Two of the key financial processes in mental health billing services are payment posting and payment reconciliation. Claim submission tends to be the most talked about piece of the financial equation, but only truly comes into view once payments are made, adjustments are reviewed, denied claims are sorted, and account balances are reconcilable.Mental health practices grapple with frequent visits, insurance approvals, telehealth visits, co-payments, deductibles, secondary insurance, and payer-specific reimbursement rules. These factors make it particularly crucial to ensure payments are accurate. Payment posting and reconciliation are essential for professional behavioral health billing services, as they help to safeguard revenue, enhance cash flow, minimize billing mistakes, and contribute to sustainable financial stability.
Payment Posting in Mental Health Billing Explained
Payment posting is the procedure of entering insurance payments, patient payments, contractual adjustments, denials and write-offs into the billing system. Usually provided from electronic remittance advice, paper explanation of benefits, electronic funds transfers, credit card payments, checks and patient portal payments.
Avoiding Revenue Leakage with correct Posting
Revenue leakage is when the practice does make money but doesn't receive it all. One of the biggest revenue leakage reasons is poor payment posting. Without discovering underpayments, transfers between patient balances won't be made correctly, and denials won't be addressed promptly, and the practice can unwittingly find itself losing money.
Payment Posting & Secondary Insurance Billing
Many of the mental health patients have secondary insurance. Whereas, in such situations, the posting of payments becomes even more essential. The primary payer's payment and adjustment information needs to be posted accurately before the claim can be sent to the secondary payer.
Technology plays a role in payment posting and reconciliation
Parts of the payment posting process can be automated using modern billing systems via electronic remittance advice and electronic funds transfer matching. But automation can't replace the need for manual review. When it comes to mental health billing, payer rules, denial codes, contract rates, account balances, and other details must be taken into consideration.
Let's see how Outsourced Billing can boost the accuracy of payments
They can also set up daily posting schedules, track patient balances, reconcile deposits, track unpaid claims, and get transparent reporting. This frees up therapists, psychiatrists, and practice managers to be more available for time spent with their patients rather than collecting payments and minimizing billing mistakes.