Verifying patient insurance benefits can feel overwhelming—but you can accomplish it all in three easy steps!
Melissa Hughes 5 min read January 18, 2022
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Remember the game of telephone? A group of kids sit in a circle, and then someone comes up with a message and whispers it to the person on their right. That person whispers what they heard to the next person, who then whispers it to the next person—and the message travels all the way around the circle until the last person announces what they heard. Somehow, almost every time, the message twists and distorts until something like “Hockey is cool” turns into “Hog monkeys rule.”
It may sound a little silly, but getting correct patient insurance information can feel uncomfortably similar to a game of telephone. A patient’s employer tells the patient about their insurance plan, the patient tells you, and then you use this info when you send a claim to the payer, except—whoops!—the information the payer has on file doesn’t match your records, and suddenly you’re stuck in denial city. The best way to head off this high-stakes game of telephone is, quite simply, to immediately verify the information your patients give you. So, let’s run through how to check insurance benefits.
First things first: If you want to head denials off at the pass, you gotta get some information from the patient, ASAP. Insurance verification isn’t always smooth sailing, so you must allow yourself ample time to complete this process—which means asking new patients for their insurance information when they call to set up their first appointment. When you collect the patient’s insurance information, be sure you record:
Don’t forget to ask about secondary insurance! If the patient holds other policies, then you’ll need to complete all of these steps for each one.
The bulk of the reason why you should start the verification process early is that it can take some time to complete this second step. You could be sitting on the phone for around 20 minutes—and that’s with a relatively smooth verification process. For this reason, we recommend initiating contact with payers at least 72 hours before a patient’s initial visit. This will ensure that you have all the information you need long before the patient walks through your doors.
The most common way to contact payers (and, incidentally, the most time-consuming) is over the phone. Just pull up the info you got from your patient, find the insurance carrier’s phone number, and dial away. Once you get someone on the phone, double check that you’re talking with a representative on the provider services line, as some payers have lines exclusively for hospital admissions or referrals. After you confirm you’re speaking with the right rep, this resource says you’ll have to provide some information about your practice to confirm that this is a HIPAA-secure exchange. Finally, the rep will ask you to provide some of the patient’s information (usually the patient's name, date of birth, and the policy number) so he or she can locate the correct policy.
If you’re having trouble getting a rep on the phone, try calling back at a different time of day or day of the week. The provider services line is just like any other customer helpline out there; there will be busier hours (and even days) when more people tend to call in at the same time. (Tip: Avoid the Monday morning rush!)
If you don’t like the idea of playing payer phone tag (totally fair), you can opt out of telecommunication altogether by seeking out the payer’s online eligibility-checking resources. There’s no golden standard with these resources—and you may have to scroll through searchable directories or submit question forms—but you should be able to find the information you need somewhere on the payer’s website. Here are some jumping-off points for some common payers:
For those who'd rather skip payer hold times and convoluted website pathing—hey, we don't blame you—there are digital solutions available to help you automatically verify patient benefits. While you will likely need to pay for these services, they can be worth their weight in gold—especially when they integrate into an EMR. Instead of sitting on the phone for hours or navigating through outdated websites, front office staff can click a button, verify insurance in seconds, and dedicate the rest of their time to their other duties. \WebPT eBenefit Verification saves rehab therapy practices time by quickly verifying patient insurance benefits electronically in the WebPT EMR and placing that information directly in the patient’s chart—thus eliminating the need for lengthy phone calls and hold time with insurance companies.
Keep in mind, though, that this list isn’t necessarily the end-all, be-all of insurance verification questions. Perhaps questions have come up in your clinic in the past about a particular payer’s funky rule (e.g., does it apply to this specific policy?), and this is the perfect time to chase your answers!
Assuming that everything went swimmingly with your information gathering, it’s time to record the necessary information into your EMR. And after that, you’re finished! At this point, you should know whether or not the new patient has a valid policy—along with a general estimate of how much the patient’s visit will cost. If you really want to hit your customer service out of the park, give the patient a call back to provide them a copay estimate; it’s a great way to earn some goodwill! When the patient finally does come in for their first appointment, ensure that you scan the patient’s insurance card (and a picture ID, if possible). If you ever need to confirm info about the patient’s policy, you can immediately reference the scan—and you won’t have to bother the patient about it!
In a perfect world, patients would remember to tell you the moment their insurance changes. But patients have a lot on their plates too, and if their insurance plan is changing due to something like birth, adoption, marriage, divorce, or a change in employment, it might slip their mind to keep their therapist’s front office in the loop. As such, it’s a good idea to reverify your patients’ insurance plans on a regular basis—monthly, if possible.
The telephone game may be a fun way to teach kids to be wary of second- and third-hand information, but it’s no fun when poorly-remembered facts affect your work life. Insurance verification may be time-consuming and tedious, but it’s truly the best way to avoid major billing snafus.
