What to Look for in Physical Therapy Software
Physical therapists need a fully-integrated physical therapy EMR and physical therapy billing software. This setup helps the therapist to spend more time with patients and less time on paperwork.
A ‘one stop shop’ system should empower the therapists to streamline and integrate all aspects of the practice. This system should provide scheduling, documentation, billing, compliance and the monitoring of provider productivity. This integrated structure can reduce the time taken to submit claims, and improve cashflow.
The decision to get a physical therapy software, and to hire a billing service, is one of the most important business decisions for any clinic. It is crucial to choose a trusted company with proven results as your partner
The volatile and evolving nature of healthcare requires due diligence, and a highly informed decision prior to the selection of a service provider. In Touch Billing includes physical therapy software, including physical therapy emr, physical therapy billing software and physical therapy billing services.
Unlike other specialties, physical therapy billing is different from medical billing. Physical therapy practices need physical therapy specific billing software for more accurate and seamless billing. Aspects such as functional limitation (G code) reporting and modifiers like GP,KX are specific for physical therapy practices.
Here are some of the things you should look for, in a physical therapy software system:
Integrated Scheduling, Documentation, Billing AND Marketing
Your EMR should allow you to schedule a patient, document, bill the claim and follow up with the patient to increase referrals. It should be designed with the ‘end in mind’ – a system that allows you to run a streamlined, profitable practice.
Fast, Simple, Customizable Documentation
Your EMR and the billing software should allow fast, simple and comprehensive note taking. It should speed up physical therapy documentation. This allows you to concentrate on treating patients, instead of writing notes.
You should be able to create your own documentation templates, and control what you document in the subjective and objective components of your notes.
When you complete your notes faster, you will bill faster and leave your office sooner, moving one step closer to a lifestyle of freedom and independence as a healthcare professional.
Your EMR should empower you to narrate your own clinical decision pathway. Your patients, your way. It should adapt to you, not the other way around.
Alert System
If a patient exceeds the therapeutic cap, the billing software should have an automated alert system to append KX modifier. This will help prevent denials from payers who cite the reason “Maximum Benefits Reached”.
The EMR system should also include alerts for upcoming progress notes, upcoming reevaluations, upcoming physician certification requests (expiring plan of care), documents that need to be reviewed, cancelled appointments and much more.
Friendly for Billers – Electronic and Paper Claims
A claim should be automatically scrubbed and submitted to the billing software for biller review.
The biller should be able to push a button to scrub and edit the claim against millions of pre-programmed payer rules. Another click should automatically batche the claim and submit it to the insurance company electronically, or allow the biller to print the claim on a CMS 1500 or UB04 form. This allows the clinic to get paid more, faster.
The EMR and billing software should not just work together, they should enhance one another.
Physical therapy billing software should also handle coding in a compliant fashion with the help of in-built payer specific “unit” rules to track if there’s any over/under-billing.
ICD-10 code carry forward
Your physical therapy software should automatically ‘carry forward’ ICD-10 codes from one visit to the next. In most cases, the diagnosis code remains consistent with each subsequent physical therapy encounter. Your billing software should automatically pull the diagnosis codes from the previous visit. The biller should retain complete control at all times. If there are any changes required in the diagnosis code for the current visit, the biller should have an option to edit the diagnosis field before the claim is billed out.
Claim Scrubbing
Claim scrubbing is a process of validating the plethora of data on a health insurance claim. Many billing softwares utilize an unmodified version of the CCI Edits to check claims and check for missing components.
They don’t audit for coding validity of diagnosis, procedure, procedure-modifier and revenue codes. Only a few physical therapy billing softwares like In Touch Biller Pro achieve this in an accurate manner, since the algorithm is constantly updated with the latest physical therapy coding best practices.
Creation of Payer Specific Rules
Your billing software should be customizable and allow you to set up check points. It should allow you to set up payer specific rules to prevent denials and ensure clean claims submission.
For physical therapy, Medicare will accept G0283 instead of CPT 97014. You should be able to set up your billing software in such a way that your billing software should not accept CPT 97014 for Medicare claims. It should alert you to bill G0283 for Medicare instead of CPT 97014.
For physical therapy, referring physician is mandatory in the CMS 1500 form for Medicare and most other payers. Your billing software should not allow you to submit a claim without referring physician information.
Customizable Patient Statements
Customizable patient statements with the clinic’s logo will create a positive impression for your patients. Your billing software should allow you to add your clinic logo in the patient statements.
Your billing software should have the option to add the statement messages like co-pay, co-ins, deductible, maximum benefit reached, non-covered services. The statement messages will provide the patient with relevant information, such as the outstanding balances. This eliminates the need to call the clinic to seek clarification about the balance. This will reduce staff overwhelm and unnecessary calls back and forth between patients and staff.
Custom Physical Therapy Billing Reports
Customized physical therapy billing reports can help you diagnose the health of your physical therapy practice. Reports can demonstrate how a physical therapy practice is performing on important revenue cycle metrics, whether claims are being paid in a timely fashion and how well insurance carriers are paying for key procedures and diagnosis.
Many billing software systems have hundreds of reports. The fact is, you need a few, critical reports. Based on our 10+ years of experience in physical therapy billing services, we found that the following reports are the most important reports for a physical therapy practice. You should ask your billing company if they can provide you with these specific reports, before signing a contract with them.
- Appointment status report
- AR aging report by payer/patient
- Missing charges report
- Payer payment report
- Hold/Unbilled claims list report
- Patient payment and balance summary report
- AR aging summary report for individual patients/payers
- Most commonly used diagnosis code and CPT code list
- Percentage of business by payer
- Percentage of business by CPT code
- Overall billing efficiency report
- Analytic reports for charges and payments
Conclusion and Next Step – Schedule a Demo of In Touch EMR
In Touch EMR has all this, and many more features designed to help you run a profitable practice, along with a simple, transparent pricing model.
If you have any questions, please click here to schedule a demo of In Touch EMR to learn more.
If you can’t wait, here is a quick, 10 minute walkthrough of In Touch EMR software.
Need More Information about In Touch EMR? Contact Us
In Touch EMR is a fully integrated scheduling, documentation and billing software for physical therapy practices. It is a simple and user friendly web-based, ICD-10 and HIPAA compliant EMR, and it offers customizable templates for notes, the ability to attach files, electronic signatures, and the ability to track progress notes, treatment plans, and assessments.
Click here for answers to your most frequently asked questions about EMR selection and transition.
In Touch EMR has grown to over 1000 clients, our company / founders have been mentioned on CNN, Forbes, Huffington Post, Amazon, received the prestigious ONC certification, 2015 and 2016 PQRS registry designation, integrated with Microsoft’s cutting edge patient portal technology and initiated groundbreaking healthcare partnerships with companies like Novartis. All of this is possible thanks to clients across the country, who have embraced In Touch EMR.
In Touch EMR is featured on our HIPAA compliant hosting partner (Amazon Web Services) website along with other industry leaders such as the Cleveland clinic, Nexttech, Saint Mary’s regional medical center and UCLA health.
SIMPLE, TRANSPARENT PRICING MODEL
At In Touch EMR, we charge a flat fee per licensed clinician (no hidden fees or surprises) and it includes everything, unlimited claims and notes and infinite custom template creation. We are also a CMS recognized PQRS registry, we automate the reporting of PQRS and Functional Limitation G codes and provide automatic alerts for plan of care expirations, authorizations, progress note reminders and KX modifier alerts.
Clients also get a self-paced video training program on how to get up and running, custom documentation template builder, iPad app – one touch document import, Instant Intake iPad app, unlimited patient manager and patient portal.
Every license unlimited ongoing support (phone / email / live chat), billing software integration, unlimited appointments, unlimited documentation, unlimited document uploads and unlimited electronic faxing.
OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL COORDINATOR CERTIFIED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD TECHNOLOGY
We are a premier vendor in the rehabilitation space, and on the prestigious, certified Health IT Product List, which is a division of the office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Very few vendors can make this claim, and they generally won’t bring this up (in some cases, out of ignorance) mostly because this is not a mandatory certification, it is optional and requires a significant investment of time and effort. This certification is a sign of our commitment to a HIPAA compliant, secure and stable EMR system for your clinic.
If you ever get audited, the fact that you are using ONC-certified EHR technology (CEHRT) will work in your favor. CMS looks favorably on the use of CEHRT since HHS is trying to encourage the adoption of CEHRT amongs providers nationwide as part of a long term push towards electronic documentation and interoperability between EMR systems. Your practice can state that it carefully vetted and selected “a rehabilitation-specific vendor that passed all of the ONC HIT 2014 Edition EHR Certification criteria required to satisfy the Base EHR definition”
Since In Touch EMR has been very proactive at staying at the forefront of emerging guidelines for EMR vendors, you are assured higher quality, higher security and more compliance with CMS and other payer regulations.
For more information about the ONC, please visit: http://www.healthit.gov/newsroom/about-onc
In Touch EMR is one of the only EMR vendors in the rehabilitation space to pass all the 2014 Edition EHR Certification criteria required to satisfy the Base EHR Definition as stated by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, as listed here:
http://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/BaseEHR_8-18-12_Final.pdf
In Touch EMR is on the Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) website.
http://www.healthit.gov/policy-researchers-implementers/certified-health-it-product-list-chpl
PRAISE FROM THOUSANDS OF SATISFIED CLINICS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
“In Touch EMR has emerged as a comprehensive, customizable EMR solution for our growing organization. Support is always there when we need it, options to customize options to match our workflow are endless, clinicians find it simple and easy to use, front desk and billing love the integration between documentation and claims and compliance is built-in. This is exactly what we needed and it has boosted our efficiency. Couldn’t have asked for more. In Touch EMR is a leader in web-based EMR for our practice. Thank you!”
Julie Edelman PT, DPT – Avanti Therapy
“Moving to In Touch EMR was a process of adjustment, but it was worth it, for several reasons. Not only has the staff at In Touch EMR been proactive in adding new features and responding to support calls and streamlining our billing processes, they have been understanding, professional, polite and patient. The ability to create our own documentation templates, generate professional reports on demand and submit claims to billing with one click has allowed us to streamline our practice. The billing software is extremely versatile – I can review number of claims sent / on hold, payer breakdown, charges per visit and collections per visit. Our biller is able to pull up detailed reports, exactly the way we want. My front desk staff has the ability to track authorizations and create progress note alerts, physician prescription alerts and fax reports to physicians with the click of a button in In Touch EMR. My management is now exploring analytics to identify areas of growth and efficiency and expect to drive our practice further with analytic insights. Best of all, the transition for our entire staff was streamlined and consistent and help was readily available. I like that we are able to talk to someone whenever we need to. If you are looking for a powerful, reliable, and responsive team to help you implement EMR and billing software to grow your practice, look no further than the team at In Touch EMR. We support this therapist owned EMR company wholeheartedly.”
Matthew S. Fischer, MSPT – Fischer Physical Therapy
“In my 30+ years as a compliance auditor, author and instructor, I have yet to see an EMR and billing software as comprehensive as In Touch EMR. If you are looking for compliant ICD-10 documentation, and a ‘gold standard’ that can survive auditing, get In Touch EMR. A well defined workflow for the front desk, clinicians, billers and coders makes this a one-stop shop for quick, compliant documentation and flawless billing. I’m impressed with their HIPAA compliance, PHI protection and data breach prevention protocols. The front desk automation (certification alerts, patient portal, birthday reminders, e-newsletters) and clinician automation (progress note and reevaluation countdown, autotext technology, flowsheet templates, tasks and messages) are sufficient to set them apart. They didn’t stop there. The billing automation (claim cleanser, automatic transmission to billing, CCI edits – modifier 59 automation, autopost ERAs) and the administrator functions (access controls, audit logs, time tracking, productivity metrics) result in an incredible EMR and billing software combination for all clinicians. It’s a no brainer – forget the hype from other products and get In Touch EMR”
Cheryl House RMC, CHI Compliance Auditor, Author, Coder and Instructor at Illinois Valley Community College
“I was looking for a Practice Management Software that combined both documentation and billing platform systems that work in unison. I had previously tried more complicated systems that made me exhausted at the end of the day. In Touch EMR and In Touch Biller Pro represent a united and unified package that helps the private practice clinician govern a practice. It’s easy to use, it is concise, and it has a plenty of analysis variables to study.”
Sammy K. Bonfim PT – Rehabilitation & Performance Center
All In Touch EMR customers get unlimited support via phone, email and live chat.
Click below to schedule a free demo with the experts at In Touch EMR, or call (800)-421-8442 to learn more.
Schedule a Demo of In Touch EMR Now
At In Touch EMR, we charge a flat fee per licensed clinician (no hidden fees or surprises) and it includes everything, unlimited claims and notes and infinite custom template creation. We are also a CMS recognized PQRS registry, we automate the reporting of PQRS and Functional Limitation G codes and provide automatic alerts for plan of care expirations, authorizations, progress note reminders and KX modifier alerts. Schedule a demo to see why practices across the country are switching to In Touch EMR.