Billing 101: Moving forward with insurance billing

Private practice billing is no easy task. Our goal with this eBook was to provide you, as a therapist, the foundational knowledge you need to confidently start your private practice.

At the end of the day, billing is sometimes convoluted, exhausting, and expensive, but it can also be a breeze (if you have the right software). Ensora Mental Health (formerly TheraNest) is a therapy billing software that provides many features to help make billing for your private practice easier. Use Ensora Mental Health to create, organize, and file your claims or process your payments. It serves as an all-in-one office management system so you have less things to worry about during the day.

In this eBook, we have covered a variety of topics from the basics of billing to understanding how clearinghouses work to why you should be using one. Nonetheless, though this eBook covers a lot of information, billing guidelines are constantly changing and new billing technologies are continually being released. That is why it is important to make sure you continue seeking out information as you build your private practice. A great resource to take advantage of is the Ensora Health blog. We produce and release content regarding billing (and other topics relevant to private practice owners) year-round to help you stay on top of your billing game. Our goal is to help you build a successful and thriving private practice!

Table of contents

1. INSURANCE BILLING BASICS
2. INSURANCE BILLING MISTAKES TO AVOID
   1. Common billing errors
   2. How to avoid billing nightmare
3. CLEARINGHOUSE 101
   1. What do clearinghouses do?
   2. Why are clearinghouses important?
   3. How to choose the best clearinghouse for your private practice
      1. Check their payer list
      2. Do not get trapped into a lengthy agreement
      3. Shop around
      4. Test their customer service
      5. Avoid clearinghouses that send claims to other clearinghouses
   4. Verify compatibility
   5. A clearinghouse is an asset
4. INSURANCE BILLING AND YOUR EMPLOYEES
   1. Understand the code
   2. Teach your staff how to use the software
   3. Create a standard check-in procedure
   4. Explain how to handle self-pay
5. MOVING FORWARD
6. GLOSSARY: INSURANCE BILLING TERMINOLOGY