In today’s healthcare landscape, how can practices strike a balance between optimizing revenue and ensuring quality patient care?
Behavioral health practices have a great opportunity to grow in the upcoming years. According to a Market Research Report by Fortune Business Insights, the U.S. behavioral health market size is expecting strong growth of $99.40 billion by 2028.
The 2022 State of Mental Health in America stated that over half of adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment, totaling over 27 million adults in the U.S. who are going untreated. The demand for mental health services is surging at an unprecedented rate. This sets an opportunity for behavioral health practices to offer their services to patients who need them while maximizing their revenue efforts.
Here are three ways you can increase revenue in your behavioral health practice:
1. Take advantage of telehealth
In-person patient visits are the primary way that physicians see their patients. However, there are other modalities that practices can implement to attend to patients and cater to their needs, such as:
According to a U.S. Health & Human Services study, telebehavioral health may be one of the more successful technologies across the spectrum of clinical services, as outcomes and patient acceptance of telebehavioral health are comparable to in-person visits. Telehealth allows you to define the right approach to prioritize appointments, maximize your efforts, and care for more patients.
Telehealth allows medical professionals to dedicate more quality time to their patients, reducing logistical burdens for both providers and patients. Read more about how you can optimize your telemedicine appointments on our blog Optimize your telemedicine appointments with these best practices.
Telehealth services, including teletherapy and telepsychiatry, offer a promising solution to overcome the challenges posed by the mental health crisis. These services leverage technology to provide mental health care remotely, allowing individuals to access support from the comfort of their homes or local healthcare centers.
Learn how telehealth can help address the mental health crisis in our blog 5 ways telehealth services can help address the mental health crisis.
2. Attract more of your target clients
Currently, there is more demand for Behavioral Health services than supply. The challenge is getting the proper demand (patients) to your practice. Practices must have an effective plan to attract patients who match the type and quality of care provided.
Some tips you can follow to achieve this are:
- Start by clearly defining your target patient demographic and tailor your outreach efforts accordingly.
- Use technology to attract the right clients and reinforce your value with existing clients.
- Update your website with valuable content and information. Also, invest in marketing efforts to reach more potential clients.
- Make sure your clients, potential clients, and families feel valued so they will want to return to your practice.
3. Fix behavioral health billing and RCM infrastructure
Fluctuations in reimbursement can influence both a patient’s decision to seek treatment and a provider’s capacity to offer services. Billing claims are increasingly complex, which can easily drive up denials and rejected claims. An important initiative is eliminating insufficient insurance payments and establishing a system to maintain consistent income.
As an initial step, practices must ensure clean claims are filed when first submitted. The claim needs to include all necessary information upon receipt. Secondly, claims that are denied must be followed up quickly. If there´s a pattern of denials, scheduling a call or meeting with the payer to review them often pays.
A focus on clean claims and rapid response to denials will also lead to more efficient billing processes, therefore, better cash flow and faster reimbursement return. Fixing these billing errors can help you reduce denials and get paid for your work.
To learn more about how you can increase revenue in your behavioral health practice, contact us at [email protected]. Our team will set up a meeting to discuss how we can maximize your revenue by cutting costs, saving time, and collecting more!
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