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Nursing home administrator hopes to cut cost, increase revenue by outsourcing billing

By Howard B. Owens

In an effort to both save the Genesee County Nursing home some money and maybe find some billing revenue it isn't currently getting, the Public Service Committee approved two contracts Monday to outsource some of the facility's billing.

Christine Schaller, nursing home administrator, presented the contract proposals to the legislators.

She said she was motivated to help the nursing home operate more efficiently so it can continue to serve the community.

The first contract is with Beth Platt & Associates for physician billing.

When nursing home residents see a physician, the doctor files an "encounter form" with the nursing home and staff must figure out which insurance company receives the claim and complete the proper paperwork. Different companies have different forms and different software.

Currently, the process costs the nursing home about $6 per claim. The billing service will charge $2 per claim.

"We would like to outsource this to a company that does this all of the time," Schaller said. "It will be faster and cheaper."

Schaller also said that physician billing for the Genesee County Nursing Home is about one-third the revenue of similarly sized operations.

"It should be more than it is," Schaller said. "I don't know why it is what it is."

It's possible there will be no new revenue found by outsourcing billing, but the contractor might find a reason billing is lower than expected and bring the figure up.

The second contract is for billing for rehab stays for nursing home patients.

The contract is for $48 an hour, or an estimated annual cost of $12,480, with MDS Consultant.

Again, between Medicaid, Medicare and the half dozen other insurance providers, billing can be complicated and it's possible the nursing home isn't receiving all the revenue it should for these stays.

Both contracts will also help the nursing home meet corporate compliance standards, which will go over well with state auditors when they visit.

"I can't guarantee this, but I think we're going to generate more revenue than the services are going to cost," Schaller said.

Mark Potwora

Maybe if Gsell wasn't adding a heath educator to the county payroll there would be money for the nursing home........How come GCEDC can get money form the federal and state to support there corporate welfare programs but the county nursing home is left out there to die.....................

Nov 6, 2012, 11:03am Permalink
william tapp

no more outsourcing , that what is troubling the us, there are people doing a good job there, just cant fire them, cut some of your wasteful spend else where

Nov 6, 2012, 3:10pm Permalink

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