Excess and shortfalls are increasing for all Private Consultants
One of the major areas MHM is approached about is excess and shortfalls. In October 2021, empirical evidence indicated 30% of all claims to private medical insurance companies are subject to an...
Patients who do NOT attend for their consultation
This is a topic that comes up frequently when I meet Private Consultant Surgeons. Indeed, the point was mentioned last year in a blog regarding asking self-funding patients to pay in advance....
Setting your consultation and surgical fees
Most consultants when they first start a private practice, consider how best they can set their fees. In reality, it is not the consultant who sets his or her own fees. It is the patient’s insurance...
Unbundling – charge if you are or not
Take, for example, a patient who requires an injection which may be performed by a private orthopaedic surgeon at an outpatient consultation. Thus you raise an invoice for, as an example,...
They called it “the holding pile”; I called it rubbish
MHM recently completed a group of consultants with a remit to investigate why they were not getting paid. One insurance company was proving to be particularly troublesome. An analysis of a...
The Preauthorisation was actually declined
Consider when the patient has contacted his/her insurance company and been issued with a pre-authorisation number. This does not mean, the insurance company will accept your charge. This happened to...
So many unpaid self funding invoices
Ever thought what is the most often quoted reason for non-payment by a self funding patient? The same reason is quoted over and over again. It is not ‘I haven’t got the money” nor is it “I didn’t...
Can’t be right? You haven’t seen that patient before?
Another day arrives. Its time to invoice yesterday's clinics. Pay attention This is a good example of not paying sufficient attention to the clinic list. It almost cost the consultant £60. The...
Where has my money gone?
Some insurance companies decline to accept invoices that are sent more than six months after the consultation or surgical episode. Fair enough, they should have been invoiced. BUT… A...
The pre-authorisation is no longer valid
Have you ever thought how long a pre-authorisation is live? Or how many didn’t realise some insurance companies deem pre-auths do have a life span? For example: I was asked to invoice for a surgical...
The Accident waiting to Happen
It’s amazing how many people don’t back their IT systems up. When they have an accident, they have a serious accident. One guy kept all his correspondence and notes on his laptop and only on his...
Ask for the money. Otherwise why are you in business?
Why are you in business? Many times, consultant surgeons have approached MHM because they, as consultant surgeons, don’t like asking patients for the money. And from a certain point of view, this is...