3 Tips For More Efficient Telehealth Services Billing

Posted on: 20 May 2021

More and more healthcare professionals are offering telehealth services to their patients. Telehealth allows patients to receive medical care without physically visiting a clinic. A mobile device or computer is used to establish a video conference between patient and provider.

This healthcare model expands access and helps mitigate the risk of exposure for patients with autoimmune disorders or communicable diseases.

Billing for telehealth services can be tricky. Use these tips to improve your telehealth billing practices and ensure that you receive payment for services rendered.

1. Identify Insurance Plan Type First

One of the hardest parts of telehealth billing is getting insurance companies to reimburse providers for their services. To avoid any delays in payment processing, it can be helpful to identify a patient's insurance plan type before telehealth treatment is offered.

Self-funded plans often reject telehealth payment requests, while public insurance policies may provide for full-contract payments. If you know a patient's plan type prior to a telehealth appointment, you will be able to better determine who will ultimately be responsible for making timely payments.

2. Identify Covered Services

Once you have verified that a patient's insurance plan type allows for telehealth reimbursement, you will need to determine if all services are covered. Most insurance providers are only willing to pay for services that are covered under the patient's current health plan.

Telehealth services must meet the same standards as in-office services in order for an insurance company to foot the bill. You may have to check an insurance provider's website for the most up-to-date information on telehealth services that will be covered according to plan type.

3. Identify the Reimbursement Rate

The reimbursement rate that insurance providers are willing to pay for telehealth services can differ from the rates paid for traditional medical services.

Some pay only a percentage of the traditional rate. Others pay a fixed rate, regardless of the service provided.

An understanding of these reimbursement rates is needed so that you can inform patients of their potential financial burden when scheduling telehealth appointments for your practice in the future.

Telehealth is a relatively new type of care. As the popularity of telehealth treatment grows, the billing process should become more uniform and streamlined. Until that time comes, you will need to exercise caution when dealing with insurance providers on telehealth billing matters.

The more information you gather before scheduling an appointment, the more likely it will be that a patient's insurer will cover the cost of care.

To learn more, contact a resource like Medical Financial Specialists.

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