Accuracy in Documentation Vital for Effective Optometry Medical Billing

Maintaining accuracy in documentation is extremely important for optometry billing. This is not only required for error-free coding, billing, claim submission and follow-ups with insurance companies but also for avoiding malpractice lawsuits.

Insufficient and inaccurate documentation have cost medical practices millions of dollars. Rate of errors may have dropped for optometry practices but even a small fraction can lead to disrupted cash flow. 2014 has brought various challenges related to healthcare reforms, increased federal scrutiny and rising costs. Amidst all these complexities, it has become essential to concentrate on documentation in order to avoid delayed or lost payments.

Missing information leads to inaccurate coding:

Identification and correction of coding gaps has become essential during optometry billing to get paid on time. This has pushed the need to improve clinical documentation. Audit plans have become stricter and with the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule cuts, providers cannot afford to lose more money due to inaccuracy in documentation.

With the implementation of ICD-10 in October 2014, codes relevant to eye care will expand to over 100 pages of codes. In order to choose the correct diagnosis codes and ensure high level of specificity, you will be required to provide accurate documentation to your coders.

Optometry Billing Challenges in maintaining documentation accuracy:

There is no doubt that optometrists can now provide a wide range of professional services to patients but managed care has forced them to attend more patients every day. This has not only reduced the time they usually spent on each patient encounter but also reduced the time required for accurate documentation.

Providers need to be in sync with latest documentation trends. They also need to be aware of guidelines related to optometry billing in order to document properly. With ICD-10 round the corner, they also need to be conversant with ICD-10 related optometry billing and documentation as it will be required when the diagnosis system will change.

Seeking help from an Optometry billing partner:

Improper documentation leads to improper coding which results in penalties and your practice can get expelled from managed care programs. Therefore, it is important to be compliant and proficient in optometry billing and coding.

Thorough knowledge of optometry coding, billing and documentation is required for supporting claims and considering the lack of time and resources; hiring a billing partner makes a lot of sense. MBC Optometry billing team of skilled coders and billers have the required experience and expertise to handle optometry coding. Since a team of experts is assigned for maximizing revenue and minimizing claim denials, providers can utilize their time to pay full attention to documentation and patient care.

Medicalbillersandcoders.com offers effective optometric billing and coding solutions to practices across 50 states in the US. For optometry practices with an in-house billing department, MBC can help optimize revenue management system and prepare it for meeting modern medical billing and coding challenges. While we handle the daunting tasks of coding and billing, you can make use of the spare time to concentrate on documentation and other vital tasks.