Time involved to process notes, ICD10 codes and insurance claims

[Jane Orchard]

I am contemplating opening my own practice in the future. How much time should be set aside to process patient notes, icd10 codes and processing of insurance claims? I heard if a psych has 3 days of patients (7 per day), it takes 2 full time days to process notes/insurance. Is this correct? If not, how much time should I allocate per patient for this process?

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[WisNeuro]

Are you doing this all yourself? No office staff support?

 

[erg923]

I am contemplating opening my own practice in the future. How much time should be set aside to process patient notes, icd10 codes and processing of insurance claims? I heard if a psych has 3 days of patients (7 per day), it takes 2 full time days to process notes/insurance. Is this correct? If not, how much time should I allocate per patient for this process?

I don't know about all that, but I think a billing service would allow for increased time and revenue generation (even after that expense). What kind of business owner operates a business for almost half the week with no income generation?

I am also not sure what you mean by time to process notes. Psychotherapy session notes should take 10 minutes per person, tops.

 

[WisNeuro]

I am also not sure what you mean by time to process notes.

These are those silly little notes in the psychodynamic realm analyzing within session content. Although, generally I would advise against keeping them in case you are ever subpoenaed. They are discover-able in certain contexts.

 

[erg923]

These are those silly little notes in the psychodynamic realm analyzing within session content. Although, generally I would advise against keeping them in case you are ever subpoenaed. They are discover-able in certain contexts.

More unpaid work. Whats wrong with people?

 

[deleted343839]

There is no reason why your clinical documentation couldn't be done the same day, with the exception of testing/assessment reports. You'll make more money, and will probably be happier, by outsourcing third party claims to a billing pro while you use that time to see more patients.

 

[smalltownpsych]

No shows are for paperwork. When you are in business for yourself, you don't want to set aside anytime for paperwork. When I was in a salaried position, I set aside an hour a day per agency policy. However, I did use that hour for crisis patients often enough that I had the highest productivity in the agency. Now that I get paid based on billable hours, I fill every slot and save the lunch hour for the crises or meetings. Overhead costs can range a bit but the key is to always be billing so that you can generate the revenue.

 

[Justanothergrad]

2 days? no way. there is zero reason it should take you 16 hours to do billing for 21 contact hours (assuming 0 no shows...which I want to learn your business model if you hit that). As they said, either outsource it to a billing company if you can't do it yourself (not honestly that hard) or reserve half a day-ish if you are hitting a number of assessment reports as well that will take a bit. As smalltown said, lunch and no-shows are for paperwork. Once you get 'the system' of submitting billings you should be able to get it done the same day. Review what you are putting in your notes and all that as well.

 

[bmedclinic]

When I was in a salaried position, I set aside an hour a day per agency policy.

 

[erg923]

Admin time is built into my schedule as well.

 

[bmedclinic]

Admin time is built into my schedule as well.

Ok, I guess that makes sense. I think part of my employee contract loosely states how much time I spend doing each task, but specifying an hour/day to do notes per agency policy struck me as being rather heavy handed. I guess that makes sure people get their notes done on time though.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Ok, I guess that makes sense. I think part of my employee contract loosely states how much time I spend doing each task, but specifying an hour/day to do notes per agency policy struck me as being rather heavy handed. I guess that makes sure people get their notes done on time though.

It was what we were allowed to schedule, not mandated. I actually would use that paperwork hour quite frequently for patients in crisis since I was always solidly booked. A good reason why I prefer to get paid based on production. Since I have always generated a lot more than most why not get paid?

 

[50MinuteHour]

I am contemplating opening my own practice in the future. How much time should be set aside to process patient notes, icd10 codes and processing of insurance claims? I heard if a psych has 3 days of patients (7 per day), it takes 2 full time days to process notes/insurance. Is this correct? If not, how much time should I allocate per patient for this process?

I suppose it depends on how organized you are and what software and systems you use. I have a part-time private practice of around a dozen clients per week and I probably only spend an hour or two on insurance claims and checking benefit eligibility. I probably spend an additional 2-4 hours per week managing finances and marketing. I've done the math and if I increased to a full caseload of 25 clients (that's enough for me!), I would probably need about one full day's worth of time to take care of insurance claims and do the financial management aspect of things. It's really not that bad if you're organized. Treatment plans don't require much time at all since I carry a list of interventions that I match for certain themes, behavioral patterns, symptoms, etc... so again it's all about being organized.