Payment posting is one of the significant yet confusing processes in the RCM cycle. It is the process of entering payment details into the patient system, thereby helping in viewing different patient payments as well as the practice’s overall financial picture. This provides the practice with a chance to identify the issues or errors within the payment cycle and fix them as soon as possible. Any errors in payment posting can cause a huge mishap that can disturb the entire revenue cycle process, leading to denial of claims. In such cases, both the time and effort of your staff are wasted as they must take extra efforts to rectify the errors in denied or delayed payments. Clearly, payment posting is not something to be ignored or negotiated on, as it is one of the crucial steps in the RCM process which can help in making your payment cycle easier and more efficient.
But what exactly is the role of payment posting in RCM?
Resolves RCM glitches
When a payment is posted in a patient’s system, it gives the practice a chance to analyze the revenue cycle, identifying the various errors and coming up with ideas for improvement. Additionally, it offers an overview of the finances, including patient payments, that aids in identifying revenue leakage for an easier and smoother payment process. The various problems in your revenue cycle management can be resolved through a well-managed payment posting system, thus preventing the claims from getting denied.
Handles denials
Most claim denials occur because of errors in the submitted claims. It is always better to have a system to track claims for a quicker and more effective correction of errors. Payment posting provides just that; it helps you keep track of each claim till it gets paid, as unresolved denials can lead to huge revenue loss. With payment posting, you have all the relevant information with you, making it easier to take the next step in case there is a claim denial, such as making a correction on a claim, asking the patient for further details about their insurance policy, or contacting the insurance providers for further clarification. This makes the resubmission of denied claims much quicker and easier.
Strengthens the RCM
By identifying and helping solve the various issues related to RCM, payment posting can greatly improve the growth of your dental revenue cycle management. With well-managed payment posting, you can identify weak points in your revenue cycle and find ways to strengthen them, increasing revenue at your practice. The payment posting process makes sure that the RCM-related issues are dealt with quickly and that the overall revenue of the practice is unaffected.
Solving Recurring Issues
Payment posting can help you identify the recurring issues in managing the payment cycle. Since it helps you to keep tabs on the various information related to the payment process, it will be easier for your practice to notice continually recurring errors. And in turn, coming up with solutions to fix the same, thereby improving the revenue cycle.
Managing write-offs and adjustments
Payment posting helps you process write-offs and adjustments in patient payments as well as in reporting if any odd contractual adjustments are found. And if any such odd adjustments are found, your practice will have the opportunity to take steps to prevent the same from happening again, creating a reliable and secure payment cycle. This makes your payment cycle much smoother and less complex.
Getting patient payments faster
Payment posting allows you to provide inputs on non-covered services and co-payment collection issues so that patients are aware of their payment options and are not caught off guard by unexpected out-of-pocket payments. Locating any such balances and transferring them to patients’ accounts early on helps ensure a quicker patient payment without any complexities or confusion.
Increasing profit and reducing claim reimbursement time
A well-managed payment posting system can help your practice find opportunities to boost its revenue by observing the daily trends within your dental practice. Beyond that, payment posting can act as a perfect opportunity to make the whole payment cycle efficient by speeding up your claim reimbursement time. Focusing on payment posting helps identify problems within the outset of the claim process itself, thus speeding up the entire payment process. The use of up-to-date data through payment posting shortens the time needed to process insurance claims, thus securing timely claim payments. This can also help in rectifying any issues in your dental revenue cycle management before they become critical and disturb your entire payment cycle, thus leading to an improvement in financial performance as well as faster claim reimbursement.
