Outsourcing: Streamline, automate your cash posting

Cash posting is an essential part the revenue cycle. Accurately applying payments, adjustments, and denials to line items in your A/R remains the key to success - one that your billing team probably knows like the back of their hand. Still, there are ways to streamline this process.

The three best practices I share below can save your team considerable time and effort.

Using a Lockbox
Are you ready to streamline your cash posting? A lockbox acts as a P.O. box at your bank, where mail, including checks, are sent and automatically deposited and scanned. You reclaim time once spent opening mail, depositing checks, and creating deposits for your cash posting team.

Investing in Auto-Posting
Are you still manually posting cash? HME billing systems are equipped with auto-posting, which saves you time, paper, and postage. By working with your clearinghouse and payers, you can sign up for electronic funds transfers (EFTs) and electronic remittance notices (ERNs) so that funds are directly deposited into your account via ACH and 835 remittance files are received for auto-posting.

If you are a large HME provider, you have the option to convert your paper remittance to electronic. This service, in conjunction with a lockbox, deposits your checks, scans your explanation of benefits (EOBs), and converts them into ERNs that can be auto-posted in your HME billing system.

Being Consistent and Accurate
Your revenue cycle is highly dependent upon your cash posting team. Staffing your team appropriately will ensure that backlogs do not form. After all, A/R collectors do not want to sit on hold with insurance companies only to find out that claims have been paid, but not yet posted in your HME billing system!

Training your team to take action also has benefits: They will develop a keen eye for adding secondary payers, processing adjustments and recoupments, posting denials, and recognizing under-payments.

With these three best practices, you can put your cash posting team - and your company as a whole - on the path to success. 

Joey Graham is the executive vice president and general manager at Prochant, Inc. He can be reached by email at joeyg@prochant.com and by phone at (980) 201-3082.