Nearly every payer is moving from sending checks to using electronic funds transfer (EFT). Payers are pressing physicians to accept EFT, while physicians have had lukewarm enthusiasm, to outright resistance.
To say that resistance is useless, has some truth to it, as some payers are requiring acceptance of RFT, or threatening to make payments to those physicians that refuse in the form of pre-paid credit cards, which means physicians lose the transaction fee. Other payers are even trying to implement a punitive fee for paper checks.
Payer’s motivation is business efficiencies. Physicians resistance is discomfort with a new process, as well as the wording of the EFT agreements of the payers which include the right of payers not only to deposit funds in the designated physician's account but also remove funds from that account, for errors and correction. For the physician, there is little trust that the errors that cause dedications will be legitimate, such as a duplicative deposit. Physicals are rightly concerned that payers might define errors to their advantage, such as withdrawing funds when they allege that they made a payment errors when that error is appropriately in dispute. Such as when they have paid on a patient they now claim was not eligible at the time of service, or when they claim another payer is primary. They may be right, but they are often wrong in their allegation, and if they have taken the money, it is the physician's problem to fight them for it.
You Should Never Be Disappointed a Year End
You are strongly urged to move your practice to EFT but practice it safely. Take this step, and you can get the benefits of EFT, faster payments, no more lost checks and no misplaced checks in the office. And if your EHR/Practice management system has today’s sophistication, your EFT deposit is automatically posted to the patient accounts, allowing you much-improved control over your receivables’.
Use two accounts. That is register one account with the EFT process, one that gives the payer permission to make deposits, and of courses those withdrawals for errors. Then work with your bank to set up a second account into which are automatically swept all deposits when they are made. This second account is not registered with the EFT process, precluding a payer from withdrawing funds for the alleged errors. When a payer tries to withdraw from the account registered with their EFT process they find it empty. If they allege an overpayment the payer come to you and prove it. Always better to have the funds in your account, protecting your rights, then making you fight for funds in their pockets. Make them work for it, proving the accuracy of what they allege.
You will have to work with your bank to set up this automatic sweep. Remember you are their customer, and if they want to add more fees, then walk to the next block and speak to the manager of their nearest competitor. Physicians don’t realize that they are very good accounts for banks, and new accounts are welcomed always by the composition.
Author Bio:
Alex Tate has served in various positions at leading health IT organizations for the past twenty years. Most recently Mr. Tate served as Vice President and Chief Information Officer at a leading cloud-based EHR organization. He currently oversees the product management and revenue cycle management division spanning the entire continuum of care. Mr. Tate oversaw the development and commercialization of many emerging products and held various leadership roles related to health-technology strategy, operations, service organization development, delivery and served as various leadership positions. His ongoing collaboration with startups and academic research centers are paying the way for the development and commercialization of groundbreaking technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented reality and cutting-edge initiatives that are setting the standards for a future that offers the promise for evolving healthcare through technology in the world.
