Today’s tough economy can mean a treacherous business climate for healthcare providers, especially with the uncertainty surrounding new requirements imposed by healthcare reform. Maintaining a positive cash flow and operating in the black may seem more challenging than ever.But what if there was green hidden in all the red – money rightfully owed you that goes untapped month after month, year after year, because you didn’t know it existed, or how to go about recouping it?
It happens every year in Florida, especially for medical providers, MRI companies and diagnostic imaging centers that treat auto accident victims and struggle to get their full PIP claims paid. But new remote scanning technologies are making it all the easier to recover those overdue revenues in a fraction of the time it used to take.
That can mean real money, in real time.
How does it work? Innovative legal professionals provide the high-tech scanners and install them on your computer, allowing you to send us data on paid and unpaid PIP claims at the touch of a button. Since your employees are scanning Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) documents as they come in, it takes little extra time or effort on their part.
But first it means knowing your rights under Florida’s Personal Injury Protection provisions. Under PIP, regardless of who is at fault, the cost of accident victims’ medical treatment is paid by their own insurance companies, up to $10,000.
PIP has long been designed to help “keep it simple” for motorists, insurance companies, health care providers, attorneys and Florida courts. But over the years, auto insurers have engaged in a practice of routinely shortchanging or improperly denying valid claims filed by MRI companies, doctors, hospitals and other providers.
In some cases, this sleight of hand can cost providers millions of dollars in revenue due them for legitimate, necessary care.
But you have an effective weapon on your side – the law. And the law allows you to recover those monies at no cost and no risk to buy hydrocodone online you or your business.
In one recent case, for example, the Boca Raton-based law firm of Ellis, Ged & Bodden was able to recover $2 million since 2008 for a single MRI provider just by auditing its files, comparing its receipts to valid claims filed and demanding the difference from the insurance companies.
And this is no anomaly. Since 2008, for example, Ellis, Ged & Bodden has gone to bat for 200 medical provider clients and helped recoup $13 million in unpaid or overdue claims rightfully due them by auto insurers. Because MRI providers and diagnostic centers have simpler, more streamlined billing procedures, fighting their improperly denied claims yields an even higher rate of success.
Now emerging technology is making the auditing and reviewing process faster and more efficient.
The “old” process is still a good one, mind you. Legal professionals at firms like ours go to your office, review your old and current files, return to our offices and evaluate what the insurers paid you versus what you billed them to determine what is rightfully owed you.
At that point, filing a simple demand letter notifying the insurance companies of unpaid claims is often all that’s needed to get the insurers to write you a check for the overdue balance. Other times, though, we have to take them to court to recoup the money. Any legal fees incurred – court costs, attorney fees, etc. – are either paid by us or the insurance company, depending on who loses in court. You pay nothing.
With new, high-tech, computerized scanners we’ve employed only in the past couple of months, the process is expedited, meaning the medical provider and diagnostic center is paid more quickly.
The size of a toaster, the cutting-edge Fujitsu scanner is connected to your office desktop PC by one of our professionals. Every time you receive an EOB from the insurer detailing the payment or nonpayment on a particular bill filed according to a patient’s PIP benefits, your employee scans the document at the touch of a button.
Within seconds, the data is transmitted to our legal professionals with the highest-standard 256-bit encryption that protects its security, following all HIPAA regulations. The information is then evaluated and processed by our team by the end of the day.
It’s a real-time turnaround that simplifies the process for your busy staff and allows you to get paid all the money owed more quickly.
In this challenging economy, it’s hard enough to keep a sound business afloat, even one that provides an essential service like healthcare. No one can afford to leave money on the table, and with today’s technology – and consumer advocates armed with Florida’s PIP protections – there’s no reason to.
