Do you want to save thousands of dollars in your practice every year? Accepting electronic remittance advice (ERA) from your clearinghouse and electronic funds transfer (EFT) payments from health insurers can automate your claims process and:
- Speed payment
- Reduce time spent on administrative tasks
- Eliminate lost paperwork and expedite claims payment
- Reduce the risk of lost or stolen checks
- Allow your staff to pursue revenue-generating functions
An EFT allows transfer of money between your payers and your bank electronically. Payment by paper checks can be time-consuming, but an EFT can be an efficient means of payment for your practice. EFT can save your practice time and money by reducing administrative tasks involved with processing and depositing paper checks.
Accepting EFT can help reduce time your staff spends on administrative tasks. For example, practice staff who currently open mail and complete bank deposits transactions might be able to perform more productive tasks, such as make appointment reminder calls, investigate overpayments and underpayments from payers, appeal denied claims, and review aging reports.
Your practice should consider using EFT to further automate your claims management revenue cycle. EFT is a great compliment to the service Apex EDI provides your practice. Claims are submitted electronically and payment should be returned from your contracted health insurer electronically. The process is usually faster than a comparable paper exchange and your practice should also see significant administrative cost savings—saving your practice half of your annual payment processing costs.
* Based on 3,600 annual claims submitted by a single physician.
Source: Milliman, Inc., Electronic Transaction Savings Opportunities for Physician Practices. Technology and Operations Solutions. Revised: January 2006
Consider your practice's situation while you're evaluating accepting EFTs from your payers—especially the current claims management revenue cycle for your practice. The claims management revenue cycle is different from the typical EFT enrollment process you'll find for payroll or household bills. There are often several business trading partners involved in the process. Your business practices and your associated business trading partners will influence the process you should put in place.
About Apex EDI
Apex EDI is a leading healthcare claims clearinghouse for medical and dental professionals. Apex EDI serves thousands of physicians, dentists, and other medical providers nationwide with its Apex OneTouch® solution. The OneTouch® solution is a Web-based electronic claims reimbursement system that increases productivity and profitability while facilitating fast payment of insurance claims and providing additional reporting and analysis. Founded in 1995, Apex EDI is based in American Fork, Utah.
