Get paid faster?
Well…….Not all EFTs are created equal. All my new clients know about EFTs and want to get set up with every single insurance that offers EFTs. Some clients are already set up with some insurances and the problem starts here. There are so many different insurance companies that offer EFTs; Delta Dental (each state is different!), Metlife, Aetna, United Concordia, Guardian, etc. EFTs can be great and efficient IF the office systems are setup correctly, but I still do no suggest setting up EFTs for every insurance.What docs don’t realize:
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Balancing the Bank Account
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The #1 issue with EFTs!!
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Most doctors have someone in the office posting their insurance checks/EFTs.
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Who verifies the bank account?
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Typically, the doc, the spouse, accountant or bookkeeper.
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Not the person posting the payment!
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The person posting the checks has no way of determining if in fact the payment hit the bank account and exactly when the payment hit.
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Coordination between the poster and the doc or accountant is time consuming.
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If a payment was not posted, how do you find it? The bank account does not show a patient name, a date of service, or the procedures performed. It only shows the insurance.
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Delta Dental – each state is different!
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There’s not 1 Delta Dental website that gives you access to every single Delta Dental. com does a few but not all.
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Delta Dental EFTs hit Monday-Friday.
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The poster must check the website daily to post payments.
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Metlife – No bulk check EFTs.
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Metlife EFTs are quick and their website is excellent.
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Metlife does not allow bulk checks via EFTs, only tangible checks.
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The poster must print each EOB individually AND these payments are hitting your bank individually.
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Non-bulk checks are very difficult to balance with the bank account.
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Metlife individual EFTs hit Monday-Friday.
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The poster must check the website daily to post payments.
I can continue with every insurance company, and some might argue that Emdeon and a few other companies try to put the EFTs in one single location. Those are good and great, but it still does not help the fact that the insurance poster is still not the one balancing the bank account. They are also spending their time trying to locate these EFTs on multiple website EVERY DAY. The docs are having their posters print out each individual EOB or create spreadsheets to list patient names, dates of service, insurance company, and the amounts. I thought you signed up for EFTs to save time, paper, and money? You’re creating more work and wasting more time for your insurance poster!!
We see EFTs troubles with numerous new clients. The problems we see entail missed EFTs. Meaning these EFTs were setup by one person, that person leaves and the new person isn’t checking the websites daily, weekly, or even at all. Payments are made the provider via their website and no payments are ever posted in the patients account in the dental software. Doctors get upset when they see their Accounts Receivable and Insurance Aging Reports that they are owed thousands of dollars, essentially when they have already been paid, it just wasn’t posted in their system. So these docs are getting paid faster in their mind, but what does that matter if it’s not being posted properly and in a timely manner?!?
Some insurance EFTs are great, and I will say that United Concordia is currently one of the best. I said currently because they change all the time. United Concordia is the best in my opinion because they hit once per week, AND in bulk checks. So your insurance poster gets a limited number of actual EFTs, its easier to balance AND they know exactly what day to check the website.
If all the insurance company websites were the same and paid faster than actual checks that would be great. But they are not. Not every insurance website gives you the same information as another. Until all the websites perform the same, not all EFTs will be created equal.
Davy Clay