Claim follow-up

A payer that never answers a claim never pays it. NeatPractice keeps a follow-up log on every claim that left the clinic and lists the claims that have gone too long without a payer answer, so nothing waits forever.

The follow-up log#

Open a sent or mailed claim and go to its Follow-up tab. The log lists every call, portal check and note about the claim, newest first, with who logged it.

To add an entry, click Log Follow-up and fill in:

• Kind: a Call, a Portal check or a Note.
• Rep name and Call reference: who you spoke with and the reference number the payer gave, when there was one.
• Note: what you learned or did, such as "Payer has no record, resubmitting" or "In process, check again in two weeks".
• Next follow-up: the day to look at the claim again. Leave it empty to keep the claim on the No Response list.

Entries are kept as written. To correct one, log a new entry.

You need permission to work rejections to log a follow-up. Anyone who can read billing records sees the log.

The No Response list#

No response in the Billing panel of the main menu lists the claims that were sent or mailed and have no answer from the payer yet: no payment, no denial and no adjudication. A claim joins the list once it is older than its follow-up days, counted from the day it was sent or mailed. The list opens with the oldest claims first.

Each row shows the claim, the patient, the payer, the first date of service, how long it has waited since it was sent, the amount billed, the claim status, the last follow-up and the next follow-up date. Sort by Waiting or Billed from the column headers to work the oldest or the largest claims first.

• Payer narrows the list to one payer.
• Scheduled shows only claims due now (the default) or also the ones whose next follow-up date is still ahead.
• The patient panel and the location switcher narrow the list as on other billing lists.

From a row's menu, click Log Follow-up to add an entry without opening the claim, or Open Claim.

A claim leaves the list once the payer answers it, or until the next follow-up date of its latest entry.

Follow-up days#

The clinic default is 30 days. To change it, open Setup, then Claim Forms, set Follow up after (days) under Claim follow-up and choose Save Follow-up.

A payer that usually answers sooner or later can have its own number: open the payer under Setup, then Payers, turn on No-response follow-up days and enter the days. Claims to that payer use it instead of the clinic default.