2 min read

Clearinghouse 101 – a re-introduction to automated claims processing

By Prime Care Tech Marketing on Fri, Mar 25, 2016 @ 07:00 PM

pCL-Blog-Clearinghouse-Basics.jpgNow would be a good time to get back to the basics, the essentials, of what a clearinghouse is and offers. “Clearinghouse 101” – an introduction to the some of the critical features and benefits of a claims clearinghouse. Whether you are using one today or not, take a peak. You may find some of the following tips and points useful.

One portal does it all

A clearinghouse becomes the one-stop shop, the aggregator, for all claims processing actions - all in one portal with a single sign-on to submit, respond to, monitor, and manage all claims submitted to Medicare, Medicaid, Managed Care, private insurances, and other 3rd party payers. Within the portal, billers can make changes or corrections to the claims and have access to DDE, HETS, and claims-in-process.

A claims translator

The clearinghouse takes the claims created within billing software and should run them through a scrubber to make sure that they are compliant with each payer’s requirements. If the clearinghouse find errors, it notifies the billers which claims need what information. Once the clearinghouse verifies that the claims are complete and comply with the payer billing requirements, it converts them into a format readable by the payer and forwards the claims. As a link between the provider and its payers, in essence, a clearinghouse is a claims translator.

Not a billing service

Periodically, someone will ask us if we, a clearinghouse, are a billing service. The straightforward answer is, “No.” A clearinghouse works with a provider's billing service/billers to complete the revenue cycle and to get cash back in your hand.

A convenient tool to monitor, manage, and follow-through

Submitting the claims is one thing, monitoring and follow-through are another. The clearinghouse portal enables you to see into what is happening with the claims once the payer has accepted them. Through the portal, billers can view the entire lifecycle of the claim and take action as needed to keep the claims flow steady.

Create secondary claims automatically

Please refer to this blog to learn more about how a clearinghouse should help to process secondary claims automatically and timely.

Claims data storage

Our clearinghouse, for example, securely stores the data up to 10 years, retrievable for the provider at any time.

Support

Experience and expertise are the foundation of a responsive and reliable support system. A clearinghouse can identify what is acceptable and answer claims submissions and processing questions.

Reports

A clearinghouse should have a core set of useful reports to help billers, their managers, and the executive team to track and trend the claims cycle. The reports offerings should help providers to track their billers and claims.  

The bottom line

From a benefits point of view, what does a clearinghouse offer?

  • Simplicity - An effective clearinghouse makes the submission and management of claims simple, easy to learn, and monitor – a single location for claims management.
  • Efficiency - From clearinghouse.org, we find that “the average error rate for paper claims is 28%. But using the right clearinghouse can reduce that to 2-3%.”
  • Control – A clearinghouse delivers a provider-specific portal which serves as an all-in-one centralized location to monitor, manage, and extract necessary information.
  • Speed – A clearinghouse facilitates quicker claims turnaround with higher claims success.
  • Peace of mind – With a clearinghouse, billers have the confidence that they can track all claims easily throughout the entire claims-based revenue cycle.

It all makes cents.

Topics: clearinghouse HETS Medicare claims DDE CLIP claims clearinghouse revenue cycle paper claims Managed Medicare Medicaid claims claims scrubber software portal intermediary claims cycle
2 min read

Update and Improve Medicare Claims Management

By Proclaim Partners on Thu, May 29, 2014 @ 08:00 AM

pcl_horn_playerI acknowledge that blogs are for the purpose of educating and earning your trust, but at times I think it’s alright to blow one’s own horn once in a while. After all no less a business guru than Kenneth H. Blanchard said, “If you don't blow your own horn, someone else will use it as a spittoon.” In the highly competitive world of claims clearinghouses, blowing our own horn is a must and doing it early is essential. Otherwise, the ensuing copycat cacophony will drown it out. So, here it is.

ProClaim Partners announces the release of its new integrated HETS/CLIP/DDE module as part of its automated claim processing clearinghouse software. For providers who bill Medicare this is a boon. It gives them access to Medicare eligibility and claims management tools through one portal. What is particularly noteworthy is that billers will be able to:

  • Browse claims data through the ProClaim Partners proprietary web user interface
  • Have a secure, high speed connection between the portal and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
  • Enjoy an integrated implementation of the new HIPAA Eligibility Transaction System (HETS) for real-time eligibility determinations
  • Access Claims-in-Process (CLIP) which securely sweeps the CMS data during off hours for the latest claims activities.

The data seamlessly integrates into the ProClaim database and workflows. Together these functions will present the CMS data in a much more user-friendly, browser-based format than what billers have had through other tools. While CMS has recently delayed the sunset date for access to the older technology used for eligibility determination, the transition to HETS is still imminent. Why wait? With this new module providers don’t have to worry about a future sunset date.

Eligibility

For real-time Medicare eligibility determinations, ProClaim implements the new digital certificates (X.509), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), and Multipurpose Internet Male Extension (MIME) standards within the ProClaim software service to provide web-based workflow and access to HETS. ProClaim makes instant programmatic determinations of eligibility against the CMS backend data store with minimum time and effort.

Claims in Process

The ProClaim Claims-in-Process (CLIP) function displays the current Medicare claims status, avoiding the need to navigate through the many legacy screens of the soon-to-be-phased-out eligibility inquiries into CWF using DDE for each individual claim. ProClaim’s CLIP accesses DDE during off hours to deliver programmed operator services. These services sweep the claims data off the DDE Mainframe and into the ProClaim database.

DDE Access

By design ProClaim minimizes DDE usage. However, under certain circumstances, claims administrators and billers may still need to access DDE. ProClaim provides a new and powerful DDE access solution as an integrated part of the software service. Now, providers have the choice of continuing to use 3rd party terminal emulation software for DDE access to the CMS Host or using the new ProClaim DDE access.

In summary, ProClaim Partners helps Long Term Care providers face a challenging environment converting claims to cash, especially when dealing with CMS/Medicare systems. In short, we’ve modernized and simplified the daily Medicare claims processing workload. The key benefits of using the system include:

  • Real time eligibility determination
  • Faster access to CWF data
  • Faster access to Claims in Process
  • Faster resolution of ADRs
  • Reduced training time for new claims administrators
  • Quicker collection of cash from claims

Tada! I have finished my horn solo. It’s nice to know that technology has caught up with the complex world of revenue cycle management.

Where are you in adopting new technologies to accelerate payments and improve cash flow?

Topics: automated claims management revenue cycle management web portal to manage claims HETS DDE CLIP

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