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The A-Z of Better Billing
Gathering in all the money you are owed for your private practice work does not come easy for many independent practitioners. Garry Chapman runs through the billing alphabet your practice needs to remember
![]() private medical insurance (PMI) company. If not done correctly, it could result in loss of revenue on an ongoing basis. |
![]() This difference not only results in a loss of revenue but the outstanding money can cause potential cash flow issues, particularly when the tax bill is due. |
![]() is for Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) group codes, which should be used to ensure that your practice codes correctly and also understands what codes are allowed to be billed together. This will optimise the revenue while, at the same time, ensure that the practice is complying with both CCSD and PMI rules and regulations to avoid de recognition. |
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![]() is for embassies and making sure that, if the practice treats their patients, it does so only with a letter of guarantee (LOG), otherwise the embassy will not pay that invoice. Some embassies also require a medical report with each invoice. Due to the long payment terms, the possibility of paying tax on this before payment is collected is very real. |
![]() is for fees and understanding what each PMI will pay for each CCSD code. It is different for each PMI and this difference can be up to 100%, so if the practice is not aware of the differences, then it can be losing revenue on an ongoing basis. This information can also be used to decide what the practice charges should be for the services in the specific specialty. |
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![]() is for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and making sure that billing for the practice is auditable and organised so that it can easily generate figures for the tax returns. At the same time, should it ever investigate the practice, knowing that this information is easily available to comply with any request will be comforting. |
![]() is for incorporated. Since the last round of income tax rises, a high proportion of consultants have gone from being self employed to making their practice a limited company in order to be more tax-efficient. |
![]() is for January, which is a good time to review how the practice operated commercially in the previous year. Then any decisions that need to be taken on key commercial aspects such as fees, debts, and internal procedures can be taken and implemented before the start of the new tax year. |
![]() is for knowledge. In a successful private practice, this is absolutely crucial from a medical perspective which has typically taken years of dedication and training to attain. But it is equally important from a commercial perspective to have a large amount of business knowledge. It is rare to find this within a private practice, so if it is not available, then outsourcing those key areas to obtain the required level of expertise should be seriously considered. |
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![]() is for self-pay. This sector has grown considerably over the past few years and is now typically the largest or second largest part of the private practice revenue stream. Setting the consultation and procedure fees at the right level for this sector is crucial to take advantage of the increase in market share. |
![]() is for terms and conditions and making sure that your practice costs are transparent and that the patient is made aware of all known costs and what their liabilities are. This could also be included in the registration form. |
![]() is for undercharging, which unfortunately, from our experience happens in most practices. Undercharging occurs for a variety of reasons and typically has been going on for many years, resulting in a considerable loss of revenue. It is usually due to a lack of knowledge or understanding of the market that the practice operates in and also how the different private medical insurers calculate their fee schedules. |
![]() is for voicemail. Any practice where phone calls go to voicemail rather than get answered by practice staff could result in a loss of patients, which could result in loss of revenue. If this happens a lot, then the practice should consider having an ‘overflow service’, where any calls coming into the practice that do that get answered are passed to an external source where they are always answered. |
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![]() is for Zzzzzzzzz – the sound that the consultant can make sleeping soundly at night, knowing that the practice billing and collection is under control, it is not losing revenue, it does not have bad debts and it has a robust system in place for the tax aspects of the practice. |
- 01494 763 999
info@medbc.co.uk
- Medical Billing & Collection
Connery House
Repton Place
Amersham
Buckinghamshire HP7 9LP

More than Just a Billing Company