GUIDE TO ERA AND EFT BENEFITS FOR MEDICAL BILLING SERVICES

EOB is helpful for medical providers by mentioning the services given to the patient and the total amount of bills made. The accuracy of EOBs highly matters for appropriate reimbursement. However, there are great chances for the occurrence of several information, codes, and treatment errors in EOB. Such errors decrease the proportion of accurate reimbursement by the insurers. This raises the need to update EOBs with automated billing systems like ERA and EFT to proceed with medical claims in an effective manner. Using efficient billing processes like ERA and EFT fulfills the lack of time and workforce. Moreover, automated billing operations reduce the chances of human errors in medical billing.  

Need for ERA and EFT in Medical Billing Services

Medical practitioners always wish to get reimbursed for their medical services without wastage of time. Speeding up the payment approval phase depends upon the billing operations’ strength to run smoothly. In the same way, EOB helps medical providers evaluate the amount that insurers deny to pay. Thus, ERA and EFT make the EOB creation and distribution process easier.

How to Differentiate Between ERA and EFT?

ERA (Electronic Remittance Advice) 

ERA (Electronic Remittance Advice) is the source of E-communication that eliminates the need for paperwork. It is helpful when the medical teams can’t manage to fill out the papers of EOB.

Electronic Remittance Advice eases the medical billing process and updates the practice about the medical claims status. Like EOB, ERA also contains complete information about a claim in an electronic form. Similarly, it shows the reasons behind every claim rejection and denial. You can fix the reasons for denial by mentioning the missing details. ERA portrays the total amount of insurance that is reimbursed and the amount that is remaining.

EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer)

EFTs offer an electronic way to let the patients deposit money directly via their bank to the practice cash account. It works similarly to a payroll account that pays the deductible amount through a secure link instead of a paper check. It is helpful in saving the time and effort made by the patients to fill out the cheque, wait outside banks, and do in-person meet-ups. 

Advantages of ERA with Medical Billing Services

One can benefit from multiple aspects of ERA in medical billing services. An ERA is effective for handling patients’ bills in a timely manner, besides assuring the least errors in the whole process of billing. This empowers the process of claim handling and decreases the number of appeals. 

Well-Organized Data 

ERA helps to keep every patient in a personalized category to keep their billing information secure from random transitions. While in EOBs, patients need to update the payment details whenever they wish to get their insurance money.

Proactive Denial Management

You get the chance to reduce the payment barriers in medical billing with steady denial management. ERA helps to classify the reason behind every denial and streamline the process of getting revenue. 

Error Reduction 

A large practice must manage more than thousands of EOBs at a time, increasing the chances of human error. ERA lists the accounts with errors and lets them quickly pass the reimbursement phase with early problem resolution. 

Saves Time 

Medical practice is the main stop for getting healthcare services and acquiring insurance benefits. An ERA effectively saves your practice from the manual processing of EOBs. Only a few individuals are required to create and circulate the EOBs. 

Tracking Account Receivables 

EOBs consume time to determine the patients who have pending deductibles. ERA provides electronic ways for precise tracking of account receivable records instead of updating it manually.

Advantages of EFT with Medical Billing Services

Saves Cash Spend  

ERA and EFT reduce complications in EOBs and inform patients about the pending billing amount. In this way, it helps to accelerate the cash flow in an effective manner.

Automatic Service Filling 

ERA involves the autonomic pathways to fill the services and relate them with substantial charges instead of going towards handwritten EOBs.

Digital Payment Records 

The EFTs has e-payment trails, whereas cheque requires extra effort. Whereas your practice can track patient accounts to show reimbursed services.

Digitized Searching

Instead of EOBs, EFTs show the payment records and show them in detail with electronic means.

Key Takeaways

ERA and EFT are highly beneficial when it comes to medical billing services. Besides setting consistent cash flow, these automated billing channels provide accuracy and save operation time.

• ERA (Electronic remittance advice) is an alternative to paper explanations of the benefits.

• EFT (Electronic funds transfer) enables patients to submit payments directly to a practice’s bank account.

Moreover, ERA and EFT are combined to drive flexibility in medical billing procedures. They are helpful in directing the billing tasks to maintain accuracy in patient bills. This helps the medical provider to add value to each claim and get maximum advantages from the i insurance company. 

Frequently Asked Question 

So why is there a need to stop EOB paperwork?

EOBs often consume a lot of time and money for managing high-volume paperwork regarding claims. Managing claims is critical to reducing errors in payment posting and accounts receivable.

What does advice mean in ‘Electronic remittance advice’? 

Do not confuse the term ‘advice’ in Electronic remittance advice, as ERAs indicate the mandatory payment feature instead of just suggestions.