Charging for Missed Appointments

Does your practice have a policy in place for billing patients who miss their appointments?

Many practices already do reminder calls for upcoming appointments as well as follow-up calls on no-show appointments.

One solution for billing patients who missed their appointments was developed by the Healthcare Underwriters Group of Ohio. They suggested the following five necessary components to bill the patient for a missed appointment:

1. There must be evidence that the patient was informed of the physician's policy on missed appointments
2. The patient failed to cancel more than 24 hours in advance
3. The physician must have a 24 hour messaging service by which the patient can cancel their appointment (during and after office hours)
4. The physician must have been available at the intended appointment time
5. The charges must reflect the actual costs incurred

To download the full article, please click the following link: Charging for Missed Appointments

For additional billing and coding resources, please click the following link: Medical Reimbursement Billing and Coding Resources