In one single sentence the cornerstones of how a private consultant surgeon can achieve the financial reward for all his efforts.
Every single time you perform an outpatient clinic the details are passed on.
Invoices can then be raised and sent to either an insurance company or self-funding patient for payment.
Every single time.
Do NOT make the mistake of collecting them ready for “later in the month” because “later” never comes. Or at the very least you are risking an issue coming up which will either delay or cause invoices not to be raised at all.
Instead after every outpatient clinic the details are passed over for invoicing. I’ve got some clients who actually take a photograph of their clinic list on their smartphones and send it to me securely. It’s a ritual with them.
Is it any surprise such private consultant surgeons get paid quickly? Other MHM clients have the clinic list (s) sent over every Friday afternoon without fail. They get paid quickly too.
It’s a ritual for them.
Contrast that with another MHM client who sends all the data over infrequently. Sometimes at the end of each month or more often than not every couple of months or so.
This client does not get paid as frequently as the others. The reasons are somewhat obvious.
Ritual is also applicable when dealing with excess or shortfall payments. The moment you are notified, you MUST action them for the longer they are left unattended the danger of non-payment increases.
I check every single remittance advise a private medical insurance company sends in. Any and all shortfalls/excess deductions are actioned the very same day.
It is a ritual.
Religiously – MHM check every single piece of data BEFORE an invoice is submitted for payment.
The policy number is checked to see if it has changed.
The patient’s date of birth and postcode is checked to see if that has altered.
The CCSD code is checked and the fee also checked against the appropriate insurance company’s fee schedule.
If there is a discrepancy, it is corrected.
Then – and only then – is the invoice submitted for payment. Religiously.
So how does just doing these two things contribute so much to a private consultant surgeon achieving his rewards?
Both cut down the opportunities for payment to be delayed, queried or not made substantially.
The crazy thing is the one piece of “equipment” used more often than any other at MHM to ensure both are achieved with the minimum amount of distress both to MHM and its clients?
A diary.
pete@medicalhealthcaremanagement.co.uk
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