3 Ways to Be Successful With Telemedicine Medicare Billing | PMB

3 Ways to Be Successful With Telemedicine Medicare Billing

April 12, 2021

Article Highlights

  • Telemedicine usage is on the rise among seniors.
  • You need processes to support complex telemedicine Medicare billing.
  • Consider outsourcing Medicare telemedicine billing to PMB.

***

Medical practitioners may think that telehealth services are only on the rise among younger patients that are accustomed to using technology for everyday life. However, telehealth services are also on the rise among the older generation, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a recent survey of Medicare-eligible seniors, there has been a 300% increase in seniors using telemedicine services during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic.

Many senior adults now view telehealth as the safest way to receive health services. Also, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities have found they can keep their patients safer by keeping them at the facility and helping them with telemedicine visits.

For medical practitioners, this means dealing a lot more with Medicare to submit claims and receive payment for new types of telehealth services rendered to seniors. This has resulted in a barrage of new billing and coding procedures for the typical medical office to learn and follow to avoid rejections and optimize revenue collection.

Keys to Success for Telemedicine Medicare Billing

Let’s review the most important factors to optimize your Medicare telemedicine billing processes so that you can spend less time dealing with Medicare headaches.

1. Understand that Telemedicine Medicare Billing is Different

The Medicare billing system is complex enough, and one simple error can result in rejected claims or unwanted fees. Imagine making one mistake over and over on several senior accounts. This will increase the amount of time required to make corrections and delay your ability to collect payment for services.

Those without considerable knowledge of Medicare telehealth billing will undoubtedly need help keeping up with the amount of new virtual visit claims to submit, while also trying to adhere to changing regulations that come with this type of healthcare service.

Therefore, one of the keys to success with telehealth billing for your Medicare patients is to implement new processes that make it easier to streamline billing. Telehealth is different, and it requires a different way of thinking.

2. Be Strategic About Processing Telemedicine Medicare Claims

Most healthcare entities try to keep their margin of error in Medicare billing under 5%. But, when dealing with telehealth, the margin could quickly rise without detection in your practice.

Then, after detecting errors, healthcare providers often make the mistake of frantically trying to keep up with everything related to Medicare telemedicine billing standards, causing your staff to become overwhelmed.

Therefore, healthcare entities should consider a strategic move to outsource their billing processes. An outsourced resource such as Precision Medical Billing (PMB) can help reduce errors, keep your office up-to-date on Medicare telemedicine billing regulations, and streamline efforts to meet necessary requirements.

3. Work With Our Staff to Support Medicare Healthcare Billings

Incorrect billing processes and inadequate processing of Medicare claims can result in delayed collections for your services. To avoid these common pitfalls in Medicare telemedicine billing, consider working with our staff to fill gaps in knowledge and experience. Our trained professionals are adept at handling these types of claims so that your practice can spend more time focusing on patient care.

Keep in mind that you don’t bill telemedicine the same way as standard services. There are specific POS (place of service), CPT, and modifier codes that must be billed with telemedicine. And, because Medicare continually makes changes to telemedicine, you have to watch and pay attention to these changes on a regular basis so that you do not experience rejections or denials of claims.

At PMB, we provide the staff and resources to monitor the changes and keep up with the number of telemedicine Medicare claims that your practice needs to process. We will also ensure accuracy when processing these complex claims so that you can receive prompt payment.

We know that Medicare virtual visit billing is a new type of financial challenge for healthcare providers, and we are here to help you adhere to all of the changing requirements.

We Have an Outsourced Medical Billing Solution for Your Practice

One of the chief concerns for healthcare providers is how to transition to PMB for outsourced medical billing services. Don’t worry! We have experience in a variety of transition scenarios, and we provide strategic plans to advance your billing processes.

We will work with your team to create a plan for embedding our team in your processes. We’ll set specific timelines to meet set key points within the transition. We’ll also be transparent and provide regular updates on the Medicare billing transition process.

Our professional staff members will seek to address any issues with promptness and strategic maneuvering to ensure that your transition goes smoothly. Our goal is to make your Medicare billing practices more efficient and compliant, especially to support complex and complicated Medicare billings for telehealth services.

Contact us today for a free consultation about how we can support your healthcare practice with telemedicine Medicare billings. We’re here to help address the challenges you are facing!

Author

Precision Medical Billing Earns Great Place to Work Certification!

We are thrilled to announce that Precision Medical Billing (PMB)…

Preparing for OASIS Section GG Public Reporting in 2025: Essential for Home Health Quality and Payment Outcomes

The upcoming public reporting of the OASIS Section GG items, particularly GG 0130 and GG 0170, will impact home health agencies’ quality scores starting January 1, 2025. Ensure your team understands the reporting requirements for the Discharge Function Score, Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP), and Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) program.

Rising Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Denial Rates Impact Home Health

A recent analysis shows a steady increase in prior authorization denials for Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries, creating challenges for home health agencies. With denial rates on the rise, agencies must stay informed about MA payer guidelines to prevent delays in care.

Understanding and Addressing Medicare Error Code 17729 Denials in Hospice Care

Several hospice agencies have reported erroneous claim denials under Medicare…

Petria McKelvey Named One of Houston Business Journal's 2024 Most Admired CEOs

We are thrilled to announce that Petria McKelvey, CEO of…

Author