Guide

Chapter 3:
Medical Office Supplies & Equipment

15-minute read
Tags:

If you’re following along with this guide then you’re fully registered and ready to bill (find registration instructions in Chapter 2). But, now what?

You need to use medical billing software if you want to send claims electronically to OHIP. It’s also the best option if you’re looking to automate billing tasks that are repetitive and time-consuming.

In this chapter we walk you through how to use the app and showcase different features that will make billing easier and more efficient.

The Mobile Billing App

The number one reason why physicians get burned out is due to paperwork. A typical doctor will spend a few hours each week on billing, on top of their already full schedule. Couldn't that time be spent on more important things, like practicing medicine? We think so!

That’s why it’s beneficial if you use mobile billing to beat burnout by:

  • Complete your billing while you work (reduces chances of forgetting to bill)
  • Instantly verify a patient’s health card
  • Get prompts to help add claims correctly
  • Get alerts for premiums and easy extras you might be missing out on
  • Centralize record-keeping

Being able to submit claims to OHIP from your phone will not only save time but make it easier to incorporate it into your patient care. For example, after you see a patient you can pull out your phone and submit a claim immediately. Forget about pen & paper, index cards and clunky software, join the rest of us here in 2019 😉!

At Dr. Bill we offer mobile billing as well as the option to log in and create claims on the web. Both the mobile billing app and our online medical billing software (the web app) sync together. Here’s an example of what the home page of the app looks like:

Mobil Billing App.png
Here’s an example of a BC medical billing claim:

How to Add a Patient (Label Snap)

In order to add a claim, first you need to add a patient. There are two ways you can do this:

  • You can manually add a patient by clicking on “new patient” and then filling in the necessary requirements or
  • You can take a Label Snap. A Label Snap lets you capture patient data instantly using your phone's camera
Label Snap .gif
Add a patient (Label Snap)
  • On the Web App

If you prefer billing on a computer there’s also the option to add a patient on the web app. It’s very similar to adding a patient manually on your smartphone, just:

  1. Click ‘patients’, then
  2. ‘New patient’ and follow the prompts (it will look exactly the same as the photo below)
  • Health Card Version Code (Eligibility)

Remember from Chapter 2 that when you add at a patient Dr. Bill will automatically fill out the patient's demographic information and check for eligibility.

OHIP+Health+Card+Validation.gif

The LabelSnap feature can also be used to codify health cards. As long as the image has the health card number and version code legible, you'll be able to add the patient and start adding claims with a few simple taps.

How to Add a Claim

Mobile Billing App - How to Add a Claim 1 .png
How to Add a Claim (IOS/Android)

From a patient's card, tap the 'New Claim' button to create a new claim.

This is where you’ll fill out the details of your claim. You can:

  • Add a billing code
  • Add up to 3 Diagnoses (ICD9s)
  • Select your Service Location
  • Select your Facility
  • Add your date of service
  • Enter your Start and End times
  • (not shown on the image, add a ‘referring physician’)
  • Click Save and you're done!
Mobile Billing App - How to Add a Claim 2.png
Billing Item Preview
  • When selecting a Billing Item/Diagnoses, you can search by number or description then tap the one you want.
  • On the mobile billing app you have the option of "starring" your most commonly used billing items, diagnostic codes, or referring physicians.

    Using this feature will populate your starred items at the top of your lists for easy searching. Just tap the star icon next to the billing item or diagnosis when searching your list. It'll be saved for next time. 

How to Add a Claim (on the Web)

If you prefer billing on a computer, then there’s also the option to add a claim on the web app using our online medical billing software. It’s a similar process to the mobile billing app but looks like this:

Add a claim on the web app 1.png
Add a claim on the web app 2.png

Default Settings

There are several default settings that you can add to your account in order to make adding claims that much quicker. Below is an outline of the different options:

  • If you're billing using the same service location or facility number, you can set it as your ‘default’ under your account settings. That way you won’t need to enter it on your claims every single time. To do this, log in on the Web app, click on your name, then ‘account settings.’ Choose a default Service Location or Facility Number and hit update
  • You can also set a default diagnosis and add multiple specialties to your profile.
Default Settings Ontario.png
  • When adding a claim on the mobile billing app it will default to the last settings of a claim for that specific patient. In order for this to work, you need to create the claim from the patient card (as opposed to creating the claim from the home page).

    Here’s an example of how you would create the claim:
  1. Click on ‘All Patients’ then click on the patient you want to bill for
  2. On the patient’s card, on the bottom left hand corner click “New Claim”
  3. The new claim will default to the last diagnoses, location, facility number and referring physician.
Default IOS Settings.png

Features

We are always trying to make billing easier! Check out our list of medical billing software features that will help streamline your practice and boost revenue:

  • Multi-Claim Billing

You can Bill multiple claims at once. If you see a patient and need to bill several different fee codes they can be grouped together as a single counter.

  • Shared Claims
BILLSHARE.jpg

You can share claim details for your phone calls and patient conferences with all participating colleagues. This will easily facilitate everyone to create claims without having to re-enter the patient and claim details. You can share claims both on your iPhone, and you can share claims on the Web.

Best of all? You can even share claims with someone who is not a Dr. Bill user. They will be notified by email with a link to a secure page where they’ll be able to see the claim details.

  • Create Duplicate Claims

If you see a patient you’ve previously billed for and would like to bill the same exact thing (or something similar), click on their patient card, then swipe left on the claim you want to duplicate. This will create a new claim with the old claim’s information, just add in your start and end times and click save.

Multiple Billing.png
  • Add Claims for Multiple Dates

On the Web, you can add multiple dates for a single patient/claim just by selecting each date you'd like on the calendar. Here's an example of what you'd see: 👉

  • Easily Edit/Delete Claims

If you make a mistake, you can go ahead and edit or delete your claims by selecting edit and making the necessary changes, then clicking save again. You can edit patient cards too. The information is automatically updated.

  • Create Patient Groups

You can create patient groups to help organize your workflow. On the mobile billing app click on ‘Patient Groups’ on the home screen and click on the plus sign to create a group. Swiping left over the patient's name will give you the option to add that patient to one of your existing Groups.

  • Collaborate & Work in Teams

We can set you up in teams, whether that means your MOA will be billing for you or you’re working in a group. You can share important billing information with your team members, import relevant data from your EMR (or other clinical software) and more. If you’re interested in learning more about teams, it’s best to reach out and let us know what you’re looking for to see exactly how we can help.

Private Invoice.png
  • Private Invoices

If you see a patient that doesn’t have insurance, you can still get paid through private invoicing. We will then issue the patient an invoice, collect the payment, then pay you.

How to create a private invoice:

  1. Find the patient who's uninsured and click on their name to open the patient card
  2. Click ‘Edit’ on the top right hand corner
  3. Under ‘Type of Insurance’ click ‘Private’
  4. At the bottom, slide right to bill the patient (or private insurance company) and we’ll handle the rest!

Claim Status & Rejection Management

When you submit a claim, each claim gets a status. Knowing what your status means is a great way to stay on top of your billing and know when you have an error or something that needs fixing. Here is an overview of the different claim statuses:

  • Submitted to Insurer: This claim has been submitted to OHIP. Depending on when the claim was submitted prior to the latest cut off, your claim could be processed for the next remittance. 
  • Submission Error: The claim has not passed the pre-edit process and therefore has not been officially received. Patient insurance issues are often the cause for this. Other examples could be a missing referring practitioner or incomplete times in the claim. Please see the specific claim details for a full explanation of what is missing. 
  • Rejected: This claim has been rejected by OHIP as the billing criteria has not been met for successful payment. Please go into the claim details to see the full explanation as to why these claims have come back unpaid. 
  • Pending: This claim will be automatically submitted to OHIP within the next 24 hours if your account is fully active. 

Rejection Management

OHIP may reject, reduce or refuse payment on a claim you submitted. When this happens an explanatory code will accompany the rejection so that you know the actual reason why your claim is not being paid in full. Typically, there are a handful of common reasons why OHIP claims get rejected, so try and make sure to double check your information before submitting.

At Dr. Bill, some of our plans include rejection management, which means our team of billing agents will automatically go through all rejections and submission errors and re-submit them for you. If we notice you’re always getting the same rejections, we’ll let you know and offer billing tips along the way.

In general, we’ve recovered between 86% - 96% of rejections and review your claims within 30 days of each remittance. This will not only save you time but it has led to recovered funds for more than 10,500 claims that might have otherwise gone unnoticed or sat as refused!

If you do get a notification from us, it will show on the web app, on the home screen under “Billing Issues.” These are things that we have sent to you and require your input. Anything else we handle for you.

Rejection+Management+OHIP.png

If you’re on a plan does not include rejection management, when you do get a rejection you can see the explanatory code in the time line.

Benefits of Dr. Bill

As a young medical billing software company, we’re able to make unique changes to our system that really meet the needs of our users. We’re constantly do surveys and encourage feedback so that our software is up to date and innovating. Our mobile billing app lets you add a patient within 3 seconds and add a claim under 30.

We pride ourselves in our product and in our service, we are an app powered by real humans, so we’re always here to help.
But, don’t take our word for it….


Here’s what our customers have to say:

  • "It is very easy to use, takes much less time than I expected. The chat option with Dr Bill staff is invaluable and the response time to my queries has been outstanding!" - Dr. Tanya Fairweather, General Practice
  • “Easy to use. I like the ability to capture information using the camera on my phone. Also easy to see where I make mistakes. My experience with the billing experts has been great." - Dr. Ed Schwartzenberger, Orthopaedics
  • "So convenient and I love the instant feedback at the end of the day that tells me how much I’ve billed. The homepage that reports the status of total billings is also very clear. My billing...what’s been paid/held/refused was always very vague with my prior billing service. I also never really had a good idea of how much was outstanding and was submitted for a given billing cycle. I’d eventually get some information but usually 2 or 3 months later." - Dr. Valentina Montessori, Infectious Disease

Interested in trying Dr. Bill? Go ahead and start your free trial (no credit card needed). It’s time to take the focus off of billing and put it back on more important things, like spending time with your family or improving patient care.

Privacy & Security

We’ve worked hard to build a medical billing software infrastructure that is secure and reliable. Our internal procedures and systems make sure that your patient's data is securely protected.

Your data is stored only on Canadian servers. This is the recommended approach by the CMA and we made sure to comply with all the relevant privacy legislation rules.

Chapter 4: Organizing Operations & Human Resources

Learn more about

Guide
Guide
Guide