Piles of papers

I just started billing insurance in January, and already I can tell there will be piles of letters for individual chart folders.  For example, one patient is getting an “in-for-out” exception (in network benefits for an out of network provider – me- since there is no in network provider in her area).  So already I have gotten probably five different 3-page letters from the insurance company with denials then an approval.  I can tell her chart will get overly full very quick. 

How do you manage all the paper?  Are you keeping every single thing in the patient’s chart that they send to you? 

Thanks!

I had my wife and Office Manager, Gayle, take-on this one:

“Basically, yes. I do keep every piece of paper in the patients file. I only keep the pertinent information, i.e. I don’t keep generic cover letters. I utilize the patient file by attaching a brad at the inside left of the file and I divide the file by using brightly colored paper to divide the SOAP notes from insurance billing from health history forms. That way it is easy to search a file to go directly to what you are looking for.

The reason for keeping all the information is because you never know when a patient file may need to be copied for disability, workers comp or car accident reasons.  I also keep an overflow file – a separate group of files for when a patient’s file get too thick. We keep the recent SOAP notes, patient history forms and recent billing info in their active file but then put the additional papers in the overflow section. “

Thank you, Honey. Whats for dinner?

Matthew Bauer

Thanks Gayle!  Love the ideas.  A few follow-up questions:

Is your overflow section located in another drawer/cabinet elsewhere, or do you file the overflow charts right behind the patient’s active chart?  (My cabinet isn’t that full yet, but I could see it happening someday)

In one example of a letter from Blue Cross, the first page has the relevant claim and payment information.  Then the second and third pages contain a generic Q&A re: appeals/ consumer rights addresses/ and language information.   These same two pages are included in every single letter – so I’m wondering if I’m okay to just keep the front page and discard the second & third?

We have a separate cabinet we use for overflow since our active files tend to be so full. We then have files for this year’s inactive ones (more than 2 months w/o a visit) and then a file for each previous year since the patient was last in – 2012, 2011, etc. The rule of thumb was to keep inactive files for 7 years but I heard this is now supposed to be 10 years and then you are supposed to keep a minor’s file until they turn 18. In 27 years though, we have never been asked to dig-up an old file except in a personal injury case going back 1-2 years.  

Matthew Bauer