ABA therapy tends to be one of the most effective ways to treat patients with behavioral concerns of developmental issues. It uses a data-driven is a scientific approach for applying empirical methodology based on key principles of the patient and operant conditioning to change behavior and improve skills. ABA therapy tends to be the most successful treatment method for autism spectrum disorder, developmental issues, and behavioral concerns.
Of course, the data-driven approach used by ABA therapists to help their clients meet their treatment goals is demanding. It requires a great deal of attention and possible modification of the treatment strategy based on the patient’s progress. Time spent out of the clinical environment, for things like coding and medical billing can be its own challenge and one that takes the therapist’s focus away from the patient themselves.
This is just one of the many reasons why so many ABA therapy practices have started turning to third-party billing management services like Operant Billing Solutions. Being better informed about the benefits of outsourcing your medical billing services will help you decide if it’s right for your ABA practice.
The Benefits Of Outsourcing Your Medical Billing Needs
There are a lot of good reasons to consider outsourcing your medical billing needs to a professional third-party agency like Operant Billing Solutions. To help you understand the full spectrum of opportunity, we decided to break down some of the most important benefits.
Greater Focus On Patients
Most ABA therapists’ area of expertise is focused on helping patients. While most receive a modest amount of training in medical coding and medical billing practices as part of their formal education, most are not well-versed in the vast array of coding requirements imposed by a wide range of insurance providers, public health institutions, and payer programs. Being able to outsource your ABA practice’s medical billing services to a third party, lets your clinical staff and expert therapists stay focused on treating patients.
Fewer Claim Rejections & Claim Denials
Claim rejections and claim denials are an unfortunate consequence of medical coding errors and incomplete information. They can also be linked to a general failure to receive prior authorization. These reasons and even simple things like missing information on a submitted claim are easily caught by the trained eyes of medical billing and coding specialists, like the staff at Operant Billing Solutions. Catching these errors before they are submitted to the payer institution will go a long way toward preventing claim rejections and denials.
More Prior Authorizations Approvals
Many insurance providers and public health institutions require prior authorization or classification of a proposed treatment to be deemed as a “Medical Necessity” before approving coverage for the patient. When a team with a third-party medical billing specialist like Operant Billing Solutions, you can trust that our expert coding specialists have a keen eye to ensure prior authorization is correctly requested and received.
A Steam Lined Intake Process
The new patient intake or onboarding process can be a tedious one with a lot of information needing to be collected by ABA therapy providers and communicated to payers and public health institutions correctly. When you partner your ABA practice with a third-party managed billing service like Operant Billing Solutions, you can trust that coding and medical billing experts are making sure that all the critical data has been collected, and it is transmitted in the manner that all pertinent parties prefer.
This includes things like properly demonstrating the medical necessity of a treatment plan. It also ensures that all the patient’s demographic information is consistently correct across the entire spectrum of documentation.
A More Consistent Revenue Stream
Medical coding errors and missing information can put a claim at risk of rejection or denials. Even something as simple as an empty field for a patient’s address or contact information can lead to delays in the claim approval process. This translates into frequent inconsistencies in your ABA practice’s revenue stream. Not to mention costing you valuable time that would be better served treating patients.
Higher Pay Percentages
Most ABA practices that outsource their medical billing needs to a managed billing service like Operant Billing solutions enjoy a higher pay percentage. This is a trend that also tends to increase over time. Quarterly improvements in revenue stream income tend to translate into superior annual improvements in an ABA practice’s revenue stream. This allows you to reinvest in the practice of potential to expand your scope of focus.
More Efficient Use Of Administrative Staff
A lot of small ABA practices and solo ABA practitioners have minimal clinical or modest administrative staff. Freeing up their time to help with patients, and other critical components of your practice’s operations by outsourcing to a managed billing service helps you make the most out of every single man hour.
Opportunities For Expansion
With greater consistency in your ABA practice’s revenue stream and higher pay percentages, you can enjoy the opportunity to explore your expansion opportunities. This might mean being able to intake and treat more patients, or perhaps even opening a new clinic in a high-demand location.
Transparency & Access
The transparency that comes from partnering with a third-party managed billing service and the superior access it provides lets you get a clear understanding of how your ABA practice is doing. You also get key analytics tools that help you understand how your practice is growing and other places where inefficiencies can be improved.
More Accurate Records
ABA therapy enjoys such high treatment success rates thanks to the data-driven philosophy at its core. Of course, this approach also relies on highly accurate records that can be tracked over time. When you outsource your medical billing and coding to a managed billing service like Operant Billing Solutions, you can trust the accuracy of your patient’s records. This will go a long way toward not only being able to track a patient’s progress in the long term but also the ability to demonstrate the medical necessity of a particular treatment strategy for insurance providers and public health institution payers.
