Mental health services aim to help people feel better emotionally. When your mind is healthy, your body feels better, too. Providing these services involves using different treatments and methods to care for patients and handle billing smoothly. Mistakes in billing can get in the way of treatment, making it harder for patients to get better.
Receiving fair payment for mental health services is an uphill battle. Insurance companies have stringent reimbursement policies, often covering only a fraction of the services provided. This financial challenge can leave mental health professionals feeling undervalued and underpaid.
Sometimes, mental health professionals struggle to balance taking care of patients and dealing with insurance claims. Healing someone’s mind requires teamwork between the professional and the patient. If they do not work well together, it can cause problems for the practice and the patients. That’s why everyone needs to know the basics of mental health billing. However, it is also a wise decision to outsource medical billing services to third-party medical billing companies for accurate work. Medical billing experts have years of experience dealing with billing and coding, and there is a lower chance of mistakes.
What are the different kinds of help for mental health?
Having someone who provides mental health help is essential when paying for it. The cost of the services depends on who provides them. Sometimes, insurance covers some or all of the cost.
The main types of mental health help and how insurance covers them are:
Group Therapy
Many people get together for therapy to try to change their behavior. If their problems can be fixed, insurance should pay for it.
Family Therapy
Family members or people who take care of someone go to therapy to learn about the illness and how to help the person with it. The person with the illness might or might not be there during the therapy. Sometimes, insurance pays for this.
Diagnosis by Psychiatrist
When you go for a mental checkup, also called a psych checkup, the doctor checks your physical and mental health. They look at how you act, think, and solve problems. Then, based on how ready you are to follow their advice, they make a plan to help you get better.
Therapeutic Services by Psychiatrist
In talk therapy, you chat with a therapist about your feelings and actions, like if you’re stressed or struggling with addiction. The goal is to make your life better, change how you act, and feel more confident in tough situations.
Simple Tips for Better Mental Health Billing
Make sure you put the correct patient information
Make sure you know all about the patient’s info well before they come to the clinic.
It’s always wise to double-check things to make sure they’re right, especially when you’re dealing with mental health billing.
If you do not, billing could be much harder, leading to mistakes and rejected claims. If patients get frustrated because of mistakes, it can slow down how efficiently things run.
You can verify eligibility to see if the patient’s insurance is covered. This will help you understand their insurance plan better so you can treat them appropriately.
Since patients might forget to tell you about updates, double-checking their insurance can also help you determine if they need approval before treatment or if their coverage has changed. This way, you can bill insurance correctly for the healthcare treatment.
Check Insurance Benefits
Use technology to help you with this!” As mentioned earlier, checking insurance benefits is important to know what services your patient’s insurance covers.
During this process, you can learn more about your patient’s coverage that might not be on their insurance card. Even if they have active coverage, certain services might not be covered, so it’s essential to do this step to make billing for mental health services more accessible.
Check the patient’s insurance benefits to find out what services are covered. Then, contact the insurance company with the patient’s account number to learn more about their coverage.
But you don’t have to do this manually. Technology has made things easier for us with new advancements. Mental health practices can use technology to do this check. While there are some limitations to these options, it can save a lot of time for the staff.
Checking insurance benefits can help avoid denied claims and unpaid bills for services provided to the patient.
Submit Claims Correctly
You can put in a lot of effort to submit claims, but it’s all for nothing if the billing isn’t done right. It’s essential to get reimbursed for services rendered, and it’s frustrating when the staff puts in effort but doesn’t get paid.
Before submitting, ensure the billing format matches the insurance company’s requirements. It’s helpful to follow their filing methods and submit claims within their timeframe. It’s best to communicate with the insurance provider to understand their preferences for filing and submission.
Insurance companies accept different billing forms based on the type of service. Mental health practices should familiarize themselves with this to feel confident about their claims and avoid feeling overwhelmed when submitting them.
Conclusion
Billing for mental health services can be challenging but not impossible. If you follow the steps mentioned here, you can ensure your practice gets the reimbursements it deserves on time.
