Tech Q&A: Minor tweaks will help track medical claims

Q: Is there a better way to track medical claims to the insurer than by phone and email? I find these methods inefficient. What kind of technology exists to assist with keeping track of a claim from the office visit to having it paid in full?

A: You already may have the technology in-house that allows you to track your claims. The key to developing any approach is that it should be easy to manage and quick to run. Start with reports that group claims into easily managed buckets. Track the outcome of insurer calls with a spreadsheet. Most likely, you're looking at a few tweaks to your practice management system, a handful of weekly or daily reports to run, and liberal use of Excel.

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