients. Based on these figures, you can determine if the volume of patients seen from a particular payer offsets any variance in reimbursement. Then, negotiate accordingly.
Which Procedure Codes are Most Frequently Used by Acupuncturists?
In general, the most frequently used CPT procedure codes are those relating to medical evaluation and management, a few of which include:
- 99201-05: New Patient Office Visit
- 99211-15: Established Patient Office Visit
- 99281-85: Emergency Department Visit
- 99241-45: Office Consultation
Specifically for acupuncturists, the following are the most frequently used CPT codes:
- 97810: Initial Acupuncture Session (Tip: do not report this in conjunction with 97813; use one or the other)
- 97811: Subsequent Unit of Acupuncture (You may use it in conjunction with either 97810 or 97813)
- 97813: Initial Acupuncture with Electrical Stimulation (Don’t report this in conjunction with 97810; use one or the other)
- 97814: Subsequent Unit of Acupuncture with Electrical Stimulation (This may be used in conjunction with either 97810 or 97813)
Accurate medical billing codes are instrumental for streamlining your billing process and further growing your acupuncture practice.
Do You Have a List of Insurances That Will Pay for Acupuncture That I Can Use?
Unfortunately, we don’t have a perfect answer for this! Insurance benefits will vary from plan to plan – even within the same insurance company – so there’s no quick shortcut for knowing if the patient‘s insurance will cover acupuncture. It’s really a case-by-case basis when serving patients who might have Medicare, go through the VA, or hold a private insurance policy otherwise. HBS recommends that you verify the patient‘s benefits before you treat the patient by contacting the payer directly or confirming their insurance plan prior to each visit.
Do I Have to Implement Electronic Health Records (EHR) in My Practice?
No, although you will need to document each patient visit, there is no legal mandate to implement EHR for your acupuncture practice. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out Meaningful Use non-compliance penalties in 2015, but most acupuncture practices do not meet the minimum revenue standard for Medicare so these penalties should not apply to your practice.
Though not legally required, using electronic health records can greatly streamline your administrative tasks and help your acupuncture practice operate more efficiently.
Can I Bill Insurances for Massage Therapy?
Yes, there are insurance plans that will pay for massage therapy treatments performed by a licensed massage therapist or licensed acupuncturist! As always, be sure to verify the patient’s insurance benefits information and utilize accurate medical billing codes. The following are the most frequently used for massage therapy sessions:
- 97124: Massage Therapy
- 97140: Manual Therapy
- 97112: Neuromuscular Re-Education
- 97010: Hot/Cold Packs
- 97110: Therapeutic Exercise
Have More Questions About Acupuncture Billing? Reach Out to the Experts at HBS!
HBS is an acupuncture billing service that is experienced in billing for both licensed massage therapists and licensed acupuncturists. As an experienced billing provider for holistic practices, Holistic Billing Services can help your practice navigate the insurance billing process to minimize denials and increase revenue.
With our team of experts by your side, you can focus more on treating patients to help your practice grow rather than worrying about insurance billing. To learn more about our acupuncture or massage therapy billing services, talk to one of our billing and coding experts today.
HBS recognizes the critical role billing plays in running a profitable holistic practice. We also acknowledge the profound impact billing errors, rejected claims, and clunky processing can have on your revenue cycle. To help you avoid common billing errors, here are some best practices for the most accurate medical billing process possible.
How Inaccurate Coding Can Affect Your Practice
Medical billing errors can have a number of negative impacts on your holistic practice. The most obvious problem is the increased denial rates, which means your insurance reimbursements will decline as well. Given that many holistic practices operate on relatively small margins, even a slight uptick in claim denials could put your business at risk.
In addition, there’s the extra time and resources spent on resolving the denied claim! A bill that’s initially rejected due to an error typically takes twice as much time to process, and the work required to follow up on it takes away from time that could be spent building up a practice or delivering better services to patients.
If medical billing and coding errors increase in frequency, the quality of the patient experience dwindles, profits are adversely affected, and the overall revenue cycle for your holistic practice is stymied. Efficiently adhering to the medical billing process and procedures can prevent these consequences through accurate claims management.
Top Medical Billing and Coding Errors in Holistic Medicine
Holistic Billing Services knows humans make mistakes; the goal is always to learn from them! Make your staff aware of these top billing errors so as to further mitigate the potential of these slowing down your holistic practice:
Scattered Claims Filing Practices
Accurate medical coding lies at the heart of efficient claims filing in billing processes. Delayed claims filing creates untimely billing practices, and is one of the most common medical billing mistakes. Deadlines are critical in the claims filing process as it essentially decides whether the claim will be accepted or rejected, and greatly affects your revenue cycle. To avoid such a situation, put effort into establishing an efficient system for billing and filing claims in your holistic practice.
Unorganized Data Collection
Another frequent point of failure in the billing process is inaccurate or insufficient data collection and usage. Mistakes can occur when patient information is not comprehensively collected or when clinical procedures are not filed in a timely and accurate manner. Improper medical billing can be drastically reduced when patient data is collected efficiently and used toward medical billing codes effectively. Capturing and utilizing complete data further minimizes the possibilities of duplicate claims, which can delay payment processing even more. Automated information filling, such as social security numbers and demographic codes, can speed up the medical billing process and procedures.
Failure to Verify Insurance
Insurance issues are among the top reasons for most claim denials and typically result from a routine oversight of not checking for changes in patient-provider information. Since insurance information can become outdated at any time, you must implement a verification step into the billing workflow for every single patient visit. By incorporating this double-check into your billing process and verifying the patient’s insurance at every visit, you’re confirming there are no policy-related issues that could result in denied claims.
Lack of Follow-Ups
When members of your medical billing team are not consistently following up on outstanding payments, your revenue cycle is adversely affected. Problematic claims remain unattended and thus negatively affect your holistic practice’s bottom line. Be sure to implement follow-up reminders for continuous monitoring of delayed payment claims to stay on top of revenue your practice has earned.
Best Practices to Avoid Medical Billing and Coding Errors
In addition to the general awareness of frequent medical billing errors, it’s essential to implement some of the following best practices to reduce the chance of complications in your holistic practice. Such tips include the following:
Routine Evaluation of Medical Billing Services
Medical coding and billing services are complicated processes, so it’s important for your holistic practice to routinely analyze its strengths and weaknesses in this sector. This analysis can establish a pattern of errors and successes, which can further adjust or solidify your practice’s billing methods. Whether it is inaccurate coding, untimely bill generation, information gaps, or clinical issues, the source of medical billing errors is easily identifiable through periodic analysis instead of turning a blind eye.
Consistent Excellence in Medical Coders
Employing coders who are experienced, methodical, and detail-oriented lies at the key to a successful billing process, as common medical billing mistakes are often the result of medical coder slip-ups. Whether a claim faces success or failure, therefore, lies in the hands of the medical coder – your employees are your best assets for maintaining a streamlined holistic practice!
Keeping Up With Changing Trends
Reducing the rate of denied claims and medical billing errors means your holistic practice needs proficient medical billing management. This includes up-to-date medical credentialing and medical billing systems that are automatically updated to account for ever-evolving codes and rules.
Ensure Accurate Medical Billing With HBS!
Using these tips on avoiding medical billing errors, you’re sure to make the most of your practice’s revenue in the future. However, these tips definitely require time and effort to do it successfully. If you’re in need of expert medical billing services, let NCG Medical be your go-to source for an error-free billing solution.
With more than 40 years of experience dealing with a broad range of medical billing issues for all kinds of practices, the team at NCG Medical has seen just about every kind of medical billing error an organization can make. That’s why our clients trust us to help them manage their insurance claims to ensure they’ll be accepted as clean claims on the first attempt, avoiding lengthy back and forth negotiations with the insurance company. And best of all, you’ll avoid the scrutiny of federal and state auditors.
Contact us today to learn about NCG Medical’s medical insurance billing services and find out how we can help you accelerate your revenue cycle management.
Your patients are your business. But it’s not how many patients your holistic practice schedules that matters – it’s the profit that those patients generate that will be the difference between a successful practice and one that is closing its doors. In order to set an advertising budget, you need to understand the value of your patients, and to do that you need to understand your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
At Holistic Billing (HBS), we focus on billing insurance for acupuncture services allowing us to use last year’s data to analyze the CLV specifically for an acupuncture insurance patient. However, we encourage you to go through the exercise for your other types of patients as well.
Why Does Marketing Matter for Your Acupuncture Practice?
As with any business, marketing is how you attract your customers, explain your services and backstory to the community, and stay relevant to your audience. If you don’t market your holistic practice, what are the chances someone will stumble across it? Of course, word of mouth is always helpful, but that can’t be the only marketing strategy your practice utilizes.
Marketing yourself to your community as a holistic practice, detailing who you are and what your story is, and offering snippets of relevant content is a great way to get noticed and attract your best patients. Your practice can’t grow if you don’t show it off!
How Much Should Acupuncture Practices Budget for Marketing?
A good rule of thumb is to spend 5% of your gross revenue on marketing activities if you want to maintain the size of your practice. So for instance, if you collect $30,000 per month you should be spending $1500 per month on marketing.
If you’re looking to grow your practice, it’s recommended that you spend between 7% and 15% of your gross revenues on marketing depending on your goals and how aggressively you want to pursue them. It’s also understandable if your marketing budget changes a little bit over time; it should be somewhat flexible to account for the status and potential growth of your holistic practice.
What Is Customer Lifetime Value?
Customer Lifetime Value is a prediction of the total worth of a patient to your practice. The CLV can be applied to any business, but it is particularly useful for healthcare and service sectors like your holistic practice.
The lifetime value of a customer, or customer lifetime value (CLV), represents the total amount of money a customer is expected to spend in your business, or on your products, during their lifetime. This is an essential figure to know because it helps you make decisions about how much money to invest in acquiring new customers or retaining existing ones.
In the big picture, CLV is an indicator of the profit associated with a particular customer relationship, which should guide how much you are willing to invest to maintain that relationship. For example, if you estimate one customer’s CLV to be $500, you wouldn’t spend more than that to try and keep the relationship as it wouldn’t be profitable to your holistic practice.
What Is the Lifetime Value of A Holistic Practice Patient?
No two practices are alike, thus lifetime value will vary depending on your location, the services you offer, and how long your patients stay with you. Here is how we calculate the CLV for your insurance patients:
Average Annual Value x Relationship Years + Patient Referral Value
= Customer Lifetime Value
Let’s look at the figures more closely.
First, we determine how much the average patient generates per year. For this exercise, we used acupuncture patient averages across our national claims database. This past year our clients saw their patients on average 11 times in the calendar year. The payment per visit averaged $175 for a total of $1,925 in revenue per patient. Then factor a 20% profit margin on that revenue. Therefore, the Average Annual Value of an insurance patient is $385.
Next, you will need to know the lifetime of an average acupuncture insurance patient. If you‘re not sure, use the healthcare industry average of ten years. Then, plug the number into the first part of our formula to get a patient‘s lifetime value of $3,850.
Average Annual Value ($385) x Relationship (10 Years) = $3,850
Now, this is when it gets interesting. Let’s say the average client provides referrals for two new patients during their relationship with your practice. Each additional patient is worth $3,850. So, for two patients, your Patient Referral Value is $7,700. Now, let‘s go back to the original formula:
Average Annual Value ($385) x Relationship (10 Years) +
Client Referral Value ($7,700) = Customer Lifetime Value ($11,550)
Why Does the Lifetime Value of a Customer Matter?
Once you understand the CLV for your practice you‘ll be able to make better decisions about when, where, and how much you should spend advertising on new patients. The rule of thumb is that you never want to spend more money on acquiring a new patient than your calculated Customer Lifetime Value.
Now that you are familiar with the CLV of insurance patients in acupuncture, apply the formula to your cash patients and clients using other services at your holistic practice. With this information, you can make more realistic marketing decisions that will direct you to the right type of patients and ensure your most successful practice yet.
Market Budget Basics
The first step in determining what a proper budget would be for advertising your acupuncture practice is to gather all the figures of your practice and create SMART goals:
Specific
The goal must be specific and well-defined. You and your team should be on the same page about where your holistic practice is currently at, and where you all want to see it go.
Measurable
Make sure you attach a metric to your specific goal. Of course, you want to grow your holistic practice, but by how much? Do you want to see 20 new patients over the next 6 months? Expand your practice by 20% by the end of the quarter? Calculating a number to aim for will keep you and your team on target.
Attainable
You certainly have big dreams for your holistic practice, but they won’t come to fruition overnight; your goals should be attainable for where your practice is currently. It wouldn’t be realistic to aim for 100 new clients in a week, but you could change that perspective and aim for 100 new patients in one year.
Results-focused
Ensure that your marketing budget is focused on the results that matter to you and your overall mission for your practice. Achieving a goal should be rewarding to you and your team, personally and professionally.
Time-dependent
This ties into every other facet of your SMART goals; tailor your marketing goals to a particular time frame to hold yourself accountable. This will once again affirm your holistic practice’s goals for yourself and your team, and keep everyone in alignment.
HBS recommends setting goals for patient visits, new patients, and collections, as a strategic starting point for your holistic practice. From there, you and your team should develop a month-by-month, week-by-week, and day-by-day marketing plan focused on achieving your goals.
Once you layout the marketing activities that you will be participating in both internally and externally, you can then begin to develop a budget to fund those activities.
Best Practices for Acupuncture Marketing
Now that we’ve discussed the importance and foundational basics of marketing, let’s dive into the best practices for holistic marketing:
Network with the Health Practitioners in Your Area
Whether you are an experienced practitioner or new to the industry, a sure-fire way to get solid client referrals is through the doctors, naturopathic doctors, chiropractors, physiotherapists, and other holistic practitioners in your area. These professionals work with patients who might desire a holistic approach to take care of their health, in addition to medical services. Patients who are referred to you in this manner have a high probability of following through and becoming long-term, paying clients.
Encourage Word of Mouth
Good old word of mouth is one of the best forms of flattery for any business, but especially a holistic practice. This method of marketing is one that potential clients trust the most, but few businesses have mastere
d it. It’s alright to ask for referrals or testimonials from your existing clients, colleagues, friends, and family.
Social media and other internet review sites are also excellent ways to encourage your patients to talk about you. Providing meaningful content and engaging with your followers can spread like wildfire and attract the right opportunities for your business.
Make Yourself as “Findable” as Possible
If they can’t find you, they won’t know you even exist! Creating an online presence via a professional website and social media profiles will demonstrate to your future patients that you want to create a consistent and welcoming impression. Potential clients will likely do some research before they put their trust in you. If they can’t look you up to research your credentials and experience, they may move on to another holistic practice with a stronger web presence.
Host or Participate in a Contest
Everyone loves to win free stuff! Whether you do an online contest or offer a drawing at an event, putting together a contest is an excellent way to collect the names of potential clients and grow your email list. You can offer a special prize or free services to the lucky winner and, hopefully, you just got yourself some great leads in the process. It’s a win-win.
With these steps and essential basics of marketing, we’re sure your holistic practice will take off! Holistic Billing Services is here to help you grow your practice in a variety of ways and has been facilitating the growth of holistic practices since 1999. Contact us today and let us help your holistic practice reach its potential!
Holistic Billing knows your holistic practice provides essential services for your clients and the community you serve. From acupuncture to massage therapy, one essential component of your work is to manage your holistic practice efficiently to best serve your clients. But, how can you successfully manage and run your practice?
With the proper practice management practices, your holistic business can grow and provide the utmost care to your patients. Keep reading for more information and tips on how to streamline your practice management!
What is Practice Management?
Practice management involves the responsibilities of overseeing the revenue cycle, compliance regulations, human resources, health information, and general business processes. This comprehensive work is usually performed by an individual or shared by a team, and ensures all areas of your organization are running smoothly.
It’s not an easy job to run a busy and successful holistic care practice; while it takes plenty of planning and determination, it also includes furthering a relationship between your clients and your practice. The well-being of your patients depends on how a practice keeps all moving parts humming along and functioning smoothly.
Why Do Holistic Practices Need Effective Practice Management?
Naturally, you want your holistic practice to be as effective and efficient as possible! To be operating at your best means your clients will receive the best care and attention. Your holistic practice should function in a smooth, yet professional manner so that patient-provider objectives can be achieved.
Effective practice management can make this happen and involves not only the practitioners and specialists across every discipline in your organization, but also the staff members and supporting team players. A cohesive business approach where everyone is on the same page translates beautifully into a fantastic client experience.
Improve Practice Processes
Increasing the efficiency of your practice’s workflows and processes results in automating tasks that usually burden your staff. By alleviating your team’s recurring workload, they can better serve your patients and turn their attention to other areas of the practice that need further help or development.
Verify Insurance
Making patient insurance verification an easier and more efficient process will enable you to see more patients. Your holistic practice will reap the benefits of automating such tedious and convoluted processes as insurance verification with the use of a Practice Management Software, which this article discusses further down. Automating this process would allow staff to estimate payments and collect them at the point of care.
Measure Efforts
Streamlined practice management allows for analytics to be tracked to see what is working and which metrics of your holistic practice need to be improved. This is instrumental in understanding where your practice is at in terms of numbers. Tracking these metrics will let you plan for the future, too – once you start meeting your objectives comfortably every week, you can start thinking about pushing yourself and your objectives higher, or focus on making your practice more sustainable.
Best Practices for Managing a Holistic Practice
Follow these best practices for successfully managing your holistic practice.
Consider Using a Practice Management Software
Designing and implementing a suitable practice management software system – and training your team members – can help achieve your holistic objectives. As your practice grows in size, and as the volume of patient flow increases, you need to add more staff and specialists so that you can treat different types of patients, necessitating increased practice efficiency. This future growth can be supplemented by innovative practice management software.
Utilize Technological Resources to Your Advantage
Skillfully using modern health information technologies, such as electronic medical records (EMRs) and the integration of mobile technologies, enables holistic practices to achieve more collaborative and methodical treatment options. Putting these resources to work for your organization means you’ll have a better overview of patient plans and future interactions.
Maintain HIPAA Confidentiality
This one is inherent for anyone working in the holistic medicine field. Your practice must conform to the vital health regulations and changed laws, such as HIPAA, and changed payment reimbursement models. Keeping up to date with these legalities and patient protections demonstrates your dedication to safeguarding personal information.
How Holistic Billing can Elevate Your Practice Management
Established in 1999, Holistic Billing Services is an integrative health services firm focused on streamlining your documentation, billing, and coding process to enhance your revenue cycle management. Our secure online portal provides acupuncture practices, massage therapy practices, and chiropractic practices an easier way to manage their health insurance billing so they can focus on delivering quality patient care and growing their practices.
As the nation’s largest billing provider for holistic healthcare, we service over 1,200 practices across the country. Thanks to our knowledge of insurance reimbursement and healthcare auditing risks, holistic practitioners average over $185 per hour of treatment with our billing and coding services. Contact us today and see what we can do for your practice management!
Medical billing and coding are essential to the modern healthcare landscape. As more holistic practices are being credentialed by insurance companies, optimizing the medical billing process is essential for success and growth. Unfortunately, many holistic providers may find the medical billing and coding process overwhelming. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be!
These medical billing best practices can help your holistic practice navigate the complexities of the insurance billing process. Follow these tips for the most efficient and streamlined medical billing and coding experience!
What is Medical Billing?
When delivering treatments for any insured patients, medical billing is an essential component in the medical reimbursement process. Medical billing is the process of submitting claims with insurance providers so healthcare providers – whether conventional or holistic – can receive their payments in return for their services to the patient. Any medical provider who is credentialed can be reimbursed by insurance companies for services, including private medical practices, hospitals, outpatient facilities, and holistic practices.
Medical billing ensures that the healthcare provider is being paid for their services by billing both patients and insurance companies so the medical practice can be paid for treatments. Since medical billing ensures medical providers are being paid, any hiccups in the system from denied or delayed claims can negatively affect a practice’s revenue.
What is Medical Coding?
Medical coding is the translating a patient’s medical history of diagnoses and treatments received into a universal, alphanumeric shorthand used by insurance companies to pay medical practices the correct amount for their treatments. Each medical procedure and diagnosis is labeled with a unique code that is used to determine the payment amount.
After a patient’s chart has been translated into the correct code, a billing claim is filed to the patient’s insurance company to request the correct reimbursement for the treatments. During this process, insurance evaluates the claims for accuracy; if there are no errors, then insurance reimburses the medical provider and determines how much the patient owes.
Why Accurate Medical Billing and Coding Is Essential for Holistic Practices
Proper medical billing and coding are key for efficient reimbursement – and successful holistic practice. In general, the financial health of your medical practice weighs on how accurate your medical billing and coding are since consistent errors can be costly.
While every medical specialty needs accurate billing processes to receive payments in return for treatments, holistic practices should take special care of their medical billing. Most holistic practices are smaller than larger medical businesses and therefore have tighter bottom lines. On top of that, holistic practices have unique billing specifications to pay attention to, including regularly changing compliance guidelines and unique uses of modifiers.
Since medical billing is an integral function of the reimbursement process with a direct effect on your holistic practice’s revenue, the more accurate your medical billing is, the more time, energy, and money your practice will have. Instead of spending time resubmitting claims where even the slightest error can delay payments for weeks, accurate medical billing allows you more time to spend doing what you love – delivering care to your patients.
Medical Billing and Coding Best Practices to Implement as a Holistic Provider
As a holistic practice, a streamlined billing process is one of the best ways to boost your revenue cycle management. Here are some medical billing best practices to follow to boost your practice’s financial health and avoid costly errors.
Make Your Medical Billing Statements Patient-Friendly
By making your payments more readily accessible, your billing can be more patient-friendly and easier for patients to make payments so you get reimbursed faster. This includes offering patients a variety of ways to pay for services.
Keep Your Clean Claim Rate Above 95%
The clean claim rate ratio is the average number of claims paid on the first submission. A 95% clean claims rate means that all but 5% of claims get to payers with no errors upon the first submittal. The higher your holistic practice’s clean claim rate, the less time and energy your staff will waste on reviewing denied claims and re-submitting claims. A 95% clean claims rate or higher should be the ideal rate your practice should be aiming towards.
Properly Submit Accurate Claims
One of the most important components of a successful holistic practice is submitting accurate claims the first time. By taking the extra time to review claims for any errors, your practice can avoid wasting time and energy from editing and resubmitting incorrect claims – and the weeks it takes for the delayed reimbursement to finally come through. And, since many holistic practices have a tighter bottom line than other medical practices, maintaining accuracy in your medical billing is essential for increasing revenue.
Stay Up to Date on Medical Billing Rules and Regulations
Medical billing and coding regulations are constantly changing, and this is especially true about billing rules of holistic practices. Medicare is constantly updating its rules for what holistic procedures are covered, and staying informed can create a streamlined process that avoids delays and denies. Your holistic practice’s cash flow can be directly affected if you fail to stay in compliance with current medical billing rules.
Consistently Look For Areas to Improve
Your holistic practice should always be looking for ways to improve. Consistently looking for ways to optimize your medical bolling can identify areas of performance that can help expand your practice. Besides keeping track of regulation changes with medical billing and in your specialty, manage your key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor the accuracy of past performance to identify areas of improvement or success.
Consider Outsourcing Your Medical Billing
Balancing accurate medical billing and coding with growing your holistic practice can be stressful – and may make delivering care for your patients more difficult. Even if you follow these medical billing best practices, keeping track of changing compliance regulations and ensuring accurate billing may be too overwhelming for your internal team. So, what can you do?
By outsourcing your medical billing to a trusted third party, time and energy is given back to your holistic practice so you can focus on what matters most – delivering care for your patients! Make sure you do your research and choose a medical billing company that specifically works with holistic providers so you can be confident your billing is being handled by experts
Trust Your Insurance Billing to the Holistic Billing Experts!
Leave behind in the past the stress of having to balance your holistic practice’s insurance enrollments, billing, and coding while delivering care to your patients! By choosing to outsource your insurance billing, your holistic practice can streamline your revenue cycle management and handle the responsibility of your medical billing – saving your practice both time and energy you can devote to more important matters such as growing your business and delivering care.
As an experienced billing provider for holistic providers, Holistic Billing Services can help your holistic practice navigate the medical billing process to minimize denials and delays so you can increase revenue. With an expert partner by your side, you can focus more on treating patients to help your practice grow rather than worrying about insurance billing. To learn more about our billing services for holistic providers, talk to one of our billing and coding experts today.
More Americans than ever before are turning away from conventional medicine and embracing holistic healthcare. Whether it’s to alleviate chronic pain, reduce stress, or for other benefits, studies are showing that more people are trading in their conventional doctors for holistic practitioners, or complimenting their conventional care with holistic therapies.
In a survey of more than 89,000 adults and more than 17,000 children, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that nearly one out of three people in the U.S. are seeking holistic healthcare solutions. So, why the shift to holistic medicine? There are several reasons responsible for the ongoing shift towards holistic healthcare.
What is Holistic Medicine?
Holistic healthcare is a form of medicine that treats the “whole person,” treating not the physical self, but also the emotional, spiritual, and mental facets as well. Whereas conventional medicine seeks to provide treatment for pain or the ailment, holistic healthcare focuses on both treatment and prevention. For example, if a patient has an ailment and turns to holistic therapy for help, the holistic practitioner will seek any underlying causes, including the patient’s stress levels and diet.
There are many different types of specialties under the umbrella of holistic medicine, including:
- Massage therapy
- Chiropractic care
- Mental health counseling
- Acupuncture
- Homeopathy
- Nutrition counseling
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Western herbal medicine
By focusing on prevention and health alongside treatment, holistic healthcare has helped millions of people manage their own wellbeing more effectively.
Western Medicine vs Holistic Medicine
Many holistic healthcare specialties have their roots in Eastern medicine. Compared to Western healthcare, Eastern medicine attempts to look at overall imbalances in a person’s life. This focus can be seen throughout all the holistic specialties. There are some key areas where holistic healthcare and Western medicine deviate from one another.
Insurance-Coverage
Until recently, many holistic practitioners were not covered by insurance or were out of network. Even still, many holistic practices may find it harder to be covered by insurance. On the contrary, Western healthcare and treatments are more likely than not covered by insurance providers, and as a result more accessible to Americans.
Cause of Ailment
While Western medicine looks at physical components, such as physical symptoms and genetics, for the causes of illnesses, holistic healthcare looks at the overall wellness of the patient. This includes any possible imbalances, such as issues with mental health and diet. For holistic practitioners, environmental and emotional influences are just as equal factors in the wellbeing of a patient as physical components.
Treatment of Illness
Holistic healthcare also differs from Western healthcare in the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses. In holistic practices, identifying the disease is not as important as in Western medicine because illnesses are viewed as effects of the patient’s individual lifestyle, and so treatments will vary per person and are not as clearly identifiable. Holistic treatments will often incorporate medication, natural solutions or supplements, or diet and exercise regimens. On the other hand, Western treatments will often include formal tests and standard treatments for every patient based on the illness. Treatments often include medication, with suggestions for lifestyle changes.
3 Trends Impacting the Rising Shift to Holistic Medicine
While there isn’t one single reason for the growing popularity of holistic healthcare, there are several trends that may be held responsible for the rising shift of consumers choosing holistic practices.
Growing Skepticism About the Medical Industry
More Americans are growing wary about healthcare institutions and general medical practices. Based on data from an international health care survey, Americans were found to have growing distrust in medical professions. While more than three-fourths of Americans had strong confidence in the medical field in the mid-1960s, currently only 34 percent trust the current medical system. Part of this skepticism can be due to a variety of motives. While many patients have been wary to trust medical research due to the motives being possibly compromised by funding, there is also the perception that key players in the healthcare industry pursue profits at the expense of patients.
There is also a growing public perception that Western medicine may be over-reliant on medications. While people are taking more medications than ever, doctors are also prescribing them on high doses – with some reports indicating that many of these pills are doing more harm than good. While nearly 7 in 10 Americans are taking at least one prescription drug each day, nearly nine in ten (89%) adults 65 and older are on prescription medicine. The most common prescriptions make up antidepressants, antibiotics, and opioid painkillers. One of the attractive aspects of holistic healthcare to many Americans is its lack of medications. For people trying to find less-medicated treatment, holistic medicine seems like a positive solution.
Greater Accessibility
In part due to the growing popularity of holistic medicine, more Western medical practices are adding supplemental holistic care – making it more accessible for patients. Hundreds of healthcare centers, including hospitals affiliated with Duke, Yale, Johns Hopkins, and other top medical research centers, are also offering holistic therapies, including acupuncture, massage therapy, meditation, Chinese herbal therapy, and more. While it’s likely the vast majority of hospitals will have alternative medicine options, this is a far cry from two decades ago when just 14% of hospitals were reported to provide complementary holistic therapies in 2000.
With greater acceptance of holistic therapies in hospitals, clinics, and research centers, more people looking for alternatives are finding them easier to access. While many of these therapies are supplementary and made to complement Western treatments, they are allowing patients access to acupuncture, massage therapy, and even more alternatives.
Wide Range of Ailments Treated
One of the additional driving forces in the growing popularity of holistic healthcare is the wide range of illnesses that alternative therapies can encompass. Since therapies, such as massage and medication, focus less on the exact illness and more on the overall well-being of the patient, people with medical conditions that are not easily treated with conventional medicine are turning to holistic practices for relief.
For patients increasingly dissatisfied with the minimal time they receive with doctors and with physicians who seem to prescribe a pill for every woe, integrating their conventional treatments with holistic therapies or completely choosing a holistic approach to medicine offers a refreshing new take on care.
Prepare Your Holistic Practice for the Future With HBS
With the growing demand for holistic medicine, your holistic practice needs to be optimized to handle growth. Medical billing is especially complicated for holistic practices and can possibly overwhelm your business as you focus on growing your practice and provide care for your patients. By outsourcing your medical billing, you can leave the responsibility of insurance enrollments, credentialing, and medical billing and coding to the experts – saving you time!
As an experienced billing provider for holistic practices, Holistic Billing Services can help your practice navigate the intricacies of insurance billing claims to minimize denials, increase your revenue, and grow your practice. We understand the unique needs of holistic practices, as well as the common obstacles you face when it comes to medical billing and coding. With a knowledgeable partner by your side, you can streamline your billing and increase your revenue cycle management! To learn more about our services, talk to one of our billing and coding experts today.
Today, chiropractors treat over 27 million Americans every year – which translates into about one million chiropractic adjustments every business day. Chiropractic care continues to grow in popularity as a safe holistic alternative for pain relief, with more people coming into chiropractic practices for a variety of ailments. As more scientific studies are being conducted to prove the benefits of chiropractic adjustments, the more this treatment will cement itself as an accepted holistic practice.
What is Chiropractic Care?
Chiropractic treatment is a system of holistic therapy focused on the structure of the body, specifically the spine. By manipulating the spine’s alignment, a chiropractic adjustment is intended to relieve pain, improve bodily functions, and encourage the body to heal itself.
The goal of chiropractic adjustments is to correct spine misalignments, which are also called subluxations. Chiropractic care believes that these misalignments result in improperly transmitted nerve signals between the spine and body – resulting in negative effects on your health.
What Are The Different Types of Chiropractic Treatments?
All types of chiropractic treatments focus on aligning the spine. There are a wide variety of different types of chiropractic treatments available to suit different needs.
Diversified Technique
One of the most widely used chiropractic methods, the diversified technique is used for three main purposes: restore spine alignment, repair joint dysfunction, and ensure proper mobility and movement. With precise manual thrusts, chiropractors use this method to restore spinal alignment that may be compromised by misaligned bones or joints.
Spinal Manipulation
Also known as spinal mobilization or manual therapy, this technique aims at reducing inflammation, enhancing nerve function, and relieving pressure on joints. Spinal manipulation is similar to the diversified technique in that it is a manual procedure, although it involves more stretching and gentle thrusts.
Thompson Drop-Table Technique
This type of chiropractic treatment requires a specially designed table constructed with padded platforms and drop mechanisms. While the drop mechanisms allow the patient to be “dropped” during the chiropractic adjustment, the padded platforms keep the patient comfortable during the procedure. The drop motion is gentle and designed to resemble a light vibration when the chiropractor applies thrusts.
Gonstead Adjustment
This method is used to restore normal disc alignment for maximum mobility. This chiropractic adjustment can be administered with the patient either laying on their side or sitting up. Unlike other types of chiropractic treatments, the Gonstead Method addresses all of the possible directions in which a spinal bone can misalign and cause nerve irritation.
Flexion-Distraction
The flexion-distraction method uses a special table that moves as the chiropractor manipulates the patient’s spine. The movements of the table are designed to emphasize the spinal manipulations and help stress and decompress the spine. This position helps realign the spine and relieve multiple sources of pain.
Activator Method
The activator method uses a hand-held, spring-loaded instrument known as the Activator adjusting instrument. This method offers two main advantages: high speed and controlled force. As opposed to other techniques, the activator method enables chiropractors to use low-impact and quick thrusts at specific points.
Do Chiropractic Adjustments Work?
Chiropractic adjustments can be effective in treating lower back pain as well as other ailments. A 2018 study is among some of the more recent studies reflecting the effectiveness of chiropractic adjustments. Researchers enrolled 750 active-duty military personnel who complained of back pain; while half were given chiropractic treatment, the others were given conventional care, such as medications.
By the end of the six-week study, the military personnel who received chiropractic adjustments
- Reported less pain
- Experienced more mobility
- Reported higher satisfaction with their care treatment
- Required fewer pain medications
According to the MayoClinic, other studies also suggest that chiropractic adjustments may also prove to be an effective treatment for headaches and other spine-related conditions, such as neck pain. As more studies are conducted to prove the benefits of this holistic therapy, it’s no doubt that chiropractic care will continue to expand and become even more popular for those seeking a safe alternative for pain relief.
What Are the Benefits of Chiropractic Care?
There are numerous advantages to chiropractic care for people looking to alleviate pain and other symptoms. Some of the most common benefits include:
Alleviates Pains
Of the millions of people who seek chiropractic care, about 35% are seeking relief from back pain alone. Regardless of the cause, such as accidents and sports injuries, back pain can be alleviated from spinal manipulation. Chiropractic adjustments can also help improve neck, arm, and leg pain, as well as headaches and muscle strains.
Enhances Athletic Performance
Chiropractic adjustment can reduce inflammation in the body, helping to improve mobility and limb function. This is especially important for athletes, who must reduce tension and pain in their bodies for top performance. By making athletes more mobile, chiropractic care can help prevent sports injuries. In fact, many sports teams and athletic programs hire chiropractors to ensure the health and safety of athletes.
Improves Symptoms of Neurological Conditions
Chiropractic care may provide relief for some neurological condition symptoms. Since chiropractic treatments help increase blood flow to the brain, it may also increase the flow of cerebral spinal fluid – therefore benefiting people who suffer from neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis. Currently, chiropractic applications for neurological conditions are still being researched but chiropractic neurology is expanding.
Provides a Safe Opioid-Alternative
The increasing popularity of chiropractic treatments is partly due to their ability to alleviate pain without side -effects. As the opioid crisis grows, more people are choosing holistic therapies over conventional treatments for pain with opioid pain medications, which can lead to addiction. Chiropractic is a safe, non-addictive treatment for people looking for opioid alternatives.
Common Ailments Chiropractors Can Treat
Chiropractic adjustments are known to treat a variety of different ailments, but here are some of the most common ones.
Herniated Disc
A herniated disc is one of the most popular reasons people turn to chiropractic adjustments for relief. Also known as a bulged, slipped, or ruptured disc, this condition of the spinal bones can irritate nerves and result in numbness, pain, and weakness in the leg or arm. Chiropractic care, such as spinal manipulation, manual therapy, and therapeutic exercises can alleviate this condition.
Headaches
Chiropractors commonly see patients come in complaining of migraine headaches. Studies have shown that spinal manipulation may be an effective option for treating tension headaches and headaches that have their origin in the neck.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
A chronic inflammatory disease, rheumatoid arthritis causes joint pain throughout the body. Inflammation can cause swelling, stiffness, and pain that can eventually lead to loss of joint function. Chiropractic care can help ease the tight muscles along the spine and treat the inflammation throughout the body from this condition. Since chiropractors try to improve the relationship between the nervous system and spine by realigning vertebrae, Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms may be improved.
Sciatica
This condition refers to pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve, which can range from your lower back through your hips and down each leg. Sciatica typically occurs on only one side of the body. Chiropractic care treats the true cause of sciatica, which is nerve compression caused by vertebral subluxations. By making spinal adjustments, the nerve is decompressed and the sciatica pain is alleviated.
Whiplash
Often the result of a car accident, whiplash is neck pain that can also cause stiffness and mobility issues. With chiropractic adjustments and stretching, many people have found their whiplash swelling and pain reduced.
Tinnitus
Ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus, can surprisingly be affected by chiropractic adjustments. Tinnitus is a result of injuries in the upper spinal area. Chiropractors will address the original cervical injury, which is generally a subluxation that can be easily manipulated by adjustments. By alleviating the nerve pressure, tinnitus can be cured by spinal manipulation.
Focus on Providing Better Chiropractic Care While We Focus on Insurance Billing!
With further advancements in chiropractic care, the more this holistic therapy is expected to expand. However, your holistic practice will only expand by ensuring your chiropractic billing is as accurate as possible to prevent any chance of claim denials and delays. That’s where outsourcing your chiropractic insurance billing can help!
As an experienced billing provider for holistic practices, Holistic Billing Services can handle all your insurance billing details to minimize errors while you can focus on delivering the best care to your patients. Want to learn more? Talk to one of our billing and coding experts today.
As holistic medicine becomes more popular, more people are turning to methods such as massage therapy to address their pain or for general relaxation. Both healthcare providers and patients alike are increasingly understanding the benefits of massage therapy and how important it is as a treatment, whether stand-alone or in conjunction with other treatments.
As massage therapy continues to expand (employment of massage therapists is projected to grow 21 percent from 2019 to 2029), your patients need to understand the full extent of the benefits of massage therapy. Choosing the right massage therapy practice can bring people improved physical, social, and mental well-being.
What Is Holistic Massage Therapy?
A type of integrative medicine, massage therapy involves a certified massage therapist who manipulates the soft tissues of the body, including muscle, connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, and skin. By using varying degrees of pressure and movement, the massage therapist can induce pain relief for health conditions or relaxation for overall well-being.
Massage therapy has its roots in both Eastern and Western medicine and has been practiced in most cultures to some extent. In fact, it’s one of the oldest remedies people have used for pain relief with a history that dates back about 5,000 years ago.
What are the Types of Holistic Massage Therapy?
The term “massage therapy” actually encompasses a wide range of massage types. The types of massage therapy out there focus on different parts of the body or specific treatment approaches. Here are some of the most common types of massage therapy.
Medical Massage
Unlike other forms of massage, which focus on relaxation, a medical massage is for medical needs. It’s prescribed by a physician as a form of treatment for diagnosed medical conditions and is billed to insurance companies in fifteen-minute increments. The massage therapist may use a variety of techniques that will focus on the area of the body that is being affected by the medical diagnosis. Besides being used to treat soft-tissue disorders, medical massage can also be prescribed for psychological conditions and accelerate rehabilitation after an injury or surgery. There are several requirements for treatments to be considered a medical massage:
- Medical massage requires a prescription
- Medical massage is a complementary therapy to other medical treatments
Medical massage is a general term that covers a wide variety of massage techniques that have proven to deliver medical benefits. Some common massage techniques that can be classified as medical massages include:
- Swedish massage
- Sports massage
- Deep tissue massage
- Trigger point massage
- Thai massage
- Prenatal massage
- Reflexology
- Aromatherapy
Again, these massage techniques require a medical diagnosis and prescription to be considered medical massage therapies.
Swedish Massage
Swedish massage is a gentle full-body massage that helps to especially release muscle knots and fully relax patients. This method of massage therapy is ideal for people who:
- Are new to massage therapy
- Are touch-sensitive
- Need to relieve stress
- Are managing minor pain
This method involves the patient lying on a massage table covered in a sheet. The massage therapist will remove the sheet to uncover areas they will be actively kneading or working on.
Hot Stone Massage
While this kind of massage therapy is similar to Swedish massage, hot stone massage involves heated stones instead of or in addition to the massage therapist’s hands. The heated stones help to improve blood circulation and relieve muscle tension for relaxation and pain relief. A hot stone massage is especially ideal for:
- Stress relief
- Improving blood flow
- Promoting relaxation
During treatment, the massage therapist places heated stones on different areas of the patient’s body. The therapist may apply pressure with their hands or use cold stones as well. Generally, hot stone massage relieves more muscle tension than the Swedish method due to the heat involved.
Aromatherapy Massage
This kind of massage therapy uses traditional massage techniques with the addition of essential oils. By combining gentle pressure with essential oils, this type of massage is designed for an emotional component. An aromatherapy massage is good for people who are looking to:
- Relieve pain
- Reduce anxiety and stress
- Relieve symptoms of depression
- Experience a mood boost
During treatment, the massage therapist will give a full-body massage while applying diluted essential oils to the skin. The oils may also be inhaled through a diffuser. If you’re sensitive to essential oils or strong smells, this massage will not be ideal for you.
Deep Tissue Massage
A stronger Swedish massage, deep tissue massage uses more pressure and can relieve chronic muscle problems, anxiety, and tight muscles. The massage therapist will use deep finger pressure and deliberate slow strokes to reach the deepest layers of tissue. This type of massage is ideal for:
- Reducing muscle tension
- Improving chronic pain
- Treating repetitive stress injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome
Although deep tissue massages are intensive procedures, they should not be painful.
Sports Massage
A sports massage is useful for treating repetitive muscle injuries from athletics or to help prevent a sports injury from occurring. This kind of treatment can also be used to increase flexibility and your overall athletic performance. Generally, a sports massage involves a full-body massage with the massage therapist focusing on certain muscles or parts of the body that need more attention. A sports massage is ideal for those who:
- Want to improve sports performance
- Have an injury from repetitive muscle use
- Want enhanced flexibility
- Want to reduce chances of injury
Trigger Point Massage
This type of massage targets “trigger points,” or areas in the body that cause pain such as tightness in muscle tissue. The massage therapist focuses on relieving these trigger points with gentle strokes combined with deep pressure to reduce pain. Trigger point massage is ideal for those seeking to alleviate chronic pain.
Shiatsu Massage
A Japanese method of massage, shiatsu stimulates acupuncture points throughout the body to improve the flow of energy. During shiatsu, the massage therapist will apply localized pressure using their fingers, elbows, and hands in a sequence along the body. This method of massage is good for someone looking to:
- Alleviate stress
- Reduce chances of stress-related health issues
- Promote relaxation
- Reduce headaches
Reflexology
Reflexology focuses on the pressure points in your hands, feet, and ears. During treatment, the massage therapist uses finger pressure, kneading, and rubbing on these different pressure points to induce relaxation. This is a good massage technique for those who are uncomfortable with being touched over their entire body.
Thai Massage
Thai massage is a unique blend of yoga, massage movements, and stretching. Unlike the other types of massage therapy, Thai massage is more active and involves the massage therapist moving and stretching the client in a sequence of postures, typically on a floor mat. Thai massage would be useful for:
- Improving range of motion
- Reducing back pain
- Alleviating anxiety
- Improving blood circulation
- Boosting energy levels
In addition to being stretched in various positions, you will also have the massage therapist applying pressure to your body with their fingers and palms.
Prenatal Massage
Also known as a pregnancy massage, this kind of massage therapy is customized for a pregnant woman. As many pregnant women experience lower back pain and swollen ankles, a prenatal massage offers relaxation and relief. The massage therapist will also apply gentle pressure for tension relief.
What are the Benefits of Massage Therapy?
Massage therapy offers numerous benefits for people seeking treatments for relaxation and health issues. According to the American Massage Therapy Association, some of the benefits of massage therapy include alleviating:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Low immune function
- High blood pressure
- Heart rate issues
- Chronic pain
- Limited range of motion
- Poor quality of sleep
There is also limited evidence that massage therapy can help improve various health conditions including, but not limited to dementia, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic headaches, postsurgical and burn recovery, fibromyalgia, and reducing the effects of chemotherapy and nausea.
Why Effective Medical Billing Can Help Massage Therapists Provide Care
When massage therapists deliver treatments, medical billing processes ensure that they receive reimbursements for their care. While medical billing is an integral function of the reimbursement process, it can be very complex; the slightest error can delay payments for weeks, if not longer. Ensuring the most accurate medical billing allows medical therapists more time to spend doing what they love – delivering care to their patients.
However, balancing your holistic practice’s insurance enrollments, billing, and coding while delivering care to your patients can be overwhelming. How can you manage them all?
By outsourcing your massage therapy insurance billing, your holistic practice can streamline your revenue cycle management – and save you time and energy you can devote to your patients!
As an experienced billing provider for holistic providers, including massage therapists, Holistic Billing Services can help your massage therapy practice navigate the medical billing process to minimize denials and delays so you can increase revenue. With an expert partner by your side, you can focus more on treating patients to help your practice grow rather than worrying about insurance billing. To learn more about our massage therapy billing services, talk to one of our billing and coding experts today.
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As a medical billing company focused on holistic practices, our team of experts often speaks to hundreds of practitioners daily. Many of the questions medical practices have been around handling patient deductibles. At the beginning of every year, most patients have their health insurance benefits recalculated. That is to say, that the number of visits and deductible amounts are re-set on January 1.
So a frequently asked question through our provider hotline is, “How do I handle a patient‘s deductible?” Follow some of these tips to better manage patient deductibles so you can be paid on time for treatments.
What are Insurance Deductibles?
Insurance deductibles refer to the amount patients have to pay out-of-pocket before their insurance benefits will subsidize payment; the amount is identified when verifying insurance benefits. A patient’s deductible is determined by their insurance plan and will range in amount, so you will not know the exact balance until you verify the insurance benefits. Every insurer and plan varies when it comes to benefits, coinsurance, associated copays, and deductibles.