Insurance verification and authorizations play an essential role in avoiding denials and patient ineligibility for services. They are also a key component in your customer service.
While it is the responsibility of a patient to know their benefits, we are all aware patients often do not even know what a deductible is - let alone how much they have remaining on it. If you don't present this information at the time of service, you could be dealing with an angry patient when they receive their bill for treatment down the line.
What Does the Insurance Verification and Authorization Process Entail?
There are several things that should be obtained when an insurance verification is completed. These include: payable benefits, co-pay amounts, co-insurance amounts, deductible amounts, effective date of plan, additional coverage details, whether authorization (or prior authorization) is required, confirmation of claims address, the patient's yearly maximum, etc.
While some insurances allow you to check benefits online and they can be completed fairly quickly, other insurances require up to an hour (!!) spent on the phone to obtain benefits. This can leave your front desk or office manager on the phone when they could (and should!) be interacting with the patients in your office.
By outsourcing your insurance verifications and authorizations you can:
Speed up approval process
Simplify your workflow
Improve payment and collections
Improve staff productivity
Improve customer service
...among many others!
At LRS, we have developed a standardized insurance verification and authorization process. We would love to tell you more about it. Let us help you avoid costly denials and angry patients through simplifying your processes!