Mental Health Billing Services: Top 10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Shopping

Mental Health Billing Services: Top 10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Shopping Your “buyer’s guide” to mental health billing services, and the important questions you should be asking prior to hiring one, answered below: 1. Are they good at what they do? It’s important to know the track record of mental health billing services when making a decision. What do they claim that they will achieve for you? One metric to keep in mind is what percentage of claims will pass the first time they are su...

Mental Health Billing Services: Top 10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Shopping Your “buyer’s guide” to mental health billing services, and the important questions you should be asking prior to hiring one, answered below: 1. Are they good at what they do? It’s important to know the track record of mental health billing services when making a decision. What do they claim that they will achieve for you? One metric to keep in mind is what percentage of claims will pass the first time they are submitted. A high percentage ensures that there will be minimal denials and follow-up, which indicates a well-run and knowledgeable staff. Another number to pay attention to is how soon EOBs will be posted after they are scanned in to the staff. Any given time over 24 hours is too long for what competent, effective mental health billing services should provide. 2. Do they know my field? Many billing services encompass all of the medical field, including general physicians, chiropractors, and mental health professionals. When a billing staff must focus on multiple disciplinaries, their speed of work can be hindered. Contrastingly, when a company focuses only on one area of the medical field like mental health for instance, they are ready to take any task that comes their way because it is the sole form of billing that they do. 3. Are they cost-effective? The typical range that a mental health billing service will charge is 5-14% of claims. If they’re asking double digits, you’re paying too much. On the other hand, the lowest you’ll find is 3%, and while that is the cheapest rate, you will usually be treated as a number, for they usually work with high volume and sparse customer service. ePsych Billing operates at a solid 4%, and Alex is always just a phone call away.