Difference Between Medical Billing and Behavioral Health
Some providers choose not to accept insurance, or they confine themselves to a small number of plans. Due to the variations and limitations pertaining to mental and behavioral health since the billing procedure can be difficult and time-consuming. A specialist may get past their frustration. Get more out of the billing process by having a solid awareness of the benefits, eligibility. Know how insurance reimburses for mental and behavioral health.
What Is Medical Billing for Mental and Behavioral Health?
The focus of conventional medical billing is on common procedures like physical examinations, diagnostic tests, and follow-up visits for ongoing problems. Based on different forms of therapy, psychological examinations, and related medical treatments, mental and behavioral health care differs. Insurance imposes additional limitations on behavioral and mental health billing methods. Such as the number of visits permitted per month or year or the obligation to acquire pre-authorization prior to providing treatments.
Connect with medical billing services to streamline your medical practice efficiently and maximize the claim submissions rate.
The first step to making more money from the services you offer is to comprehend the key distinctions between mental and behavioral health care billing.
Behavioral and Mental Health What Is Covered by Medical Billing?
Medical billing for mental and behavioral health focuses on the therapies patients receive for chronic diseases including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance use disorders, or depression. The limitations imposed on institutions and patients. Such as limiting the number of visits in a week or month and setting time limits on the actual visit, are the most significant part of billing for mental health treatments. Sometimes pre-authorization is necessary before visits are covered.
A knowledgeable employee who is committed to focusing on the billing aspect of a patient’s mental health care is also necessary when charging for behavioral health services. Many mental health professionals wind up devoting a significant amount of time to administrative tasks. Which keeps them from providing their patients with the crucial care they need.
How Each Type of Health Care Is Billed Medically
In order to increase reimbursement for a facility, medical billing for mental and behavioral health treatments necessitates a thorough understanding of insurance plans, CPT codes, and reduction in denials.
- Benefits verification ensures that either services are covered or are not covered.
- This confirms whether pre-authorization of services is necessary.
- Evaluation and management (E&M) CPT codes are utilized during a visit, and they call for in-depth understanding of the distinction between regular E&M codes and psychiatric evaluation codes.
- Given that the time spent using E&M codes cannot be attributed to the period of a psychotherapy treatment, time requires special care.
- Understanding CPT codes helps to prevent claim rejection, which raises reimbursement rates and reduces the amount of time that accounts are past due.
Coding Rules for Medical Billing for Mental and Behavioral Health
Diagnosis and CPT codes are just the beginning of billing for mental and behavioral health services. There are significant variances that may be confusing to billers who are unfamiliar with this form of medical billing. It’s crucial to concentrate on the rules and codes that relate to the services provided. As well as the requirements of the patient’s plan, because submitting claims can even vary from one payer to another.
- E&M codes are more complicated than medical billing.
- Time for psychotherapy sessions includes travel time.
- Some codes may be required to be submitted with claims by payers.
- The billing format, which can be either a CMS1500, UB-04, or electronic billing through the facility’s electronic health record (EHR) system, is crucial and varies depending on the payer.
The coding rules applied to claims for mental and behavioral health make sure that the services are appropriately recorded and that payment is given in accordance with those findings.
How Are They Different?
The relationship between the two is clear, even if behavioral illnesses are a part of mental health. Both our thoughts and our actions have the potential to impact one another.
People with any type of mental illness are more likely than those without mental illness to suffer chronic diseases such high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Similarly, individuals with physical health issues like diabetes and asthma report high prevalence of substance use disorders and very high levels of psychological discomfort.
Each patient is unique, as is the relationship between behavioural health and mental health issues as well as how the two manifest or do not manifest. For instance, depression and anxiety that are visible to others frequently develop in patients with diabetes or long-term heart issues. However, people with depression or bipolar disorder may not exhibit any overt physical symptoms, necessitating a mental health approach as opposed to a behavioral one for their care.
Every patient is different, and so are their behavioral and mental health problems and how they manifest or do not manifest. For instance, people with diabetes or chronic cardiac conditions typically experience obvious melancholy and anxiety. However, those who have depression or bipolar disorder may not show any overt physical symptoms. Making a mental health approach necessary for their management rather than a behavioral one.
Instead of being caused by behavioral causes, a lot of bad mental health disorders are caused by biological ones. While certain influences, like brain chemistry, are within human control, others, like genetic make-up, are not. Medication and cognitive behavioral therapy are frequently effective in reducing acute symptoms. People can also cope with their mental illness with the use of other strategies, such as learning healthier ways of thinking about it.
Billing Advice for Mental Health
There is no getting around the complexity of behavioral health billing. Additionally, because mental health offices are frequently small, there may not always be a billing team to assist with claim filing and coding.
However, this does not imply that you should underpay, or even worse, go unpaid for your services. By using these suggestions. You can make sure that your mental health service billing is optimized and that your reimbursements are increased.
Utilize a Trustworthy Insurance Eligibility Tool
The most crucial step in the revenue cycle management (RCM) process is benefit verification. Before the patient’s appointment, you should be aware of their insurance coverage; otherwise, you risk losing the claim right away.
A good place to start is with a fast and trustworthy eligibility tool. Additionally, if your eligibility tool can automate some of the procedures for you. It is beneficial (this is especially helpful for those small practices). The programme should ideally be able to check patient benefits for the upcoming week’s schedule automatically. Let you know if there are any problems or expired plans.
Maintain Detailed Documentation
Your ability to get prior authorizations and win claim appeals will be aided by thorough patient documentation. Make sure you have specifics on diagnosis, drugs, and therapies in addition to precise demographic data. If necessary, it’s also beneficial to keep a record of every step of the prior authorization procedure.
Recognize the subtleties for each payer
Because each payer is unique, each one will require distinct forms and requirements when you submit claims. To prevent claim rejections or denials. It’s critical to comprehend the specifics of each payer, even if you only work with one or two.
ASAP begin the billing process
Do not put off submitting your claims. Starting as soon as you can can assist ensure that you get paid on time because the process is frequently drawn out and complicated.
Partner with an RCM Professional
If your practice is having trouble running a smooth reimbursement process. It may be time to work with an RCM specialist. A clever software programme could be added to strengthen your current staff. Automated claim workflows that save time and cut down on errors can be provided by the programme.
You could also want to think about using a fully-managed RCM system. This choice includes a group of revenue cycle specialists who are aware of how to increase your reimbursements.