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E VERY PRACTICE HAS a desire to speed up collections on charges for services rendered, but with constantly changing payer reim- bursement policies and the popularity of high-deductible health plans, it has become an ever increasing challenge. There are a few procedure, policy and paradigm changes that can be made to improve timely collections. Accurate cla ims submission a nd reduced denia ls ca n speed up t he event ua l collect ions process. T he first step to avoid downstream billing issues is the precise capture and entry of patient and insurance information. Pre-registration and check-in staff must be diligent in verifying and updating patient information for any changes in demographics or coverage. In addition, automatic eligibility verifications and claim scrubbers are technologies that can be used to improve accurate claims submission. Using these tools to identify errors before claims submission occurs not only catches errors sooner, it also helps train staff to avoid these errors on f uture claims resulting in more efficient billing and timely collection. These tools create accountability in registration and claims submission staff, which in turn improves the entire revenue cycle management process. Collecting at time of service is not a new concept, but with the increasing popularity of high-deductible plans, collecting only the co-pay is no longer enough. Practices need to verify patient coverage, co-payment, coinsurance and deductibles for each patient. A reliable estimate of the patient out-of-pocket cost can then be determined and clearly communicated to the patient along with payment expectations. This communication should take place early, at check-in or via a pre-service phone call before the treatment process begins. A practice can also request an upfront credit card authorization to cover a balance after the third-party payment has been received. Clearly communicating a patient's financial responsibility and the practice collection policy may still not be enough considering the increasing co-pays and deductibles. A practice should have flex- ible payment options for patients that make it easier for them to pay larger bal- ances. One effective option is to offer a payment plan with a recurring auto-debit or credit card charge on set dates. Another option is to offer online payment through patient portal accounts. Some systems allow patients to save payment forms for ease of making future payments or allow recurring auto-payments. E-mail payment reminders with hyper-links to their portal account eliminate costly paper statements or collection phone calls. Offering flexible payment options to patients also reduces the costs of collection fees and risk of write-off. Many practices fail to use available data to identify areas of improvement. Practice management and electronic health records systems collect almost immeasurable amounts of data. Using this data can help a practice monitor payment processes to identify areas for improvement. Data can be sorted by payer, by provider, by department or many others ways to make it useful in identifying specific sources of errors. Collecting money from patients and payers is a constant challenge, but with the use of technology, renewed employee commitment and accountability, and patient communication improvement can be made. Ron Pavlovich is a CPA and a senior m a n a g e r i n t h e M e d i c a l P r a c t i c e Management Group of CBIZ-MHM, LLC, in Akron, Ohio. ■ By Ronald F. Pavlovich, CPA Improving Flow Cash 2 4 | Cleveland/Akron/Canton MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M ■ JA N UA RY/ F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 5