Many ASCs do not follow a time of service (TOS) policy to collect patient co-pays, but the data shows those ASCs are losing out on owed payments. According to a study conducted by GENASCIS, a provider of billing, revenue cycle management services and supporting technologies for surgery centers, 136 of 487 analyzed facilities do not follow a TOS co-pay policy and the total patient collections percentage for ASCs lacking the policy were 23.5 points lower than surgery centers which followed a TOS co-pay policy.
There are several hurdles ASCs face when working to implement a TOS co-pay policy. They include:
- uneasiness of asking for money up-front;
- staff not understanding billing calculations or insurance benefits; and
- staff performing insurance verification could be different than staff doing registration.
Here are six steps GENASCIS recommends for ASCs to improve collection of time of service patient co-pays.
1. Educate your staff on TOS co-pay policy.
2. Build a patient co-pay calculator.
3. Base the calculator on your fee schedule and scheduled CPTs.
4. Include CPT combinations where possible.
5. Use the calculator for taking payments at time of registration.
6. Strive to collect 100 percent of co-pay prior to service.
Learn more about GENASCIS.
Read more insight from the leadership team of GENASCIS:
- Denied CPT 64495: Q&A With Stacey Miller of GENASCIS
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