Revamping Your Billing Department

Walking through an HME company, it is easy to see from the outside in. I first get a lay of the land, looking to find the real personality behind the business. The next thing I do is look for inefficiencies in process.

Once I embrace these issues, I then look for ways to improve. By the end, I work within the company's “persona” to find improvements that result in increased profitability. All the while, I try to protect the mission of most companies, which is to serve their community with quality service and remain profitable in this complex and angst- ridden environment.

Following are some of the routine findings I see in the many HME companies I visit, specifically in the area of billing and collections, along with how to make improvements and create efficiencies.

• Paper

  What's Happening Now

  Some common findings that I see when visiting the billing department (and many other departments, for that matter) typically include huge mounds of paper on every biller's desk. I'm quite sure that there are also plenty of other papers (patient invoices or remittance advices, perhaps) hiding away in desk drawers or boxes under the desk.

  Clearly, to wade through the reams of paper requires an overwhelming amount of patience, organizational skill and focus. It is just as easy to lose track of the mounds, and it is even harder to manage them.

• Chatter

  The second most prominent finding is chit chat. I often see a lack of urgency among the staff, especially as they talk among themselves, pouring over a particular patient or insurance.

  Here's the Fix

  While this might seem work-related (and it is, per se), you are paying five people to talk about one specific encounter with one particular patient. Is this really necessary? If so, the question is why? In some cases, it feels good to enter into a conversation with your peers to gain a sense of belonging and to feel like you are intimately involved in the happenings of the business. After all, it is absolutely true that everyone likes and needs to be needed.

• Manual Process

  Most everyone likes to check their work and measure their performance. A common approach I see in many HME companies is the pad of paper with the dates, times and number of events performed, whatever those may be.

  If the company is more savvy, they might use an Excel spreadsheet to show their performance and progress. It might later be used as a tickler file.