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Substance Abuse Billing Software

The revenue cycle for a common medical practice is complicated but relatively straightforward in terms of what to do in order to get your claim approved and receive timely payment.

Your patient schedules an appointment, beginning the cycle, and payment is received to end it. With the right tools, providers can maximize their revenue earned from patient payments and optimize their workflow in the process. The revenue cycle is much more complicated for medical professionals working with patients battling substance abuse. With substance abuse billing, providers will find that it is difficult to receive payment whether it be out of the patient’s pocket or through their insurance provider. Utilizing substance abuse billing software may be the answer to cutting costs and improving payments for your substance abuse treatment center.

Features of Medical Billing Software for Substance Abuse:

1) Specialty Specific

For any specialty, working with a generalized billing software can cause kinks in the billing workflow. Medical billing software for substance abuse offers your specialty the accessibility you need to increase productivity. A specialized tool ensures you are not slowed down by billing codes you do not use and tools you do not need. Specialty specific medical billing software for substance abuse includes the most common medical billing codes for your specialty, improving accessibility and efficiency. A quality vendor of medical billing software for substance abuse is vital due to the complicated nature of the specialty.

2) Prior Authorizations

Prior authorization is important for many providers, but especially for those treating substance abuse and behavioral health. While the perception of this treatment has changed over recent years, many insurance companies still do not offer coverage for certain treatments and services. Medical billing software must include prior authorizations for their patient’s treatment in order to protect your payment. If services are provided prior to authorization from the patient’s insurance company, the payment responsibility may fall on the patient themselves. The provider is then left with fewer payments. In order to protect your payment and your practice, medical billing software for substance abuse should include a prior authorization tool.

3) CMS 1500 & UB-04

Medical billing software for a substance abuse provider must include the ability to use the two most common claim forms used by insurance companies, CMS 1500 and UB-04. Without the ability to quickly create both Professional and Institutional claims, claim submission will slow down, decreasing the likelihood of a quick payment. By partnering with a quality vendor of medical billing software for substance abuse, you can create and convert both CMS-1500 and UB/04 claims easily, and automatically or electronically submit clean claims to the appropriate payer for timely reimbursement.

4) Total EHR integration

Total EHR integration is one of the most important features providers need in a medical billing software for substance abuse. Your patient data is shifting constantly, and if your team has to enter in that data into both their Electronic Health Record and their billing software, they are wasting valuable time. EHR and billing integration ensures the transfer of data between systems so that it only has to be entered once. EHR integration with medical billing software for substance abuse also ensures your patients have access to their billing information in real-time via the patient portal. With increased interoperability and transparency, substance abuse providers will see an increase in timely payments.

Substance abuse/mental health practices and treatment centers are two of the most difficult specialties to navigate when it comes to billing. By partnering with a quality vendor of medical billing software for substance abuse, your productivity will increase along with your bottom line. To learn more about CollaborateMD’s EMR partner for addiction treatment and behavioral health, click here.

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