Did you know that roughly 30% of medical billing claims are rejected? That’s a significant chunk of your overall healthcare revenue cycle that will cost you in the short and long run. These claims might be rejected for a few reasons – a key one which is inaccurate coding.
That’s why it’s essential for your acupuncture practice to leverage current CPT codes that accurately reflect the services rendered. Having to rework claims results in costly reimbursement delays plus it takes up your time and energy!
If your holistic practice continues to make mistakes with acupuncture CPT codes, you can have increased denial rates and declining insurance reimbursements, which could put your practice at risk. Accurate acupuncture CPT codes and billing practices can help ensure your holistic practice reaches its full revenue potential.
We want to help reduce your medical billing stress, so we’ve compiled a handy reference list of the acupuncture CPT codes to use in 2023. Be sure to bookmark this page so you can easily access it!
Top 4 Essential Acupuncture Billing Codes for 2023
The bulk of the services you will bill to insurance will likely fall under four essential acupuncture CPT codes. Since acupuncture services are always billed in 15-minute increments, your practice will use one code for the initial 15 minutes of service and then a separate code for additional units of time.
Your acupuncture CPT codes will only vary if you include electronic stimulation in your treatment.
- 97810 Initial Acupuncture: Initial 15-minute insertion of needles, personal one-on-one contact with the patient. (Do not report in conjunction with 97813; use one or the other.)
- 97811 Subsequent Unit of Acupuncture: Use one unit per each additional 15 minutes of personal one-on-one contact with the patient after the initial 15 minutes, with re-insertion of needles. (May be used in conjunction with either 97810 or 97813)
- 97813 Initial Acupuncture with Electrical Stimulation: Initial 15-minute insertion of needles, personal one-on-one contact with the patient. (Do not report in conjunction with 97810; use one or the other.)
- 97814 Subsequent Unit of Acupuncture with Electrical Stimulation: Use one unit per each additional 15 minutes of personal one-on-one contact with the patient, with re-insertion of needles. (May be used in conjunction with either 97810 or 97813)
Acupuncture CPT Codes for Medicare
January marks the three-year anniversary of Medicare expanding their coverage options to include acupuncture for treating chronic lower back pain. CPT codes related to billing Medicare for acupuncture treatments are as follows:
- 97810: Acupuncture, one or more needles, without electrical stimulation, initial 15 minutes of personal one-on-one contact with the patient
- 97811: Each additional 15 minutes of personal one-on-one contact with the patient, with re-insertion of needles
- 97813: Acupuncture, one or more needles, with electrical stimulation, initial 15 minutes of personal one-on-one contact with the patient
- 97814: Each additional 15 minutes of personal one-on-one contact with the patient, with re-insertion of needles
- 20560: Services with needle insertion(s) without injection(s) of 1 or 2 muscle(s)
- 20561: Services with needle insertion(s) without injection(s) of 3 or more muscle(s)
Prices will depend on the region of your holistic practice; look up specific codes based on your location here.
Acupuncture CPT Codes for Patients
Medical billing codes for patients can be broken down into two categories, new and returning patients:
2023 Billing Codes for New Patients
Use these acupuncture CPT codes for when your holistic practice receives new patients. As a reminder, a new patient is defined as a patient who hasn’t received professional services from you or another provider of the same specialty who has belonged to your practice within the past three years.
- 99202 Evaluation/Management (Expanded): Presenting problems are of low to moderate severity; requires an expanded problem-focused history, an expanded problem-focused examination, and straightforward medical decision-making; the provider typically spends 20 minutes face-to-face with the patient
- 99203 Evaluation/Management (Detailed): Presenting problems are of moderate severity; requires a detailed history, a detailed examination, and medical decision-making of low complexity; the provider typically spends 30 minutes face-to-face with the patient
- 99204 Evaluation/Management (Comprehensive): Presenting problems are of moderate to high severity; requires a comprehensive history, a comprehensive examination, and medical decision-making of moderate complexity; the provider typically spends 45 minutes face-to-face with the patient
Billing Codes for Returning Patients
These CPT codes for acupuncture can be used for your established patients. Returning patients are those who have received any professional services from you or another provider of the same specialty who has belonged to your practice within the past three years.
- 99212 Evaluation/Management (Limited): Presenting problems are self-limited or minor; requires a problem-focused history, a problem-focused examination, and straightforward decision-making; the provider typically spends 10 minutes face-to-face with the patient
- 99213 Evaluation/Management (Expanded): Presenting problems are of low to moderate severity; requires an expanded problem-focused history, expanded problem-focused examination, and medical decision-making of low complexity; the provider typically spends 15 minutes face-to-face with the patient
- 99214 Evaluation/Management (Detailed): Presenting problem(s) are of moderate to high severity; requires a detailed history, a detailed examination, and medical decision-making of moderate complexity; providers typically spend 25 minutes face-to-face with the patient
Medical Billing Codes for Physical Therapy Treatments
Acupuncture practices use a variety of treatments and modalities to help their patients; your practice may bill for the following:
- 20550 & 20551 Tendon Injection: Single tendon injection for the treatment of fasciitis. Could include multiple injections into a single tendon sheath (CPT code 20550) or the tendon origin (CPT code 20551)
- 20552 & 20553 Muscle Injection(s): Injections involving single or multiple trigger points. Could be used to treat one or two muscles (CPT code 20552) or three or more muscles (CPT code 20553)
- 97010 Heat Therapy: Application of a modality to one or more areas; hot or cold packs
- 97016 Cupping: The use of a vasopneumatic device may be considered reasonable and necessary for the application of pressure to an extremity for the purpose of reducing edema
- 97026 Infrared Therapy: The application of infrared therapy is considered medically necessary for patients requiring the application of superficial heat in conjunction with other procedures or modalities to reduce or decrease pain/produce analgesia or reduce stiffness/tension, myalgia, spasm, or swelling
- 97110 Therapeutic Exercise: One or more areas, every 15 minutes; therapeutic procedures to develop strength and endurance, range of motion, and flexibility with direct (one-on-one) patient contact
- 97112 Neuromuscular Reeducation: Treatments to restore movement, balance, coordination, kinesthetic sense, posture, and/or proprioception for sitting and/or standing activities with direct (one-on-one) patient contact
- 97140 Manual Therapy: Techniques such as mobilization and manipulation, manual lymphatic drainage, and manual traction, one or more regions, every 15 minutes with direct (one-on-one) patient contact
- 97124 Massage Therapy: Includes effleurage, petrissage, and/or tapotement (stroking, compression, percussion) with direct (one-on-one) patient contact
- 97530 Kinetic Activities: Use of dynamic activities to improve functional performance, every 15 minutes with direct (one-on-one) patient contact
Medicare Billing Codes for Principal Care Management (PCM) in 2023
Principal care management involves managing a single, complex chronic condition; the goal here is to deliver a focused treatment and management plan that addresses a patient’s chronic condition.
- 99424: Principal Care Management performed by a physician or non-physician provider for 30 minutes per calendar month
- 99425: Additional 30 minutes per calendar month
- 99426: PCM performed by clinical staff under the direction of a physician or other qualified healthcare professional for 30 minutes per calendar month
- 99427: Additional 30 minutes per calendar month
These codes will allow providers to report care management services for patients with chronic conditions, such as lower back pain, in an effort to improve monitoring these complex health problems.
Transform Your Medical Billing with HBS!
Balancing your acupuncture practice’s appointments, SOAP notes, billing and coding, all the while delivering care to your patients can be overwhelming. Save time, energy, and streamline your revenue cycle management by bundling your practice management with outsourced acupuncture insurance and Medicare billing!
As an experienced EMR and insurance billing provider for holistic practices, Holistic Billing Services can help your practice navigate the billing process to minimize denials and increase revenue. With a knowledgeable partner by your side, you can focus more on treating patients to help your acupuncture practice grow rather than worrying about insurance billing.
To learn more about our acupuncture billing services, talk to one of our friendly billing and coding experts today!
Did you know that the acupuncture industry in the United States is valued around $664 million? Approximately 3 million adults receive acupuncture treatment each year and that number continues to grow as more people turn to holistic healthcare and alternative medicines.
How can your acupuncture practice attract and retain clients in this growing market? Your marketing strategy is essential to your enduring success and sustainable growth as a holistic practice – acquiring new patients is as valuable as retaining current clients, and everyone benefits from an effective marketing strategy. However, this can be a challenging endeavor and you might be looking for some holistic practice marketing tips.
In this article, we’ll cover the budgeting basics of a marketing strategy and review best practices for some important marketing elements, such as your social media and website. Keep reading to learn more marketing tips!
How Much Should You Budget for Marketing Your Acupuncture Practice?
Before you do anything with your acupuncture practice, you probably ask yourself a variety of questions regarding cost: how much something will cost, how can you be sure it’s worth it, how much effort will it take you to execute, etc. are all valid questions to have. Marketing efforts are no exception, of course, and this is the foundation for any discussion about marketing tips.
If you’re looking to maintain the current size of your acupuncture practice, it’s recommended that you spend about 5% of your gross revenue on marketing. On the other hand, if you’re looking to expand and scale your practice, then you’d want to spend between 7% and 15% of your gross revenue.
For example, if your gross revenue is $5,000 per month then you should put aside $250 for marketing initiatives. Of course, marketing budgets can change over time and other factors come into play, so these numbers are all relative to your particular acupuncture practice and short- or long-term goals.
Holistic Marketing Tips #1: Calculate Your Customer’s Lifetime Value for Deeper Marketing Budgeting Insight
If you want to dive a little deeper into how much you should expect to budget for marketing your acupuncture practice, let’s talk about a customer’s lifetime value.
This metric, abbreviated to CLV, estimates the financial gains your practice earns from each patient and is the ace up your sleeve when it comes to marketing your practice. The formula is simple and can apply to almost any healthcare or service field:
Average Annual Value x Relationship Years + Patient Referral Value
= Customer Lifetime Value
For example, if you have a client who visits your acupuncture practice once a month and each visit costs $100, then the total revenue generated from that one client is $1,200 over the course of that year. Factor in a 20% profit margin and your Average Annual Value of that client is then $240.
Let’s say this same client continues to visit your practice for 5 years before moving to another state, then the CLV would calculate out to this:
AAV ($240) x Relationship (5 years) = $1,200
When you start consistently tracking this metric at your acupuncture practice, you can better leverage marketing tips and strategies that are appropriately budgeted in order to reduce costs and boost your profits. For example, if you know that an average CLV at your acupuncture practice is about $500, then you wouldn’t want to exceed that figure for your marketing budget.
After all, knowledge is power–when you know what to financially anticipate from a typical patient over the course of their relationship with your practice, you can make better informed decisions about how you engage with them via marketing.
Holistic Marketing Tips #2: Leverage Social Media Accounts to Create Community
If creating a social media account for your acupuncture practice seems frivolous or intimidating, we understand. However, if you have a business – in any industry – then it behooves you to tap into social media for marketing purposes and there are plenty of statistics to back it up:
- According to 90% of marketers, their social media marketing efforts have increased the exposure of their business, and 75% say they’ve increased traffic
- 71% of consumers who have had a good social media experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others
- 74% of consumers share video content from brands on social media
- 80% of social marketers say their key strategy is to increase engagement across social channels
- There are more than 50 million small businesses using Facebook Pages to connect with customers
Don’t worry about trying to go viral or trying to fit into a niche that doesn’t feel authentic to you and your practice – instead, focus on putting out content that you care about and that reflects your acupuncture practice. For example, you could do a series where you briefly explain pressure points one at a time and how each one affects the body.
Or if you have a cat at your practice, you can make a video about a day in the life of an acupuncture practice cat. The content you produce for social media doesn’t have to be serious, it can be fun! There is magic in the mundane of your industry that people who aren’t in it might not know about, so don’t be afraid to try new ideas.
Social media is a great way to build rapport with your audience and further illustrate who you are and what your practice stands for so be sure to include it in your marketing strategy.
Holistic Marketing Tips #3: Update and Expand Your Practice’s Website
With so many free, easy-to-use, and customizable website resources on the internet, there’s no reason why your acupuncture practice doesn’t have a professional website. Potential clients can find your site when searching for acupuncturists in your area and existing clients can stay up to date on your practice so it’s a win-win. Plus, a nice website can help distinguish you from the competition!
In addition to ensuring that your site is optimized for mobile users, which is a feature in most DIY website building platforms, consider including the following on your acupuncture practice’s website:
- A section that outlines your background and the values that guide your practice
- Your mission statement
- Contact information, hours of operation, location details, and more
- A place for announcements or specials
- Social media links
- A blog where you demonstrate your expertise and interests through engaging articles
- Link to leave a review on Google and other rating sites
- And more!
Personalizing your site will help clients, both new and existing, learn more about you; building that relationship is critical to long-term success!
Holistic Marketing Tips #4: Partner with a Medical Billing Firm
Does the thought of coming up with creative social media content overwhelm you because who has the time? Are you already swamped with mountains of paperwork that hardly seem to go away even after you spend hours each week tackling it? Would you say that treating patients is the best part of your job, yet it seems that you spend the least amount of time with them?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you should partner with a medical billing firm!
How does this relate to marketing your acupuncture practice? When your time is consumed by the tedious and complicated medical coding and billing process, it leaves little time for much else. By letting a trusted firm, like Holistic Billing Services, handle the medical billing burden, your time, energy, and creativity is freed up to focus more on what matters most: your patients.
The friendly experts at HBS have decades of experience and are eager to help you succeed! Contact us today to get started building a custom solution that suits your acupuncture practice needs and goals.
Medical documentation is a core component of treating clients at your holistic practice; better documentation leads to better patient outcomes and reduces overall patient risk.
But when it comes to certain types of medical documentation, like SOAP notes, there are some common mistakes that you should be wary of making. These mistakes will take up precious time and result in ineffective notes–that’s a lose-lose situation!
In this article, we’ll cover SOAP notes, the importance of medical documentation at your holistic practice, and some common mistakes we want to help you avoid.
Keep reading to learn more!
What Are SOAP Notes?
SOAP notes are a kind of medical documentation; initially, SOAP notes were developed for use in traditional medicine settings, like hospitals, but now SOAP notes are effectively leveraged in nearly every facet of the healthcare industry!
This template for comprehensively logging a client’s wellness journey includes for sections, each letter in SOAP stands for:
Subjective
In this section, you’d include information regarding how the patient subjectively feels and phrases they use to describe their internal experience. For example, does your client feel achy and sore when they get out of bed? Noting their subject experience is helpful for establishing their point of view and addressing their concerns.
Objective
The second section is where you’d document objective pieces of evidence pertaining to the patient’s condition. For example, if they have limited range of motion or if they’re sensitive to the touch on their lower back. These pieces of information must be able to be supported by objective statements and evidence.
Assessment
For the next section of your SOAP notes template, you’d elaborate on what type(s) of condition your patient might have, your reasons why, and provide updates on how the treatment plan is progressing over the course of your subsequent sessions. For example, you might note that the patient expresses a significant decrease in their pain level.
Plan
Finally, your SOAP notes conclude with a section discussing the plan of action you have for your patient. What are their immediate next steps? When will they return to your holistic practice for another session of treatment? These details are important to include in this medical documentation.
SOAP Notes and the Importance of Medical Documentation
Now that we’ve reviewed the general format of SOAP notes, let’s talk about the importance of them and medical documentation as a whole at your holistic practice.
These forms and notes capture important information in the moment and help establish a comprehensive analysis of your patient’s condition. Over time, these snapshots provide deeper insight into the patterns and waves that a client’s condition might demonstrate.
Thus, SOAP notes and other types of medical documentation help reduce patient risk by requiring you to evaluate multiple perspectives and put various details together to paint a bigger picture. Such improved outcomes are obviously a win-win for you and your patient!
Furthermore, having detailed records and a paper trail is beneficial to your holistic practice from a medical billing perspective–when you have detailed notes to back up your medical coding and billing claims, you have a better chance of getting reimbursed than if you were simply “winging” your medical coding.
Avoid These Common SOAP Notes Mistakes
There aren’t any shortcuts to good quality SOAP notes, but there are some pitfalls you can watch out for, like these common mistakes:
Mistake: Including statements without evidence to support them
Your SOAP notes should have sources and evidence to support them. This means that your notes should be unbiased and be an accurate reflection of what occurred during your session with the patient. For example, if a patient seems happy, then it would be smart to note what evidence you have for that statement, e.g., the patient was smiling and laughing.
Mistake: Saying the same thing in each of the SOAP note sections
Another common mistake people make is regurgitating the same information in each section of SOAP notes. This ultimately defeats the purpose of SOAP notes, which is to comprehensively interpret and analyze a patient’s condition.
Don’t include how the patient is feeling in your Assessment notes but do include how they describe their pain in the Subjective section! Keep a list of what each section is meant to cover handy until you know how to fill in each spot appropriately.
Mistake: Using general or vague language
While you shouldn’t spend hours writing your SOAP notes, it is important to include details and specifics in your report. A common mistake is making general statements or being too brief in your writing, which isn’t properly leveraging the SOAP notes format.
Let Holistic Billing Services Handle Your Medical Billing Burden!
Delivering quality care and excellent patient outcomes is the top priority for your holistic practice, right? So forget about the hassle and headache that comes with managing your revenue cycle on your own!
Partner with the friendly experts at Holistic Billing Services to optimize your healthcare revenue cycle, minimize your rejected claims, and stay current on the ever-changing healthcare regulations and laws. We’ll empower you to focus on what matters most: your patients.
Contact us today to get started on a solution that suits you!
They’re called first impressions for a reason: you seldom get a second chance to make a positive, lasting impression.
In the age of healthcare consumerism where patients can shop around for the best value and patient experience, it’s more important than ever that your holistic practice delivers a great first impression. One of the foundational steps for this is managing your front desk.
From the greeting used when answering the phone to how well your receptionist is able to answer questions a client might have, there are a handful of qualities about the front desk’s role that impact overall patient satisfaction and the patient experience.
We’ll cover these qualities, how to manage the patient experience, and why all of this matters to your reputation in this article. Keep reading to learn more!
What Is the Patient Experience?
The patient experience is a general umbrella term for everything that your patient might interact with over the course of receiving care from your practice.
This includes:
- Your marketing efforts and overall brand awareness (your name, slogan, etc.)
- Website, social media accounts
- Online reviews
- The location of your practice
- Front desk experience
- Your practice’s mission
- Types of awareness accepted
- Appearance of your practice
- And more!
Understanding that the patient experience is more than just interacting face-to-face with your patients is the first step to improving and elevating their experience.
Another important step is recognizing that the patient experience doesn’t end when the patient leaves your practice after their appointment; it’s a continuous cycle with a multitude of touchpoints that can impact their satisfaction with your practice and thus your overall reputation.
Your Front Desk and the Patient Experience
One key area of the patient experience is their engagement with your holistic practice’s front desk. This is where patients will call to ask questions about your practice, schedule appointments, and more!
Your receptionist, whether it’s you or a staff member, is the liaison for your practice–that includes connecting patient to provider, practice to community, contacting payers for reimbursement, and so many other parties related to your practice.
That’s why providing a stellar front desk experience to your patients is vital to your short-term and long-term success. If patients are constantly having to call back or chase after getting answers from your receptionist, then it doesn’t bode well for your reputation. But if your front desk staffer is on the ball and offers cheerful help, then patients will feel more connected to your practice.
Our Top Tips for Managing Your Practice’s Front Desk
Now that we’ve covered all that is entailed in the patient experience and the impact of your front desk on overall patient satisfaction, let’s dive into a few top tips:
Keep an Orderly, Organized Appearance
This tip applies to just about every room in your practice that patients might go to–including the bathroom. But this is especially important for your front desk. If your front desk looks cluttered with sticky notes everywhere and empty coffee cups by the keyboard, then you won’t be making a great impression on patients.
On the other hand, if your front desk is organized and includes some patient education materials, like helpful brochures or more information about your practice, then you’ll make a winning impression! Your practice is responsible for sensitive patient and payment information, so it’s best to appear professional and organized as such.
Establish an Enthusiastic Phone Greeting
When you call a business, would you enjoy just getting a bland “Hello” or a distant “How can I help you?” when the business answers? Didn’t think so! The same goes for your patients; keep a cheerful tone, speak clearly, and consider including some of the following in your phone greeting:
- Your receptionist’s name
- Your holistic practice’s name
- Your practice’s slogan
- A quick snippet of your mission statement
- Asking for the name of the caller to personalize the conversation
These details will help distinguish you from the competition and quickly build rapport with patients, whether new or returning.
Keep FAQ Answers Handy
At some point, you’ll realize what questions are most frequently asked by patients. To save time and make the most of a phone call, keep these responses handy! This might include:
- What types of insurance you accept
- Office hours
- Directions on how to get to your practice
- Phone numbers to provide to patients who need to contact another department or medical agency
By establishing yourself as a resource for your patients, you’ll instill trust in them–that’s a huge win for delivering a great patient experience!
Partner with Holistic Billing Services to Deliver an Optimal Patient Experience!
Providing your patients, whether new or returning, with an excellent experience takes consistent time and effort. There are so many factors to consider that make or break a patient’s impression of your practice that sometimes it can feel overwhelming to handle your behind-the-scenes tasks, like medical billing.
If you’re passionate about providing an optimal patient experience and tired of excessive paperwork and confusing regulations, then partner with Holistic Billing Services to boost your revenue cycle! Our friendly experts have decades of medical billing experience and can’t wait to help your holistic practice thrive.
Contact us today to build a solution customized to your needs!
Operating a successful and effective holistic practice means managing a plethora of responsibilities, tasks, and repetitive processes–all while delivering quality care to your patients and community.
Part of this, unfortunately, entails writing and maintaining several policies and other types of business writings related to your practice. Putting your actions and intentions into writing can be intimidating and you might not even know where to start!
In this article, we’ll focus primarily on a few types of policies you should implement at your practice, ranging from the obvious to the overlooked. Take notes of which ones you already have in place, which ones you might need to review or update, and which ones you need to leverage as soon as possible.
Keep reading to find out more!
Why Are Policies Essential for Your Holistic Practice’s Success?
We know that paperwork is never someone’s favorite part of their work; it’s something that is often seen as a necessary evil and results in a headache.
Writing, updating, and managing different types of policies at your holistic practice is essential for a few reasons that make the headache worth it. From educating your patients to streamlining your processes and more, establishing a centralized plan for whatever element of your practice you’re addressing is incredibly useful!
For example, implementing a patient no-show policy is something that your patients need to be aware of, so they understand the consequences of not showing up for their appointment. Thus, having this policy in effect is vital to the patient-provider relationship; it’s also important for streamlining your processes because it helps manage your calendar and other administrative workflows.
The same can be said for numerous other types of policies; not to mention that keeping policies current is also essential for reducing the potential for any legal trouble!
4 Types of Policies to Write for Your Holistic Practice
Check out these types of policies to include in your holistic practice’s arsenal of business writings:
Patient Care Policies
Of course, the whole point of your practice is to deliver quality care to patients–that’s why you need a patient care policy! Care policies can take on a wide variety of subjects depending on the specialty of your holistic practice; be sure to do your research and establish a patient care policy that best reflects your practice.
HR Policies
Your practice wouldn’t operate smoothly without the support and power of your staff; as such, you need to help them succeed with policies that are related to the workplace, customer relationship success, and more.
Consider implementing policies related to:
- Dress code, both for staff and patients
- Legal and ethical standards
- Annual leave and sick time
Workplace Safety Policies
Does your holistic practice utilize personal protective equipment (PPE)? What’s the protocol to follow in the event that a hazardous material is spilled? How would you respond in the event of a medical emergency?
Writing a clear set of guidelines will empower you and your staff to know how to handle a potentially dangerous situation safely.
Cybersecurity and Information Management Policies
HIPAA is basically synonymous with the healthcare field; you can’t have one without the other. However, it’s not the only kind of cybersecurity or information management policy to implement at your practice.
Check out these other forms of cybersecurity policies:
- Threat escalation steps
- Password-related guidelines
- When access is given or restricted
The healthcare field is under relentless attack by cyber criminals; don’t let your holistic practice be the next victim!
Partner with Holistic Billing Services to Optimize Your Practice!
Are you tired of looking at paperwork and overwhelmed by the medical billing process? Even though it’s vital to your practice, facing mountains of forms, types of policies, and regulations can be incredibly stressful.
When it comes to optimizing your healthcare revenue cycle, the friendly experts at Holistic Billing Services are the ace up your sleeve! We’ve got decades of experience and expertise in your specialty, so rest assured that you’re in good hands.
We’ll optimize your revenue cycle, minimize your rejected claims, and put more time back into your life so you can focus on what matters most: your patients. Let us handle the medical billing burden and contact us today!
Your holistic practice’s longevity and financial success depends on how efficiently and effectively you can manage your revenue cycle.
Without ensuring this key component of your strategy is running smoothly, you’ll be struggling to keep your practice in the green.
A comprehensive revenue cycle management strategy can really transform your holistic practice and help chart the course of your practice’s future. But what exactly is a revenue cycle and how do terms like accounting or medical billing factor in?
We’ll break it down in this article; keep reading to learn more!
What Is Revenue Cycle Management?
In the most general definition, revenue cycle management, sometimes shortened to RCM, encompasses the identification, collection, and management of a practice’s finances based on the services rendered.
In other words, RCM refers to the processes required to manage and streamline the various components of a holistic practice’s financial standing.
The typical steps of a practice’s revenue cycle are as follows:
- Patient registration and scheduling
- Prior authorizations and eligibility verification
- Patient visit and treatment
- Documentation
- Charge capture and charge entry
- Medical coding
- Medical claim submission
- Payment posting or denial
- If claims are rejected, rework and resubmit until you get the money owed
A frequently asked question regarding RCM: who exactly is involved in the revenue cycle at your holistic practice? The short answer is everyone!
This includes your
- Patients
- Payers, whether it’s insurance companies or government programs
- Staff
Anything to do with the financial side of your holistic practice is, obviously, vital for its long-term presence in your community and your ability to scale up in the future.
For instance, effectively managing rejected claims and establishing processes that address errors in your claims is a foundational step to optimizing your overall revenue cycle management strategy.
What’s the Difference Between Medical Billing and Healthcare Accounting?
Since there are so many facets of the healthcare revenue cycle, it’s easy to use other financial terms interchangeably. Take medical billing and accounting—what do these two concepts actually mean and how do they relate to your holistic practice’s RCM?
Let’s break them down here:
Medical Billing
Medical billing is the process of translating a patient’s delivery of care into a financial representation so that your practice can be reimbursed for services rendered.
This process involves medical billing codes and submitting claims to insurance companies, Medicare, the VA, or whatever other payer programs relevant to your patients, so that you can receive money from them for the services you provided.
Healthcare Accounting
On the flipside, healthcare accounting is the practice of processing and recording financial transactions; basically, what you do in your personal finances but perhaps with a few more figures thrown into the mix.
Healthcare accounting includes a few different standards for performance, such as accounts receivable and accounts payable, which are two metrics that are vital to benchmarking your holistic practice’s financial health.
Effective Revenue Cycle Management Depends on Accurate Medical Billing
As the old adage goes, time is money. Nowhere is that truer than in the case of your holistic practice’s revenue cycle! Ensuring your medical billing process is streamlined and as accurate as possible might take some time and effort to establish but will bring tremendous benefits to your practice.
A streamlined medical billing and coding process means you’re only working each of your claims once and submitting them promptly so that you can get paid in a timely manner! Reworking claims happens to the best of us, but should be the exception, not the rule.
The sooner you can minimize bottlenecks and clunky medical billing processes, the better off your practice will be!
Partner with Holistic Billing Services to Optimize Your Revenue Cycle!
Partnering with a medical billing firm to handle your medical billing can radically transform your holistic practice’s revenue cycle.
A trusted firm can empower your practice with comprehensive reporting and can act as an in-house expert for all your revenue cycle needs. With the medical billing burden off your shoulders, you can focus on what matters most: delivering quality care to your patients.
With the friendly experts at Holistic Billing Services, you’ll have decades of experience by your side who can help navigate the worlds of medical billing, healthcare software, and more! Ready to optimize your revenue cycle?
Paperwork is often credited with causing headaches, not reducing harm or actually helping anyone.
So, while it might seem counterintuitive to connect medical documentation to increased patient outcomes, SOAP notes are a standalone example of how that connection is real. This type of medical documentation–short for Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan–is an essential component of any healthcare practice, whether traditional or holistic.
In this article, we’ll dive into what exactly are SOAP notes, how they help reduce patient risk and result in better patient outcomes, plus why they’re important for medical billing. Keep reading to learn more!
What are SOAP Notes?
This form of healthcare documentation is the standard formula for compiling a comprehensive report of your patient’s experience and charting a course forward with a treatment plan that can help their ailments.
Let’s dive into each letter of this fun acronym:
S = Subjective
This first component of SOAP notes involves noting the subjective experience of your patient from an array of perspectives, including their feelings, perceptions, and personal opinions in relation to their condition.
The Subjective section of SOAP notes captures how the patient is feeling, thinking, and experiencing their ailments in their own words. This is a great start to the dialogue between patient and provider because the healthcare practitioner can gain an understanding of how the patient is doing.
Outlining this section of SOAP notes might vary from practice to practice, specialty to specialty. For example, if you were performing an initial consultation for someone seeking acupuncture services, you might ask the following:
- Rate the severity of pain on a scale of 1 to 10
- Describe the feeling of the pain (is it shooting, throbbing, dull, aching, etc.)
- Note the places of pain on the body
- Describe when the pain started and how it might change during the day
- Ask how the patient feels about needles
O = Objective
Once you’ve established the subjective views of the patient, it’s time to acquire the objective aspects of their condition. This might include:
- Allergies
- Body posture
- Range of motion
- Imaging results
- Medical diagnoses
- And more!
Each notation in this section should be factual and able to be proven; in other words, be sure to filter out assumptions or subjective language in this section.
A = Assessment
When you combine the information of the subjective and objective experience of the patient, you can conduct an assessment to determine what might be ailing your patient. If there might be a handful of causes, then be sure to list what you hypothesize your patient is dealing with ranging from most to least severe or important.
This section is vital for outlining your thought process and explaining how you arrived at your conclusions. Not only is this important for leaving a paper trail for your own knowledge, but it’s also incredibly helpful for other providers to refer to when treating your patient from other perspectives, such as conventional medicine providers.
P = Plan
Now that you’ve gathered the subjective, objective, and assessment components of your medical documentation, you’ve reached the final step: creating a plan. This might include noting:
- Which follow-up appointments are necessary and with whom
- Referrals to other providers or specialists
- Referrals for further testing or diagnostic services
- Therapy
Be sure to include all relevant information that the patient will need to follow through with your treatment plan and maintain an open line of communication with them after you provide your services.
How Do SOAP Notes Reduce Patient Risk?
The purpose of SOAP notes is multifold–they are essential for leaving a paper trail for medical billing reasons, they help you and other providers document a patient’s condition, and they reduce patient risk. How does paperwork lead to better patient outcomes?
Comprehensively analyzing your patient’s pain points, whether literal, metaphorical, or perceived, means that you’re taking the time to be thorough. Looking at something from multiple angles or considering a wide range of factors means that something is less likely to slip through the cracks or be ignored.
This means that you’re being vigilant in your interaction with the patient and valuing their input as much as the objective facts or other providers’ interpretations. Recognizing the role that your patient plays in their own treatment plan is essential for keeping them engaged, continuing an open dialogue in the patient-provider relationship, and overall reducing their risk.
Wish You Had More Time to Spend with Patients? Partner with Holistic Billing Services!
Do you find yourself swamped with rejected medical billing claims, puzzled by the differing processes for billing private insurance or government programs like Medicare, and bewildered by the latest legislative initiatives that will impact your holistic practice? Keeping your practice running smoothly takes a lot of time and energy–-just managing your revenue cycle alone is a ton of work!
Wish you had more time to spend with patients and detailing your SOAP notes? Partner with Holistic Billing Services to handle the medical billing burden so you can do what matters most: deliver quality care to your patients. Our friendly experts have decades of experience in your specialty and are eager to help your holistic practice succeed.
Did you know that the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), responsible for enforcing HIPAA compliance, received more than 306,000 complaints regarding HIPAA violations between 2003 and 2022? Such violations were found in healthcare entities ranging from major medical facilities to small, independent practices–anyone dealing with personal health information could be found out of compliance.
When the OCR receives a complaint, that often results in a HIPAA audit on that healthcare practice. But what exactly is involved in a HIPAA audit? And how can your holistic practice ensure you maintain HIPAA compliance?
In this article, we’ll cover all of that and provide helpful tips for you to conduct your own internal audit. Keep reading to learn more!
What Is a HIPAA Audit?
To answer this question, let’s first recap what exactly HIPAA is: the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed into law on August 21, 1996.
It’s the cornerstone legislation that created national standards to protect sensitive information regarding patient health from being discussed or handled without the patient’s knowledge or consent. Essentially, HIPAA provides and affirms a patient’s right to privacy.
The latest legislative update pertaining to HIPAA was the Final Omnibus Rule, which was approved in 2013 and refined important definitions and included requirements for new technology, such as cell phones.
Since there are so many elements in this legislation, it’s imperative that your holistic practice stay vigilantly compliant or else you risk having a HIPAA complaint and audit levied against your practice.
A HIPAA audit conducted by the OCR will investigate a number of areas within your practice and operations, including:
- Privacy Rule standards
- Security Rule standards
- Security IT risk assessment
- Physical site
- Asset and device
- HITECH compliance
Having an external audit performed by the OCR on your holistic practice is no small bump in the road; this process can take months from start to finish.
How Can a HIPAA Audit Impact Your Holistic Practice?
HIPAA audits can be costly and time-consuming for your holistic practice, both in terms of financial and reputational. If your practice is found out of compliance, then that can be damaging to your standing in the field and can result in lost business or further legal action. Don’t underestimate how important HIPAA compliance is in your practice!
5 Tips for Preparing for a HIPAA Audit
Now that we’ve reviewed what is involved in a HIPAA audit and how it can impact your holistic practice, let’s look at some of our top tips for preventing an external audit:
Make HIPAA Training Mandatory for Your Employees
No matter how many employees your holistic practice has–even if it’s just you–it’s vital that HIPAA training is part of your onboarding curriculum. After all, knowledge is power. If you or your staff aren’t well-versed in HIPAA’s standards, then it’ll be nearly impossible to ensure that your practice is in compliance.
Create a Risk Assessment Plan
If you want to avoid an external audit, then it’s a great idea to regularly perform internal audits of your own practice! Part of this entails creating a risk assessment plan, which analyzes every aspect of your practice to see where there might be room for improvement and map out an action plan in the event of a breach.
Know Where Your Documents Are at All Times
Carefully track where all your paper-based or electronic personal health information is stored, handled, and transferred. Whether it’s in old-school filing cabinets, desktops, mobile devices, shelves, or somewhere else, it’s important to know where your documents are.
Do Your Research
The OCR provides some general instructions for entities undergoing a HIPAA audit, including definitions of important terms. For example, “information systems” includes hardware, software, communications, people, information data, applications, and more. Check out their guidelines at this link here.
Partner with a Medical Billing Firm
The friendly experts here at Holistic Billing Services are HIPAA certified to handle your patients’ PHI while boosting your overall revenue cycle! Your success is our success, and we offer a range of services to help put more time and energy back into your day.
We’ll build a custom solution for your practice and empower you to get back to what matters most: delivering quality care to your patients. Our operations are grounded in professional, technical, and global billing for holistic care practices, no matter your specialty.
To learn more about how outsourced medical billing with Holistic Billing Services can streamline your practice, contact us today.
Ever heard of a patient care policy? If not, you might be wondering if your holistic practice needs one or how to write one for your practice and with so many different kinds of business writing for your practice, it can be easy to overlook one.
First, let’s define patient care–this term broadly includes the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of physical and mental well-being through healthcare services. Sounds like that aligns with the goals of your holistic practice? It certainly does.
In this article, we’ll dive into what exactly is a patient care policy, explain the importance of one for your holistic practice, and outline how to write one yourself. Keep reading to learn more!
What Is a Patient Care Policy?
A patient care policy can take shape in a number of different ways and might differ from one practice or specialty to the next; there is no one-size-fits-all, which means you have the flexibility to put a policy together that best suits your practice.
Essentially, a patient care policy is an umbrella term for the policies that relate to caring for your patients; this might include:
Administrative Policies
This piece of writing would pertain to how your practice’s administrative workflows handle the patient from a paperwork perspective and other aspects relating to your practice’s operations overall. Examples include no show patient policies, patient-payer policies, and more!
Care Policies
These might get more in-depth as they should cover how you deliver care to your patients, what to do in the event of different patient emergencies should they arise, methods for evaluation and treatment, etc.
Communication Policies
How do you communicate with your patients? Via email, automated voicemail, social media, texting, or some other form? This is what you’d outline in this policy–how the patient can anticipate contact from you, how frequently, and more, plus their rights to opt out if they so choose.
Privacy Policies
Standards and laws, such as HIPAA, that deal with patient privacy are essential to include in this component of your practice’s patient care policy. Outline how you protect patient privacy and when your practice will be sharing patient information–such as in the event of working with insurance companies or other trusted providers.
Does Your Holistic Practice Need a Patient Care Policy?
The short answer? Yes.
The long answer? Yes, and here’s why: your patient care policy, like any kind of healthcare or holistic practice policy, is vital to ensuring consistency. Having protocols and expectations in place helps minimize any kind of miscommunications or errors across your practice.
Furthermore, writing and implementing a patient care policy at your practice strengthens compliance with important standards and laws, such as HIPAA, and can be leveraged as a foundational piece of writing when onboarding new staff members.
Since there are so many different layers to the robust patient care policy, it’s nice to have a comprehensive body of writing that addresses so many different elements of your holistic practice and the patients you treat.
How to Write a Patient Care Policy: Do’s and Don’ts
With so many different facets to one patient care policy, it might seem intimidating to start putting one together for your holistic practice.
Start here with these foundational tips:
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
The good news is that you’re not the first holistic practice to write a patient care policy–you’re not starting from scratch! Hence there’s no need to stress about spending weeks writing this policy.
Do Your Research
Following up with the above point, do some research to see how other practices–whether holistic or traditional medical–have approached their patient care policies. This will help you get an idea of the industry’s best practices and chart a course to writing your own.
Don’t Be Too Generic
While it’s good to gain an idea of how other practices write their patient care policy, don’t be too generic or general in your own writing. Leaving out the details or particularities of how your practice cares for patients doesn’t help guide new staff members or codify processes that are important to your practice.
Do Tailor It to Your Practice and Specialty
What makes your practice stand out? Do you strive to serve the veterans in your community? Do you offer pediatric acupuncture? Multiple specialties under one roof? Factors like this will help you tailor your patient care policy to your practice and ensure that you consider the multitudes of your practice.
Don’t Let the Stress of Medical Billing Overwhelm You
Writing important documents and policies for your holistic practice isn’t exactly a piece of cake, but when you feel buried by a mountain of medical coding and billing paperwork then the pressure really settles in. Rejected claims, trying to read up on new regulations, and the overall hassle of dealing with insurance companies or Medicare programs can take a toll on your stress levels and make any additional paperwork feel burdensome.
Do Partner with Holistic Billing Services!
That’s where Holistic Billing Services is the ace up your sleeve–let our friendly experts handle the medical billing burden so you can focus on what matters most: delivering quality care to your patients.
We’ve got decades of experience and specialty-specific experts to help immediately boost your healthcare revenue cycle and put more time back in your day. Your success is our success, and we’re eager to alleviate your workload.
Do you know the value of your holistic practice’s online reputation? Research shows that 63% of patients choose one provider over another based on a strong online presence – that’s a major win for those who capitalize on these opportunities.
As patients leverage the internet to discover and research different holistic providers, appealing to your online audience is more important than ever, even if you’re not currently accepting new patients.
Let’s dive into a cornerstone of your practice’s online reputation: your website.
Why Does Your Holistic Practice Need a Website?
A website demonstrates authority and validates your presence, both online and your physical existence within your community. Your practice’s website is where you can further drive patient engagement, distinguish yourself from the competition, and empower patients to learn more about you. It’s a tremendous resource to leverage!
How Does Your Website Impact Your Online Reputation?
The truth is that your online reputation is being shaped whether you’re managing it or not, so it behooves you and your practice to steer the digital ship. Your website is your comprehensive path into the digital buzz around your practice and can help communicate important information to your patients and those shopping around for the best care.
You always want to put your best foot forward, right? Creating and maintaining your holistic practice’s website is a surefire way to do that. Since the possibilities are endless, there are countless ideas and methods to use when crafting your site, but the most important thing is to put forth your best representation of who you are and what your practice strives to do.
5 Things to Feature on Your Holistic Practice Website
Your options are nearly limitless, but here’s where we recommend you start with including on your practice’s site:
Mission Statement, Guiding Principles, and Other Foundational Writings
Your holistic practice’s mission statement is a core piece of writing that should absolutely be featured on your website. But why stop there? Consider including a section or page that features your practice’s foundational writings so that patients can reference them. This will help distinguish you from the competition and shape a meaningful online reputation.
About Us
Everyone loves a good origin story; share yours with the world on your holistic practice’s website! Potential patients in the research phase will connect well with learning more about you, how you got started, and what drives you – and current patients will build a deeper connection to your practice, too. Your “About Us” page is a core element of shaping your practice’s online reputation.
Links to Social Media Accounts or Other Platforms
If your holistic practice isn’t utilizing at least one social media platform, then you could be missing connections with a multitude of patients. Your practice’s website and social media accounts are perfect complements to each other which means you should link them together when possible. Point website visitors to your social media accounts and vice versa to further affirm your practice’s online reputation.
Contact Us, Location Details, Hours of Operation
Your patients finding you online is awesome, but at some point, they’ll need to visit your practice in-person. Be sure to include pertinent details to make this happen, including contact information, location details, hours of operation, and more.
Blogs or Articles Relevant to Your Specialty and Interests
Sharing your thoughts on new developments within your specialty, writing a response to other thought leaders in the industry, spreading the news about upcoming events and why they matter to you are just a few things you can write about for a blog on your website. You don’t have to be a great writer to get started – just taking a few minutes to write can help you further connect with your patients and start a conversation with them!
Want More Time to Refine Your Online Reputation? Partner with Holistic Billing Services!
We know all too well that a huge burden for holistic practices is the medical coding and billing process. It’s cumbersome, complicated, and can lead to a multitude of issues with your revenue cycle if not properly managed. None of these features bode well for your goals of developing a website and distinguished online reputation.
That’s where the friendly, knowledgeable experts at Holistic Billing Services come in! We have decades of experience and expertise in your specialty, so rest assured that we know how to handle your revenue cycle. Ditch the mountain of paperwork and frustration with rejected claims – we’ve got it all covered!
Let us take on the burden of medical billing so you can focus on what matters most: your patients.