Chapter 28- Admin Procedures Flashcards
Account History
a patient ledger within a practice management system
Generally, account histories follow the same organized plan used for ledger records of patients.
The account history automatically shows the balance of the account and the number of days the account has been due
Aging of Accounts
dividing accounts into categories according to the amount of time since the first billing date
way to identify accounts according to the length of time the accounts have been delinquent.
Alpha Search
look by Alphabetical Order
Antagonize
to annoy; arouse opposition
At the time of service (ATOS)
when a service is rendered; real time
bankruptcy
being legally declared unable to pay debts;
a petition to a court by an individual who is stating that they cannot pay any debt incurred.
date of service (DOS)
the calendar date a service begins or is provided.
expended
spent or used ; as with money or energy
idle
uninvolved, doing nothing
non-sufficient funding (NSF)
meaning the patient does not have enough money in the bank account to cover the amount of the check.
outsourcing
an arrangement by which a task, operation, or job that could be performed by employees within a company is instead contracted to another company;
generally viewed as contracting out a specific business function to another company rather than having your own company manage that specific work.
Practice management (PM) system
software—provides the medical office the electronic component to deal with day-to-day financial and administrative operations of a medical practice.
The PM software is often integrated with an electronic medical record (EMR) system. This allows information to be pulled from the EMR and populated in the financial components of the patient account.
skip
person who has disappeared or moved to avoid payment of bills.
termination
ending
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
federal law designed to protect consumers in credit transactions;
it specifies that when there is an agreement between the physician and a patient to accept payment in more than four installments,
the physician is required to provide disclosure of finance charges.
regulation Z
explains in great detail who and what is covered by the regulation and gives specific disclosure and other requirements that have met credit transactions
third-party
someone other than the two principals in a transaction;
when referring to checks, a type of check made out to the patient by another unknown person.
viability
capable of normal growth and development.
year-to-date (YTD)
begins with the first date of the calendar year to present.
Account Statement contains…..
statement date and account #, name and address, date of service, description of services, total charge by service, patient payment, insurance payment, adjustments, deductibles, current balance, aging information, comment section of important notes, company name, method of payment
Monthly Billing
Better for small practices, safe to mail 5-7 days in advance to get it to patient by the first day of the month
Cycle Billing
Large medical practices, large statement sent out monthly, divided by the # of times u will be billing
Check can be accepted when…
- Valid and no corrections
- Not more than the amount due
- Cannot say “payed in full”
- Stamp with office deposit immediately
- No third party checks allowed
- No Postal Money order
Posting Patient Accounts include..
- Date of Payment
- Payment Amount
- Form of Payment
