PATIENTS KEEP TELLING ME THEY’VE PAID MY BILL TO THE HOSPITAL BY CARD?
This specific issue comes up frequently when MHM is asked to review the outstanding accounts of a private consultant surgeon. There are two reasons normally why the patient believes...
An ENT Surgeon’s enquiry – but it was pre-authorised??
A well established ENT surgeon called MHM recently most upset her fees had not been paid in full and an excess deduction made even though pre-authorisation had been obtained. The patient had...
BENEFITS AND FEES – AN ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON’S ISSUE
This issue came up at the MDU meeting on "Setting Up a Private Practice" recently. A delegate enquired as to the difference between the two and what the difference can lead to in terms of...
HOW DOES AN ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON OR A GYNAECOLOGIST CALCULATE THE RIGHT FEE?
Some consultant surgeons aren’t fully familiar with the fees paid by different medical insurance companies for the same surgical episode. Consequently, they actually undercharge without even...
UNBUNDLING – WILL BE IDENTIFIED BY THE PRIVATE MEDICAL INSURANCE COMPANY.
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,...
PRE-EMPTIVE MEDICINE – rubbish in = rubbish out
MHM recently completed a project for a private hospital. The project was to investigate why medical insurance companies were not paying. One insurance company was proving to be particularly...
PREAUTHORISATION DECLINED – STOP WASTING YOUR BREATH
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...
WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF AN EXCESS OR A SHORTFALL – THE TOLD YOU SO MOMENT
Recently my stepdaughter received confirmation from her GP additional tests were required for an issue that had arisen. Both she and her Mum were somewhat disturbed that the waiting time for the...
Sexist but true – A Gynaecologist’s website
My website designer related a really interesting tale to me this week. He designs websites for all sorts of businesses including consultant surgeons but was confused. He’d checked the traffic to all...
How can you have a follow-up for a patient you haven’t seen before?
Monday morning comes round all too quickly and its time to invoice last week's clinics. Pay attention This is a good example of not paying sufficient attention to the clinic list. It...
Open Referral – What are the benefits to consultant surgeons again?
I took a phone call from a friend recently who works for one of the major insurance providers. He asked why I was still against the principal of open referral. The benefits for both patients and...
Insurance company took the consultant surgeon’s fee back
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 statement was...