Assignment 4

Medical practitioners cannot achieve optimum operationalization revenue processes without a good foundation to develop revenue cycle processes. The foundation requires basic tools and knowledge for medical practice. Hence, a good practice at the front office processes that suits the needs of healthcare practice is vital. The revenue cycle commences with scheduling of patients. Thus, front office personnel should use check sheets and script guides to ensure collection of a patient’s pertinent information at the time of scheduling. The scheduler can use a patient’s insurance policy to collect vital information. It is important to inform the patient if their providers are not covered in the organization’s network of insurance companies (Sanborn, 2016). Additional information to discuss with patients include the type of information a patient should bring during appointment and co-payer’s expectations at the time of visit. It is also important to determine any paperwork and registration needs worth completing during arrival time.

According to Finison et al. (2017), inaccurate and untimely charge entry process can affect reimbursement. Verification of demographic information could be the reason for being paid or having a payment claim rejected. Hence, the front office department must confirm a patient’s basic demographic information at each visit. New patients and existing ones should provide their vital information during visits for registration and updating, respectively. The patient information form must capture demographic as well as insurance information. Front office personnel must make copies of both side of a patient’s insurance card and have a copy of his or her driver’s license for easy location of certain patients. Front office personnel must review a patient information form for completeness as well as signature. For a healthcare facility that serves Medicare patients, front office personnel must ensure that the patient completes or updates the Medicare Secondary Payer at time of registration. They can also collect co-pays during registration time before a patient goes back to the provider. The process improves patient flow.