Processing Claims
A number of technical protocols and industry standards must be met for insurance claims to be delivered expediently and accurately between medical practice and payer.
Medical billing specialists typically use software to record patient data, prepare claims, and submit them to the appropriate party, but there isn’t a universal software application that all healthcare providers and insurance companies use. Even so, insurance claims software use a set of standards, mandated as by the HIPAA Transactions and Code Set Rule (TCS). Adopted in 2003, the TCS is defined by the Accredited Standards Committee (ACS X12), which is a body tasked with standardizing electronic information exchanges in the healthcare industry.
There are two different methods used to deliver insurance claims to the payer: manually (on paper) and electronically. The majority of healthcare providers and insurance companies prefer electronic claim systems. They are faster, more accurate, and are cheaper to process (electronic systems save around $3 per claim). But because paper claims have not yet been completely removed from the insurance claims process, it is important for the medical biller and coder to be well versed with both electronic and hardcopy claims.
Filing Electronic Claims
Certain technologies have been introduced into the system in order to expedite claim processing and increase accuracy.
Software
Some healthcare providers use software to electronically enter information into CMS-1500 and UB-04 documents. Using “fill and print” software eliminates the possibility for unreadable information. This software may also include certain types of “scrubbing,” or tools that check for errors in the documents. While these tools do decrease the amount of errors made in filling out claim forms, they are not always 100 percent accurate, so medical billers should remain diligent when filling out forms using software.
