Have you ever felt payment posting to be a weight on your practice’s revenue cycle management process? If you have, then you are not alone. Almost all practices struggle with it and find it hard to balance their time and effort between payment posting and other processes in RCM while managing the important needs of the practice. But payment posting is not something that can be negotiated or ignored as it is one of the crucial elements for the smooth flow of your revenue cycle. It provides a brief overview of your practice’s financial health. With proper management, your payment posting process can be made easier and smoother.
So, what exactly is payment posting?
It is the process wherein the payment details are logged into the patient system to give the practice a broad perspective of all the payment information and explains how different payers’ collections work. It helps in gaining a better understanding of your practice’s day-to-day financial status and aids in enhancing your cash flow.
The payment posting cycle starts just after the submission of claims to the insurance providers. The practice then waits for the decision of the insurance providers. They may pay for claims or reject them. In either case, the practice receives an E.O.B (explanation of benefits) from the payer. If the claim has been accepted, the payer sends the payment amount via check or EFT along with the E.O.B. The process ends when the payment or denial details are settled under the patient’s account. Remember, understanding the financial picture of your practice can help you identify income leakage and take fast action to fix it.
Payment posting processes
Patient payments
All patient payments, including co-pays, deductibles, and payments from those without insurance, need to be documented for proper payment posting. Payments are deposited in the bank and reconciled with the practice’s general ledger to ensure that they match what was recorded in the practice’s management system.
Patient payment responsibilities
Important patient responsibilities, such as co-pays, non-covered services, and so on, must be identified and communicated to the patient right at the beginning. This helps in making the payments flow faster and in avoiding any misunderstanding related to financial obligations.
Balancing write-offs
The specific levels for write-offs and modifications for each client should be indicated in the process of payment posting in detail. Any requests for deviations must be acknowledged without delay, and the necessary steps need to be taken to prevent revenue loss.
Denial posting
Claim denial information must be posted into the patient’s practice management system based on which the write-off decisions can be made. Also, based on this information, necessary actions such as billing the secondary payer, transferring the balance to the patient account, making adjustments/write-offs as per defined policies, and routing the denied claims to appropriate work queues can be taken.
