ABA Therapy Billing: Save Time on Your Insurance Billing Using These Simple Techniques

Billing is a significant time drain on healthcare practices. ABA therapy providers experience this issue more than most other specialties. Due to lack of a benchmark such as Medicare, insurance guidelines for ABA practices are uniquely complicated by each payer and varies by State. As such, therapy providers must understand critical techniques to speed up invoicing. 

Here’s how to save time on ABA insurance billing.  

Learn Policy Details

Billers must familiarize themselves with insurance contracts. Deductibles consistently rise over time and failing to account for this can cause staff to  fight insurers for the wrong claims. Doing so will stall the billing process as. 

Set Pre-Authorization Standards

Mental health diagnosis is typically less reliable than identifying physical ailments. As such, insurers set rigorous guidelines to ensure that clients are on the spectrum. Payers want detailed pre-authorization forms from certified therapists. Before committing to therapy, ensure that new clients have met all diagnosis and plan of care requirements. Record this information in the client’s files. 

Create Repeatable Processes

Create a process that functions well regardless of how experienced your staff is. Many practices rely on the hard work of one or two experienced billers to support their finances. However, solely leaning on a few workers is a poor long-term strategy.

Maintain consistent protocols with randomly conducted internal audits. These protocols must extend from scheduling to the billing process. For example, create a repeatable documentation template for recording accurate session information. 

Review Insurance Denials

It may seem counterintuitive to review denials when attempting to speed up the billing process. However, denial reviews accomplish several critical goals:

● Reviews give practices a chance to regain lost revenue. A 2020 study showed that 76% of potentially avoidable healthcare denials are fixable. Failing to challenge denials consistently leaves significant funds on the table. 

● Staff growth comes by examining errors and creating a plan to eliminate them moving forward. Reviews highlight areas of improvement that lead to long-term growth for them. If you ignore denials, you disregard the negative practices of your staff. 

● Reviews establish consistent patterns specific to insurers. Each payer has exceptional standards designed to minimize its obligations. However, savvy team members can learn insurers’ quirks and consistently obtain high reimbursements. 

Hire a Professional Billing Service

Investing in a fast, efficient billing system is time-consuming and expensive. Professional billing companies have the tools, staff, and experience to offer quick reimbursements consistently. 

Plutus Health specializes in improving ABA practices’ financial goals. Over 350+ of our team members are ABA experts dedicated to understanding mental health billing minutiae. This expertise has earned us long-standing relationships with leading ABA agencies. Contact us today to gain specialized insight into your practice’s potential earnings. 

Key Takeaways

1. Keep up with deductibles to avoid fighting the wrong claim denials. 

2. Ensure that Payers have received appropriate pre-authorization paperwork. 

3. Maintain strict standards regarding staff protocols and processes. 

4. Review denials to recover funds and discover avenues of improvement. 

5. Invest in a professional company that can consistently offer quick reimbursements.