You became a doctor to help people, not to deal with billing headaches. Unfortunately, the reality is that billing can consume a lot of your time. Complicated billing code combinations and legalese explanations in the Schedule of Benefits don't help the situation. At MDmax we are here to help you make OHIP billing as fast and painless as possible.
Here are our 5 musts for effective billing:
1. Understand the Schedule of Benefits
Or at the very least be familiar with the codes that pertain to your practice. No one would call the Schedule of Benefits an 'easy read', but to ensure you are getting the most out of your billings you should be familiar with the visit, treatment and premium codes associated with your area of specialty.
What you can do: Commit at least 20 minutes (along with a coffee) to review your section of the Schedule of Benefits here: Schedule of Benefits - March 2016
2. Make a Cheat Sheet
Once you've become familiar with your section of the Schedule of Benefits, it will help to make a cheat sheet with frequently used codes. This saves you from looking up the codes every time you need them.
What you can do: Stay tuned for an article with helpful tips on making a cheat sheet for your practice.
3. Bill As You Go
Simple, do your billing as soon as the visit or procedure happens so that you don't leave out any valuable details. It might seem like you are saving time by jotting down notes while you are working but going back to those notes later that night or on the weekend is tedious. If you are finding it hard to bill on the spot, consider MDmax, with just a few taps on your smart phone or device you can submit your billings in seconds.
What you can do: Commit to gradual improvement. If currently you bill monthly, try weekly, if weekly then try daily and if daily strive for immediately after each patient is seen. You can also use MDmax as your electronic notebook for free.
4. Submit As You Go
In order to get paid, you must submit your billing to the Ministry of Health. If you would like to get paid in a timely manner, you must also submit your billing in a timely manner. Ideally, submissions should be made nightly so that any errors can be identified and corrected before the submission deadline of the 18th of the month.
What you can do: As above, but instead of just recording the information, send it to the ministry for validation. At MDmax, we submit your claims nightly for validation so that mistakes can be easily corrected ahead of the submission deadline.
5. Keep Current
Make sure your copy of the Schedule of Benefits is up-to-date and that you consult with your peers to keep informed of any changes in billing. The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care also issues bulletins with changes and amendments to the Schedule of Benefits, be sure to check back frequently.
What you can do: Check the latest bulletins and bookmark the page in your web browser.
What other tips would you share with fellow physicians? What is your most effective tip that we haven’t covered?
Happy Billing from the MDmax Team!