Guest guest Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 I am an acupuncturist / herbalist with 16 years of practice in Maryland. I have always stayed busy enough with the occasional slow times. Don't get me wrong...I could always be busier , but I have been able to make this my solo career and buy a house and raise a family. My question to the board is this: Although it sounds amazing--I have never handled insurance. I have always been a solo practitioner without any staff. I gave up my office in town 3 years ago due to exhorbitant increases in rent and now practice out of my home in a peaceful setting. After payment at time of service , patients with coverage would submit the superbill and get reimbursed.They were in the minority. With these economic times I am noticing a great reducion in new customer calls. Even my regulars are having a hard time with their incomes. I am absolutely overwhelmed with the idea of the learning curve I will have to undergo if I handle the insurance myself. (right now I have a superbill with the old codes on it...it hasn't been an issue till now). I spoke to another solo practitioner and he said he is consumed with paperwork which takes him many hours a week, along with phone time. I am considering getting an insurance billing company. I don't lnow if I need to get credentialled or not...there are no other acupuncturists within 25 miles. Any ideas on good billing companies would be greatly appreciated. I really think it is a better option for a person who has NEVER dealt with insurance companies. Sorry for such a long post-But I wanted to give you enough detail. Any and all ideas would be welcome. thank you all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Where are you in Maryland? I am in Southern Maryland. Anne -- Anne C. Crowley, L.Ac., M.Ac., Dipl.Ac. www.LaPlataAcupuncture.com -------------- Original message ---------------------- " rcooper1us " <rcooper1us > I am an acupuncturist / herbalist with 16 years of practice in > Maryland. I have always stayed busy enough with the occasional slow > times. Don't get me wrong...I could always be busier , but I have > been able to make this my solo career and buy a house and raise a > family. > My question to the board is this: Although it sounds amazing--I have > never handled insurance. I have always been a solo practitioner > without any staff. > I gave up my office in town 3 years ago due to exhorbitant increases > in rent and now practice out of my home in a peaceful setting. After > payment at time of service , patients with coverage would submit the > superbill and get reimbursed.They were in the minority. > With these economic times I am noticing a great reducion in new > customer calls. Even my regulars are having a hard time with their > incomes. > I am absolutely overwhelmed with the idea of the learning curve I > will have to undergo if I handle the insurance myself. (right now I > have a superbill with the old codes on it...it hasn't been an issue > till now). I spoke to another solo practitioner and he said he is > consumed with paperwork which takes him many hours a week, along with > phone time. > I am considering getting an insurance billing company. I don't lnow > if I need to get credentialled or not...there are no other > acupuncturists within 25 miles. > Any ideas on good billing companies would be greatly appreciated. I > really think it is a better option for a person who has NEVER dealt > with insurance companies. > Sorry for such a long post-But I wanted to give you enough detail. > Any and all ideas would be welcome. > thank you all! > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 My practice is 90% insurance, and you are right, the recession is not affecting me. However, I think you would need to learn insurance billing yourself before you can effectively work with a company. Although I have an excellent billing company that services many different acupuncturists, I do need to offer them some supervision, such as giving them the right codes for every treatment, reviewing the balance sheet, and deciding what to do with the uncollected accounts. I also need to keep informed about the in-network contracts and how well each company pays in order to make decisions which ones we are working with, etc. In short, I think the idea that you get a billing company and then the thorny issue just goes away is not based on reality; you need to stay involved in order to make it work well. A few more pieces of advice: 1. Do not work with a company that has never worked with an acupuncturist before, it won't work out. 2. If you have a lot of insurance clients, say more than 50 a week, you are reaching the break-even point of hiring someone part-time. Obviously, you have to provide them with a desk and a computer, but you also have additional help. 3. You need to do pre-approvals, because if clients run up bills then THEN find out that there is no coverage you run the risk of not collecting or having a lot of accounts with a collection service. The pre-approvals take time, make sure the billing service is willing to do them for you. Regards, Angela Pfaffenberger, Ph.D. angelapfa www.InnerhealthSalem.com Phone: 503 364 3022 - anne.crowley Chinese Medicine Wednesday, January 28, 2009 7:02 PM Re: Billing Companies Where are you in Maryland? I am in Southern Maryland. Anne -- Anne C. Crowley, L.Ac., M.Ac., Dipl.Ac. www.LaPlataAcupuncture.com -------------- Original message ---------------------- " rcooper1us " <rcooper1us > I am an acupuncturist / herbalist with 16 years of practice in > Maryland. I have always stayed busy enough with the occasional slow > times. Don't get me wrong...I could always be busier , but I have > been able to make this my solo career and buy a house and raise a > family. > My question to the board is this: Although it sounds amazing--I have > never handled insurance. I have always been a solo practitioner > without any staff. > I gave up my office in town 3 years ago due to exhorbitant increases > in rent and now practice out of my home in a peaceful setting. After > payment at time of service , patients with coverage would submit the > superbill and get reimbursed.They were in the minority. > With these economic times I am noticing a great reducion in new > customer calls. Even my regulars are having a hard time with their > incomes. > I am absolutely overwhelmed with the idea of the learning curve I > will have to undergo if I handle the insurance myself. (right now I > have a superbill with the old codes on it...it hasn't been an issue > till now). I spoke to another solo practitioner and he said he is > consumed with paperwork which takes him many hours a week, along with > phone time. > I am considering getting an insurance billing company. I don't lnow > if I need to get credentialled or not...there are no other > acupuncturists within 25 miles. > Any ideas on good billing companies would be greatly appreciated. I > really think it is a better option for a person who has NEVER dealt > with insurance companies. > Sorry for such a long post-But I wanted to give you enough detail. > Any and all ideas would be welcome. > thank you all! > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 " 1. Do not work with a company that has never worked with an acupuncturist before, it won't work out. 2. If you have a lot of insurance clients, say more than 50 a week, you are reaching the break- even point of hiring someone part-time. Obviously, you have to provide them with a desk and a computer, but you also have additional help. 3. You need to do pre-approvals> Angela Pfaffenberger, Ph.D. " thanks Angela, I am getting in touch with Acuclaims.com. They only do acupuncture and chiropractic insurance billing. And They do the pre-approvals first with a short turn around time for verification and notification. Your email was informative and I will ask them about these things. Rose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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