#behavioral health billing services

[medical-billingandcoding]

Overcoming the Complexities: Navigating the Challenges in Behavioral Health Billing

As the demand for mental health and substance abuse treatment services continues to rise, so does the need for efficient behavioral health billing services. Managing the intricacies of medical billing and coding for behavioral health requires specialized knowledge, from navigating complex regulations to understanding insurance policies and coverage limits. The delicate nature of mental health care and the constantly evolving healthcare landscape make the billing process challenging. Ensuring accuracy in claims submission and maximizing reimbursement through claims management services are crucial steps in maintaining a healthy revenue cycle management system for providers. Let’s explore the common challenges faced in behavioral health billing and strategies to overcome them.

 Complex Medical Billing and Coding Requirements

One of the greatest challenges in behavioral health billing services is mastering the intricacies of medical billing and coding specific to mental health services. Unlike general medical billing, behavioral health codes must account for different treatment approaches, therapy sessions, group counseling, substance abuse treatments, and medication management. Each of these services requires the application of accurate CPT and ICD-10 codes to ensure proper billing.

Errors in coding can lead to claim rejections or underpayment, slowing down the provider’s cash flow. The complexity is further compounded by frequent changes in coding guidelines and payer-specific rules, creating the need for continual updates and staff training. Providers must maintain thorough documentation to support each service billed, ensuring that the codes assigned reflect the specific treatments delivered.

 Frequent Claim Denials and Rejections

Mental health billing tends to face a higher rate of claim denials compared to other specialties. This is often due to the nuanced nature of behavioral health services, which can be subject to varying interpretations by insurance companies. Many insurance plans impose limits on the number of therapy sessions, types of treatments, or length of care, which can result in claim denials if not managed properly.

In such cases, denial management services play a critical role. Providers must implement robust systems for tracking claims and responding promptly to denials. Understanding the reasons for denials—whether it's due to incorrect coding, missing documentation, or authorization issues—is the first step toward correcting and resubmitting claims. A well-organized claims management services process can drastically reduce the rate of denied claims and improve overall reimbursement.

 Navigating Insurance and Authorization Requirements

Insurance companies often impose strict requirements for behavioral health services, including prior authorizations and stringent medical necessity criteria. Verifying a patient’s insurance benefits and securing prior authorization before treatment begins is vital. However, this process can be time-consuming and complex, requiring constant communication with insurance providers.

Missteps in securing authorization or failing to meet insurance company criteria can lead to non-payment for services rendered. Providers must ensure that their revenue cycle management process includes a solid verification and authorization system to avoid unnecessary delays in payment. A dedicated team or service for handling prior authorizations can streamline this process, ensuring services are approved before they are delivered.

 Balancing Regulatory Compliance and Patient Privacy

Compliance is another significant hurdle in behavioral health billing. Providers must adhere to strict privacy regulations, such as HIPAA, while also ensuring their billing practices comply with federal and state laws, including the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). This act mandates that mental health and substance abuse treatments be covered at the same level as physical health services, but navigating its application in different insurance plans can be challenging.

Moreover, maintaining compliance with government programs such as Medicaid and Medicare introduces additional layers of complexity. Providers participating in these programs must follow specific coding and billing guidelines, often requiring additional documentation. Failure to comply can result in audits, fines, or loss of program participation, making it crucial for providers to stay up-to-date on regulatory changes.

 The Importance of Streamlined Revenue Cycle Management

Effective revenue cycle management is the backbone of any successful behavioral health practice. Managing the entire billing cycle—from patient intake and insurance verification to claims submission, payment posting, and denial resolution—requires a streamlined process to prevent cash flow disruptions. Behavioral health billing services must ensure that every step of the billing process is optimized for efficiency and accuracy.

Outsourcing these tasks to a professional billing service can alleviate many of the challenges mentioned above. A specialized billing partner can offer dedicated claims management services and denial management services, ensuring that claims are submitted accurately and promptly, denials are swiftly addressed, and reimbursement is maximized. This allows providers to focus on delivering high-quality care to their patients rather than spending time navigating the billing process.

Conclusion

In the ever-evolving field of behavioral health, the billing process presents unique and complex challenges. From mastering the nuances of medical billing and coding to managing frequent claim denials and staying compliant with regulatory requirements, providers face a host of obstacles that can affect their financial health. However, with the right strategies—such as investing in professional behavioral health billing services, utilizing denial management services, and maintaining efficient revenue cycle management—behavioral health providers can overcome these challenges, ensuring their practice remains financially healthy while delivering essential care to their patients.

By implementing these solutions, providers not only reduce the administrative burden but also improve their bottom line, allowing for more time and resources to be devoted to what truly matters: patient care.

[practolytics]

How Can Patients' Influx Be Effectively Improved?

A patient-centered medical practice consistently demonstrates how much it values its patients. To find out more about Practolytics, get in touch with us.

[instapayhealthcare]

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[instapayhealthcareservices]

https://myworldgo.com/blog/104072/streamlining-your-practice-the-critical-role-of-behavioral-and-mental-health-billing-services-with-instapay-healthcare

[plutushealthinc]

Maximizing Your Practice's Growth with Accurate Mental Health Billing Services

Are you sick of investigating unpaid and rejected claims? Are you trying to find a mental health billing company that can adhere to payer and regional regulations? Go no further than Plutus Health, a reliable partner to handle your revenue cycle management (RCM) services for mental health.

With one-click help available 24/7* 365 days a year, Plutus Health is a group of AAPC-trained and certified mental health coders who offer end-to-end mental health billing solutions. As your go-to billing and coding experts for mental health, we promise to streamline your billing procedures, improve your coding and billing system, and carry out thorough pre-billing audits to decrease denials.

Because of the many types of treatments provided to patients, as well as the insurance plans, deductibles, and other differences by state, payer, and plan, mental health billing can get complicated. With decades of experience in the field of mental health coding and billing, Plutus Health promises to make your coding and billing experience more successful and less stressful.

Our group of certified coders works on your claims and consistently delivers the outcomes your practice needs. We submit accurate claims with the utmost care in order to increase your practice's first-pass ratio. Our mental health billing professionals are experienced in creating and putting into practice successful procedures that will increase our clients' financial viability. You can count on a hands-on approach and a dedication to producing top-notch results.

The top mental health billing insurance denials, such as incorrect CPT codes, provider not enrolled, missing/invalid information, excluded or non-covered charges, billing to the wrong payer, duplicate billing, overlapping claims, and contractual obligation, are handled by Plutus Health with guaranteed results.

The average turnaround time for claims at mental health practices has decreased to 48 hours, and their share of clean claims has increased to 95%. The average (NCPR) collections have achieved a staggering reimbursement of 98%, while automated patient payment collections have increased to 35%. lowered the average amount of denials for mental health practices to 5%, and the average amount of time it takes for mental health practices working with Plutus Health to receive payment is now 25 days.

At Plutus Health, we recognize that billing for mental health services presents significant difficulties that could jeopardize your practice's ability to make a profit. We can assist you in streamlining patient collections and offering patient statement services that involve patients and provide them a better experience to receive faster payment for their obligations. Before to the start of services, we also examine the patients' benefits and eligibility, and patient collectibles like co-pays and deductibles are collected during the patient visit before the claim is submitted and the payer is paid.

Our mental health billing solutions are tailored to the needs of your practice and provide you with a range of services that are intended to improve your revenue cycle management. Our team of experts can efficiently handle mental health medical billing, coding, and collections for mental health service providers because to their 15+ years of experience in the RCM industry. Plutus Health wants to be your revenue cycle management partner by streamlining and improving the coding and billing process for mental health services. Speak to our mental health billing and coding specialists today to set up an expert conversation, and don't compromise on your income success.

[scottfeldberg]

Mental health is emotional or physiological wellbeing. Mental health illnesses are depression, anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. However, mental health is a taboo subject. In fact, there are many who believe that one can cure mental health without the help of a psychiatrist or psychologist. Moreover, there are many who live in denial of mental illness. In such circumstances, state budget cuts seem to add more fuel to the fire. Let us understand these budget cuts and their impact on Mental Health Medication Management In detail in this blog.

[2-2-78-09]

Behavioral Health billing takes a lot of meticulous attention to detail for a smooth revenue cycle. To get the best medical billing services, call Info Hub now and watch your profits increase!

[otherkinnews]

Will Oklahoma Call Animal Control on Students?

This article was originally posted to the Otherkin News blog on Dreamwidth.

Content warnings: Rated G. Sexism against transgender people. Adults who cause danger or distress for children by outing them as transgender or showing them animal bloodsports.

Summary: In 2023, Republicans in the US began to propose laws (bills) that would be against furries or people who identify as animals. They continue to do so in 2024. The first two such bills of this year are Oklahoma House Bill 3084 (OK HB 3084) and Mississippi House Bill 176 (MS HB 176). Read on for information about these bills from this and last year, the urban legend that inspired them, what may happen next, and what you can do. This five page article (plus references) is a twelve minute read.

Humphrey’s anti-furry bill in Oklahoma

Republican Representative Justin Humphrey (he/him) specializes in writing bills that are intentionally bizarre so they will attract attention, and then cleaning them up later so that they will pass into law. On December 6, he wrote OK HB 3084, as its only sponsor. He prefiled it on January 17. It was introduced for its first reading on February 5. Here is the bill on Oklahoma’s official site, and on the third-party site Legiscan. It proposes a new law, which would read in full: 

“Students who purport to be an imaginary animal or animal species, or who engage in anthropomorphic behavior commonly referred to as furries at school shall not be allowed to participate in school curriculum or activities. The parent or guardian of a student in violation of this section shall pick the student up from the school, or animal control services shall be contacted to remove the student.”

In Humphrey’s interview with Rolling Stone about this, he specifically said that he wrote the furry bill in response to having heard about students using litter boxes in school. The Stone pointed out that that’s an urban legend that never happened at all, but he thinks it’s happened sometimes, if not widespread. He said that “furry” is the common name for a “mental illness” and “sexual habit,” and that there’s an “actual psychological term” for it, which he didn’t say because he found it “very, very difficult to pronounce” (Ehrlich, 2024). 

He probably was referring to “anthropomorphic behavior,” which he wrote in his bill text. That isn’t a psychological term or a mental illness, it’s about cartoon characters. The furry fandom uses “anthropomorphic animals” as a synonym for furries, fictional talking animal characters. “Anthropomorphic” often gets misused to mean “animal-like,” but its literal meaning is “human-like.” Humphrey’s wording would suffice to expel all students from a school: kids who act like animals and kids who act like humans. He likely based his bill on last year’s dead Oklahoma Senate Bill 943, which he didn’t write, but which also used the word.

Humphrey’s bill is the first that says to call animal control on furries. Would they refuse to pick up a student, or could this really cause students to be arrested and detained? Animal control is dictated by the local government (Bradshaw and Vankavage). Sometimes it may be outsourced to contractors who wouldn’t respond to this bizarre request, but in many cases it’s managed by local law enforcement. For example, one Oklahoman city ordinance says that all its animal control officers who are not already part of law enforcement “possess all authority of a police officer of the city for enforcing these animal regulations” (Vinita city code 2005 5-3-19). Humphrey explained that this part is a joke that he doesn’t intend to stick to, though, saying, 

“if you want to treat these people as actual animals, you call animal control. I’ll be happy to rewrite the language [to replace ‘animal control’ with mental health professionals]. But right now, I put that in there to make the point. A sarcastic point” (Erhlich, 2024). 

(Bracketed text in original.) Introducing a bill with an absurd part and then deleting or altering it to let it pass is a tactic that we see in one of last year’s bills, and it’s a favorite tactic of Humphrey’s.

The day after Humphrey filed his furry bill, he called it his “crazy” bill, saying, “I’ve laughed and said, well, we ought to neuter them and vaccinate them and send them to the pound." KOCO News reported, “Humphrey said although it may not become law, he wants to bring attention to what he called a problem” (Jones, 2024). Perhaps, like the urban legend that inspired it, the bill’s purpose is to attract attention by being intentionally absurd. It makes up a guy to get mad at: it describes an invented situation that has never happened, then recommends penalties for that imaginary situation, and those penalties themselves are something that may not be realistically carried out, or which would have absurdly high-stakes consequences. Humphrey’s furry bill doesn’t mention transgender people, but he wrote it in reference to an urban legend that parodies transgender people. Humphrey has also made many public remarks against transgender people, and he has supported anti-transgender bills (Murphy, 2021).

Other Representatives believe he may have intended for the absurdity of his furry bill to distract attention from more serious bills. On the same day that he prefiled this, he also filed a racially discriminatory bill about Oklahomans of Hispanic descent, House Bill 3133 (Jones, 2024).

Part of Humphrey’s amusement here is that he has a beef with animal control. In addition to his hostilities toward LGBTQ people, one of his long-term goals is to reduce the legal penalties for cockfighting from felony to misdemeanor. Throughout the US, this blood sport is illegal, and it is a federal crime to bring a child under age sixteen to any animal fighting events (Humane Society). Humphrey approves of allowing children there, saying, “You’re dang skippy I’ll take my kid to a chicken fighting before I’m gonna take them to see a drag queen” (Leigh, 2023).

This year’s anti-transgender and anti-furry bill in Mississippi

Introduced on January 17, MS HB 176 would require schools to out transgender students to parents, and to allow faculty to not accommodate any student who 

“identif[ies] at school as a gender or pronoun that does not align with the child's sex on their birth certificate, other official records, sex assigned at birth, or identifying as an animal species, extraterrestrial being or inanimate object.” 

As the nonprofit journalism site Mississippi Free Press noted, “There are no known incidents of Mississippi schoolchildren identifying as aliens or inanimate objects, but the idea of children identifying as animals may stem from an unsubstantiated urban myth about litter boxes that spread among Republican officials in recent years” (Harrison, 2024). Here is the bill on Mississippi’s official site, and on the third-party site Legiscan. The bill’s seven authors are all Republican Representatives: Charles “Chuck” Blackwell (main author), William Arnold, Randy Boyd, Larry Byrd, Dan Eubanks, Jimmy Fondren, and Donnie Scoggin. In the same month, Blackwell also sponsored the bill MS HB 303 (about digital currencies) and co-sponsored the bill MS HR 17 (for deporting undocumented immigrants back to Mexico) (TrackBill). 

An overview of last year’s anti-furry bills

Important background for what’s happening is that last year in the US, sexists introduced more than five hundred bills to limit the rights of transgender people (Reed, 2023). Four of those were also against furries or people who identify as animals. They were mainly against the rights of transgender students, and also opposed “a student's perception of being any animal species other than human” (North Dakota House Bill 1522) or “anthropomorphic behavior commonly referred to as furries” (Oklahoma Senate Bill 943). 

The text of the third, Indiana Statehouse Bill 380, only talked about dress codes and “disruptive behavior.” Later, this was amended to say “distractive behavior.” However, its writer said that it was to prevent “imitating or were behaving like a furry” (Herron, 2023). The bill’s unspoken real aim was to prevent transgender students from dressing as their gender. 

The fourth was a proposed amendment to Montana Senate Bill 544. It would have changed this internet censorship bill to also censor “acts of transgenderism,” which it defines as “a person being in the mental state of believing the person is transgender or transspecies” (Scribner, Shepard, and Sol, 2023). The word “transgenderism” is a dogwhistle used by people who oppose transgender rights. “Transspecies” is not typically thought of as a subset of it.

By the end of 2023, what came of those four bills? The line about animals was later deleted from the North Dakota bill, though it was still anti-transgender (Scribner, March 14, 2023). It passed on May 18, becoming law that will oppose the rights of transgender students. Last year’s Oklahoma bill died in committee. The Indiana bill passed on May 4, and will prohibit “distractive behavior” in schools. The Montana bill passed on May 19, and it’s still a clumsy plan for internet censorship, but the final text did not use the amendment that talked about transgender or transspecies (Legiscan). So far, no laws have passed with texts that mention anything along the lines of furries or identifying as nonhuman.

What are anti-furry bills really about?

These bills happened because of an urban legend. In parody of transgender students, Republicans made up a story that schools have litter boxes for students who identify as cats. Fact-checking site Snopes has been debunking this legend (Palma), as has Reuters Fact Check. This panel by a historian gives very detailed information about the legend’s development (Chimeras, 2022). Republicans imply through this legend that letting transgender students use the restroom that matches their gender identity would be as ridiculous as giving litter boxes to students who identify as animals.

What are the facts about people who identify as animals, if any exist? Surveys of the furry fandom show that most people who call themselves furries do not identify as animals (Plante et al, 2016, pp. 113-114). However, there are real people who sincerely identify as animals or nonhuman beings. Many call themselves therianthropes or otherkin (Scribner, 2023, “Simple introduction”). Sexists use the word “transspecies” to parody transgender people. However, a few transgender people call a nonhuman aspect of themselves transspecies (Chimeras, 2021). None of them did the things in schools that the urban legend says, so the legend isn’t true, and the legend wasn’t created in response to them. The threatening intent of the legend and bills is toward transgender people, but could cause trouble for furries and people who identify as animals.

Are there people who think of their gender identity as something nonhuman, and is that based on or part of the concept of being transgender? Transgender people who don’t feel they are a woman or man only or all the time have a nonbinary gender. Some people feel so different from a woman or man that they say their gender is something other than human. Since 2014, some call themselves xenogender, meaning “alien gender.” This can be a metaphor for something difficult to put into words, and they do not necessarily think of themselves as literally nonhuman, though some do. Surveys show that most nonbinary people define their gender in relation to being a woman or man; only 1.7% of nonbinary people call themselves xenogender or a variation on that word, and no other xenogender identity comes close to common (Gender Census, 2023). However, identifying as nonhuman is not inherently a form of being transgender, and was not developed based on the concept of being transgender.

What happens next for Humphrey’s anti-furry bill?

On February 5 and 6, it had its first and second readings, and it was referred to the House Rules Committee to read it next. That Committee has seven Republicans and two Democrats (State of Oklahoma). We’ll see if they let it die the same as last year’s Oklahoma bill, or if they vote for it to progress toward passing in some form. Remember the aforementioned interview where Humphrey said he doesn’t expect it to pass. Its purpose is to make “a sarcastic point” and attract attention away from other bills.

What happens next for the Mississippi bill? 

The day it was introduced, MS HB 176 was referred to the Mississippi House Education Committee and still waits for them to vote on it. Given that the Committee has a majority of Republicans (according to its government site and legislation tracking site, BillTracker.com), and the bill’s similarity to the North Dakota bill that passed last year with the portion about non-humans deleted, they’re likely to pass this bill in some form. The director of the Mississippi branch of the Human Rights Campaign, Rob Hill (he/him), said, 

“We’ve not seen this kind of bill in Mississippi before, and we hope that our leaders will resist another effort to stigmatize and isolate transgender and nonbinary youth and their peers [...] This is a very dangerous bill. It’s dangerous for the lives of youth … and it further perpetuates Mississippi’s image of being a place of discrimination” (Harrison, 2024).

What can you do?

Page Shepard (they/he), House of Chimeras (they/them), and I presented a panel about the bills last August. In the recording of our panel, skip to the timestamp 23:44 to hear what ordinary people can do about bad bills. In the written script of our lecture, see Slides 21 through 25.

About the author of this article

I’m Orion Scribner (they/them), and I’ve been writing and researching as an alterhuman community historian for more than ten years. I’m a moderator on Otherkin News, a volunteer-run blog about current events relevant to the alterhuman communities. My partner N. Noel Sol (she/her) did some editing in this document, especially in regard to animal control. Thanks for proofreading by my partner system the House of Chimeras (they/them), and my colleague Xylanth (it/its). I never write articles with the assistance of procedural generation or so-called artificial intelligence (AI), and that type of content isn’t allowed on Otherkin News.

References

BillTrack50. "Mississippi House Education Committee." https://www.billtrack50.com/committee/4245#billReferral 

Bradshaw, A. and L. Vankavage. “The Role of Local Government in Animal Control.” Humane Animal Control.  https://resources.bestfriends.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/Chapter%202_Role%20of%20Local%20Government%20in%20Animal%20Control.pdf?bG9ehcLSrIR08a1N_X1wbpYDzgy8_orb 

Vinita city code 2005 5-3-19: ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER; IMPOUNDMENT OF ANIMALS; REDEMPTION; SALE; EUTHANASIA. American Legal Publishing. https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/vinitaok/latest/vinita_ok/0-0-0-2467

Ehrlich, Brenna (January 17, 2024). “Students Dressed as Furries Could be Collected by Animal Control if New Oklahoma Bill Passes.” Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/furries-school-bill-animal-control-1234948434/ 

Jones, Alyse (January 18, 2024). "How many newly filed bills will become law in Oklahoma?". KOCO-TV. https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-new-filed-bills/46431213 

House of Chimeras (Aug. 12, 2022). "Litter Boxes in School Bathrooms: Dissecting the Alt-Right’s Current Moral Panic." https://houseofchimeras.neocities.org/Lectures

House of Chimeras (Aug. 14, 2021). "The Use and Misuse of The Term Transspecies." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miSyXSesyzw 

House of Chimeras, O. Scribner, and P. Shepard (2023). “Litter Box Hoax 2: Legislature Boogaloo.” OtherCon 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsXy_ctC4Jc&t=1425s 

Harrison, Heather (January 19, 2024). “Teachers Required to Out Trans Students to Families Under Proposed Mississippi Bill.” Mississippi Free Press. https://www.mississippifreepress.org/39193/teachers-required-to-out-trans-students-to-families-under-proposed-mississippi-bill 

Herron, Arika (Jan. 26, 2023). "Indiana lawmaker targets furries in schools. Schools say there's no problem." IndyStar. https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/26/indiana-statehouse-bill-targets-furries-schools-say-no-problem/69840839007/ Archived Jan. 26, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230126101035/https://eu.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/26/indiana-statehouse-bill-targets-furries-schools-say-no-problem/69840839007/

Humane Society Legislative Fund (February 4, 2014). “Farm Bill Strengthens Animal Fighting Law, Maintains State Farm Animal Protection Laws.” The Humane Society of the United States. https://web.archive.org/web/20141025151239/http://www.humanesociety.org/news/news_briefs/2014/02/farm_bill_passed_020414.html 

Legiscan, IN SB 380. https://legiscan.com/IN/bill/SB0380/2023 

Legiscan, MT SB 544. https://legiscan.com/MT/bill/SB544/2023

Legiscan, MS HB 176. https://legiscan.com/MS/bill/HB176/2024 

Legiscan, ND HB 1522. https://legiscan.com/ND/bill/HB1522/2023 

Legiscan, OK HB 3084. https://legiscan.com/OK/bill/HB3084/2024 

Legiscan, OK SB 943. https://legiscan.com/OK/bill/SB943/2023

Leigh, Sunny (April 15, 2023). "Bill to reduce penalties for animal fighting shut down in Oklahoma Senate". KTUL. https://ktul.com/news/local/bill-to-reduce-penalties-for-animal-fighting-shut-down-in-oklahoma-senate-cockfighting-chicken-fighting-dogfighting-humphrey-kunzweiler-humane-society-animal-wellness-gamefowl-lawmakers Content warning for animal cruelty. This article goes into some detail about the more criminal and violent extremes of animal fighting.

Mississippi Legislation. House of Representatives Committee Listing. https://www.legislature.ms.gov/committees/house-committees/ 

Murphy, Sean (15 April 2021). "GOP Oklahoma lawmaker criticized for transgender comments". AP. https://apnews.com/article/legislature-oklahoma-bills-oklahoma-city-5db54da2949c3398d3fc7c53714bdc36 

Palma, Bethania. (January 30, 2023). “How Furries Got Swept Up in Anti-Trans 'Litter Box' Rumors.” Snopes. https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/01/30/how-furries-got-swept-up-in-anti-trans-litter-box-rumors/ Archived on March 30, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230330232007/https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/01/30/how-furries-got-swept-up-in-anti-trans-litter-box-rumors/

Plante, C., S. Reysen, S. Roberts, and K. Gerbasi (2016). FurScience! A summary of five years of research from the International Anthropomorphic Research Project. FurScience: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. ISBN: 978-0-9976288-0-7. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304540208_FurScience_A_summary_of_five_years_of_research_from_the_International_Anthropomorphic_Research_Project The relevant section of the book is also on the project’s official web page here: https://furscience.com/research-findings/therians/7-2-animal-identification/ 

Reed, Erin (December 30, 2023). “Erin's 2024 Anti-Trans Legislative Risk Map.” Erin in the Morning. https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/erins-2024-anti-trans-legislative

Reuters Fact Check (October 18, 2022). “Fact Check-No evidence of schools accommodating ‘furries’ with litter boxes.” https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-furries-rogan-litterbox-idUSL1N31J1KT Archived February 13, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230213110524/https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-furries-rogan-litterbox-idUSL1N31J1KT

Scribner, O. (March 14, 2023). “A formerly anti-alterhuman but still anti-transgender bill will be heard Wednesday.” https://otherkinnews.dreamwidth.org/88744.html 

Scribner, O. (April 13, 2023). “A Simple Introduction to Otherkin and Therianthropes: Version 2.4.7.” The Works of Orion Scribner. https://web.archive.org/web/20230603220035/http://frameacloud.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/simpleintro.pdf 

Scribner, O. (February 22, 2023). “In US, three anti-transgender bills also oppose alterhumans; similar recent Supreme Court cases.” Otherkin News. https://otherkinnews.dreamwidth.org/86709.html 

Scribner, O., P. Shepard, and N. N. Sol (April 24, 2023). “Proposed amendment to Montana net censorship bill would ban transgender and transspecies people.” Otherkin News. https://otherkinnews.dreamwidth.org/89561.html 

State of Oklahoma House of Representatives. Oklahoma House Rules Committee. https://www.okhouse.gov/committees/house/rules 

TrackBill. “Mississippi Rep. Charles Blackwell (R).” https://trackbill.com/legislator/mississippi-representative-charles-blackwell/981-27365/ 

[moments-on-film]

Moments on Film: Carmy and Inappropriate Affect

Among Carmen’s many physical and psychological issues due to his undiagnosed PTSD from various sources and depression, he also displays inappropriate affect, a psychological term which I will describe below. Carmy has exhibited behavior that suggests inappropriate affect from the first episode in season 1, to the last episode in season 2.

The first time I noticed this, it was in the scene where Richie comes to Carmy’s aid in 1x1. Richie comes outside and essentially rescues Carmy from being beaten up by the Ballbreaker players waiting to come inside for the tournament. Richie is funny in the scene—to us as audience members—but it’s not intentional and Richie is actually very serious and pissed, exhibited by the fact that he lays into Carmy in the next scene. Yet in the scene outside, Carmy smiles and is about to laugh. Why? Perhaps he finds Richie funny, or the situation ridiculous, but from what we have seen of his personality profile so far, Carmy is a very serious person so this behavior feels very sudden and odd. Richie literally just shot off a gun. It is not an appropriate response to the situation.

According to Better Health, inappropriate affect is defined as:

“a condition where one's emotional actions or displays do not logically relate to a situation or stimuli. Common examples of inappropriate affect include smiling at the news of a tragedy or remaining unemotional during a very emotional situation.

When mental health professionals are looking for insight into what may be causing one to manifest inappropriate affect, they’ll often look for past trauma or other psychological concerns. Inappropriate affect is usually a sign of a deeper psychological or physical health concerns such as PTSD, depression, or some form of brain damage.

The following are some major signs of inappropriate affect: expressing emotions that do not fit reality; abnormal emotional responses; depression, irritability, or outbursts of anger without an obvious cause; manic episodes.”

In this post, I’m not going to get into Carmy’s other signs of inappropriate affect, such as depression, irritability, outbursts of anger without an obvious cause or manic episodes, which he certainly suffers from, perhaps I will in a different post. Here, I’m going to focus on several examples of Carmy’s abnormal emotional responses.

Above is another example of Carmy laughing in a serious situation. The delivery guy comes to deliver a 200 pound order in 1x8 and Carmy discovers that it’s pork and not beef. Pork is useless to Carmy. The name of his restaurant is literally “The Beef” and he needs it to survive. The stakes are very high for Carmy to have a successful, profitable run of service every time he opens the doors. He’s trying to save the one thing his brother left him, he owes his Uncle Jimmy $300,000 and promised he’d pay him back, his sister Natalie could lose her house if the restaurant fails, Sydney’s well being really matters to Carmy and she’s now under his protection and care as her boss, and the entire staff at The Beef relies on their jobs to live and pay their bills.

I don’t think Carmy takes any of this lightly. He understands the stakes. As he told Sydney in 1x5, “we lose one service it could kill us.” Granted, the delivery guy (shoutout to the actor portraying the delivery guy) is so deadpan in his “delivery”, that it almost is funny, but given the high stakes, Carmy’s reaction is abnormal here and will continue to be abnormal in the following scene in the walk-in when he realizes how behind he is on prep and that the restaurant is not prepared to open. This sets off a chain of disturbing dissociative behavior that almost results in him burning himself up, and the restaurant down.

Gif credit: The very kind @tvfantic87

Another example of possible inappropriate affect is in the moment when Carmy is reading Michael’s final words to him in the season 1 finale. There was so much buildup to this moment and so much emotion tied to the fact that we learn that Michael told Carmy that he loves him, and uses the words that Carmy has been playing in his head to comfort himself all season, “let it rip.” In this moment I was truly waiting for Carmy to break down and cry, to have the desperately needed release of a catharsis, but he never does. He gets emotional for a brief moment and then, as if on a dime, his face twists into a grimace and he laughs. I attribute his laugh and “what?!” to Carmy reading the part of the recipe “the smaller cans taste better”, in reference to the small cans of tomatoes, which has puzzled Carmy all season, and also the fact that he’s so happy and relieved that his brother didn’t forget about him. His reaction could also be an inappropriate response to the situation due to his inability to process his feelings because of his suppressed emotions and trauma about his brother’s death.

To me, the most glaring display of inappropriate affect comes in 2x10. Carmy is trapped in the walk-in during the opening night of his restaurant. He has no idea how the night has gone. For all he knows, his beloved Sydney and Richie are at each other’s throats, his mom is terrorising his pregnant sister, his evil former boss from New York has sent food back to Sydney and could be verbally abusing her, he’s not there to protect her, the restaurant is tanking and all hope is lost. Carmy sits down and looks up. He sees the messily ripped tape, radicchio is spelled wrong, and all at once it becomes clear to him that he has let everyone down by not being there to help his staff and lead his team. This scene is what is called a “private moment” in acting. He’s supposed to be alone, no one is around. It’s extremely private. No one can get in and he can’t get out. You would think he would use this moment of solitude to break down and cry, but again, he never does, and I found it very odd. Instead, he smiles and almost bursts into laughter. Why does he do this? I believe seeing the tape being messy and ripped, and not neatly cut with scissors like he has tried to train staff to do, is why. We know this is his pet peeve. It’s almost like it’s so awful all he can do is laugh, but in this moment it feels very, very off—because it is. It’s another example of his manifestation of not having the right affect. Even listening to Claire’s voicemail, on top of having that viscious fight with Richie should have broken him down, but it didn’t. He put his head in his hands. He still has not cried. This is particularly odd because in 1x2, Carmy tells his sister “I-I know tons of people that cry out of nowhere”, but we never see him have this response, ever. Honestly, the first time I saw the scene below, during the slow push in on his face I thought, he’s about to break character. That’s honestly what it looks like to me—a bad take that should have been reshot because the actor was not in the moment. And yet—-Jeremy Allen White is an incredibly skilled and focused actor, (as I wrote about HERE), which leads me to believe this choice must have been intentional to convey inappropriate affect caused by trauma.

Carmy needs professional help and therapy and he needs it badly. He has got to do something to help himself have a desperately needed breakthrough and come to terms with his past trauma and demons for the sake of his mental health. Al-Anon is a good step but it’s not enough. It’s a monologue, he needs one on one help and a dialogue. In Al-Anon, he only speaks to what he wants to share. In therapy, he would be asked questions and given exercises that would help him unravel his tangled mind. His panic attacks, nightmares and outbursts are a threat to his health. He must change his environment and get help. No one else can do it for him, and just like many of his inappropriate affect reactions to some of his more desperate moments, it truly is no laughing matter.

©️moments-on-film 2023

[instapayhealthcare]

Comprehensive Behavioral and Mental Health Billing Services for Efficient Revenue Cycle Management

Comprehensive Behavioral and Mental Health Billing Services with Efficient Revenue Cycle Management for Effective Practice Billing and Revenue Cycle Practices billing in behavioral health require special challenges in the management of the revenue cycle since services are quite diversified, and mental health care is dynamic in nature. Instapay Healthcare Services genuinely realizes the complexity of behavioral health billing, which ensures accurate and timely reimbursement of your practice so you can instead concentrate on your patients and their care services.

What is Behavioral Health Billing?

Behavioral and Mental health billing is coding and then processing claims for therapy sessions, psychiatric evaluations, substance abuse treatments, and other related interventions. It differs from general medical billing because of the high variety of services and the different requirements set by each payer. Apart from these factors, codes change so frequently in behavioral and mental health billing that without specific expertise, it becomes almost unmanageable.

General Challenges in Behavioral Health Billing

Behavioral health practices often struggle with:

Different payers have different coding standards for the same services.

Authorization Requirements: Many of the services require pre-authorization, hence also increasing complexity.

Claims Denied: Claims denial rates are found to be higher for behavioral health service due to improper coding, documents unavailable, or missing pre-authorizations.

Policy Changes: The policies related to healthcare which are associated with mental health services keep on changing very often, hence causing much problem for practices to cope up with them.

We address these challenges to ensure the timely processing of your claims and a smooth revenue cycle for you.

Our Total Behavioral and Mental Health Billing Solutions

We offer end-to-end billing solutions for the complexity of behavioral health providers. Our service includes:

1. Specialized Behavioral Health Coding Expertise

Our certified coders have experience in CPT, HCPCS, and ICD-10 codes that specifically apply to behavioral health services. That means:

Exact coding of therapeutic, counseling, and psychiatric services.

Application of appropriate modifiers to avert underpayment

Payer-specific coding rules are updated periodically to avert denied claims.

2. Claim Submissions and Follow up

We will ensure that the process is taken care of from the preparation of the claim to its submission. Our team will:

Ensure that documentation accompanying each claim is complete.

Verify the eligibility and coverage status of the patient before submitting the claim.

Escalate submitted claims to be treated with prompt attention in order to be fully processed, while issues that may have resulted are sorted out.

3. Denials Management and Appeals

In behavioral health billing, denials are often caused by various reasons such as improper coding, authorization issues, or errors in documentation. At Instapay Healthcare Services:

We determine the reason for denial.

We resubmit the corrected claims on a timely basis.

We appeal for underpaid and denied claims so that all revenues are recovered.

4. Revenue Cycle Optimization

Instapay Healthcare Services' complete view of revenue cycle management is centered at your practice's financial well-being. We offer:

Front-end RCM Services: Ensures verification of patient eligibility, prior authorizations, and correct collection of demographic information.

Back-end RCM Services: Payment posting, management of accounts receivable, and follow-ups to ensure timely reimbursement.

Benefits of Outsourcing Behavioral Health Billing

These are the benefits you will enjoy when you outsource your billing activities to Instapay Healthcare Services:

Inherent Accuracy with Less Errors

Our long-experienced personnel will code and submit the claims accurately. This also reduces the likelihood of claims denied or rejected, therefore, quick reimbursement occurs.

Operational Efficiency

It takes care of all the billing-related activities, thus releasing more internal staff time for caring for patients,  that keeps your practice more efficient with reduced administrative burdens.

Revenue and Cash Flow Maximization

By helping you minimize claim denials and guarantee you receive the timely payment for your services, our specialized team optimizes revenue cycles in your practice. This ensures healthy, consistent cash flow for growth in your practice.

Compliance

Our savvy billing services will enable you to maintain essential compliance to regulations and properly meet statutory prerequisites.

Our team stays updated on the changes in regulations and payer requirements so that your practice does not gain penalties by remaining non-compliant.

Tailored Reporting and Insights

We give you detailed reports so that you can see how your practice is doing financially. Our team works with you, spot light areas where improvement is needed, and lets you know how to put strategies in place to create more revenue generation.

How Instapay Healthcare Services is different

We take great pride in offering customized billing solutions for behavioral health providers. Our team will work closely with your practice to understand the specific needs, thereby ensuring that our services meet your objectives.

Technology-Driven Solutions

We've used the best in class of billing software and technology to ensure that your claims are processed on a timely basis and securely. Advanced systems help benefit you in the following ways:

Reduced possibility of errors in claim submission.

Automated tracking of claims with follow-up.

Offer real-time financial insights through reporting tools.

Dedicated Support Team

Our clients receive the comfort of a dedicated account manager who is well aware of the unique billing requirements of their practice. This way, you always receive prompt responses to all your concerns, and most importantly, you have one stop shop to all your billing needs.

Why Choose Instapay Healthcare Services for Behavioral Health Billing?

At Instapay Healthcare Services, we know the intricacies of behavioral and metal health billing and the requirement for timely, accurate claim submissions. Here are some reasons why we are your best practice partner in behavioral health billing.

Subspecialty Expertise: Our certified coders and billing specialists have a deep understanding of the intricacies behind behavioral health billing.

Proven Results: With a history of increased revenue and decreased claims denial rates, we can help your behavioral health clients.

Comprehensive Service Offering: With regard to all matters of billing, from claim submission to denial management, we take care of everything for you.

Customer-Centric Approach: We focus on the provision of personal solutions tailored specifically to the unique needs of your practice.

Conclusion

Instapay Healthcare Services can take the weight off your shoulders, by outsourcing the behavioral  and mental health billing from you. We will let you better attend to your patients while our coding, claim submission and revenue cycle management skills take charge. Our skills guarantee fast reimbursement coupled with accuracy for your practice's reimbursement returns. Join forces with us today to streamline operations, release more administrative burdens and create potential revenue.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Sherman Smith at Kansas Reflector:

TOPEKA — As the Kansas Legislature renewed its yearslong assault on transgender children, Sen. Mary Ware told her Senate colleagues Monday she had a “simple” question for them.

“What is the acceptable number of youth suicides?” Ware asked. The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 988. Crisis Text Line is a texting service for emotional crisis support. To speak with a trained listener, text HELLO to 741741. It is free, available 24/7, and confidential. Ware’s question set the tone for debate in the Senate, which voted 27-13 to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of Senate Bill 233, legislation that would ban gender-affirming care for anyone younger than 18. But the override attempt fell short in the House on an 82-43 vote, two short of the two-thirds majority required.

The bill would have blocked teenagers from receiving hormone therapy and other treatments recognized as necessary by medical professionals. And it would have banned state employees from supporting “social transitioning,” which is defined to include an individual changing their preferred pronouns or manner of dress. Rep. Susan Concannon, R-Beloit, and Rep. Jesse Borjon, R-Topeka, flipped their votes from earlier in the month to sustain the governor’s veto. Two other Republicans — Rep. Mark Schreiber of Emporia and Rep. David Younger of Ulysses — also joined Democrats in blocking the legislation from becoming law. “We hear about mental health, about suicide, and ask why,” Concannon said. “We’re not listening to the impact of youth. Government involvement is not the answer.” On the Senate side, Sen. John Doll, R-Garden City, and Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, joined the chamber’s 11 Democrats in supporting the veto.

Opponents of the bill pointed to extensive medical research that shows transgender children, who are already at an elevated risk for suicide, are more likely to die from suicide if they don’t receive gender-affirming care. “This bill ignores, or should I say tramples, on the rights of some Kansas citizens to live peaceably, lawfully and free to make their own decisions about their own bodies,” Ware said. Republicans argued the bill would protect children from life-altering decisions they could end up regretting.

[...] The House delayed taking action as Republican leadership tried to secure enough votes to override the governor’s veto. Before closing the roll call, Republicans locked the chamber doors and issued a procedural declaration that requires every member to cast a vote, rather than abstain. Borjon said he would support a ban on gender reassignment surgery and limits on the use of hormone blockers for minors. But for him, the bill went too far in restricting speech and behavioral health care for transgender youths. Rep. Tobias Schlingensiepen, a Topeka Democrat and pastor, said it was clear the “politically motivated bill” would make the lives of trans kids and their families more difficult.

Good news: Kansas's anti-trans gender-affirming care ban for trans youths will not take effect, as Gov. Laura Kelly (D)'s veto of SB233 has been sustained in the House. #KSLeg

See Also:

Erin In The Morning: Kansas Republican Votes No On Trans Ban: "Govt. Involvement Is Not The Answer"

[sweetlikecandeyyy]

there’s no one talking about her i will myself

The Goleta postal facility shootings were a spree killing perpetrated by Jennifer San Marco on January 30, 2006. San Marco, a former United States Postal Service employee, shot and killed six people in Goleta, California, before taking her own life. Prior to the Goleta shooting, she shot and killed a former neighbor in nearby Santa Barbara.

Jennifer San Marco was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Frank San Marco and Jeanette San Marco (née San Pietro). She went to Edward R. Murrow High School, later attending Brooklyn College. She then studied natural resources management at Rutgers University but did not graduate. In 1989 San Marco came to California, where after studying she was hired as a guard at medium-security Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe. She quit two days before her probationary period ended, never giving a reason why, but was described as a good worker.

San Marco held down a number of jobs, including a dispatcher for the Santa Barbara Police Department in the mid-1990s, a job for which she underwent a background check and psychological evaluation. She left the job after several months. San Marco then worked at a high school serving lunch before quitting in 2000. She eventually bought a condominium and went to work for the Postal Service as a clerk. She left on psychological disability following a 2003 incident in which she was pulled out from under a mail-sorting machine and had to be wheeled from her workplace by police in handcuffs. San Marco did return briefly, but was again removed from the building due to her erratic behavior and never returned. She was held at a Ventura mental hospital for three days in February 2001.

In 2004 San Marco's car broke down in Grants, New Mexico, where she decided to stay. In the small town, San Marco earned a reputation for strange behavior, which included speaking (or sometimes furiously shouting) to herself, ordering food at restaurants and bolting out the door before eating it, stripping naked in public (often in random parking lots), kneeling and praying in random places (often at roadsides), talking to an imaginary friend, screaming death threats, yelling profane rap lyrics and making racist comments. She began getting tattoos and showed them to neighbor Jeannie Steen. When Steen didn't react, San Marco walked around her in a circle and spat on the ground.

In July 2004 San Marco was denied a business license to begin publishing a periodical known as The Racist Press. At one point, she claimed she wanted to register a cat food business and was rejected because she lived in an unincorporated area of Cibola County. While being interviewed there, she would often talk to herself. After the rejection, San Marco would frequently come to the office and stare at an employee named Sonya Salazar. Salazar was told to hide when she came to the office. San Marco once made a rude accusation that Salazar had slept with someone; authorities were called. She also came into contact with authorities after she appeared naked at a gas station. She was clothed when the officers arrived and they ultimately let her off with a warning. These run-ins with authorities were frequent and she was once admonished for driving half-naked. San Marco sold her condominium and told people that she was going to visit a sister on the East Coast.

In November, a mental health clinic manager named Darlene Hayes reported seeing San Marco alone in a post office parking lot kneeling at her car and talking to herself. When asked what she was doing, she replied, "They pray before they get in." She was supposedly talking about her sister and brother (whom she apparently believed were there). Hayes called the police and left several minutes later. According to a police lieutenant, there was no record of Hayes' call. A man who delivered propane gas to San Marco and described her as polite, noted that she always paid her bills on time, though he had noticed her talking to an "imaginary friend."

San Marco was apparently convinced that she was the target of a nefarious conspiracy centered at the Goleta postal facility, according to writings recovered from her home in New Mexico. A spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office conjectured that San Marco's paranoia and history of mental illness may have motivated her to commit the murders. Racism was also a possible influence in the shooting, as six of the victims were minorities (three were black, one was Chinese-American, one was Hispanic and one was Filipino). She may have also murdered Graham for personal reasons, as the two had previously quarreled. According to Graham's boyfriend, San Marco would often go outside and start singing loudly. Graham also complained to her brother that San Marco would come out and "rant and rave" in front of her building.

Among San Marco's writings were error-laden explanations of various religions and a theory linking the U.S. government to serial killer David Berkowitz, the Ku Klux Klan and racist murders. A diary was found with over 100 pages of meticulously tracked, perceived slights and offenses she received from people. An auto body worker once said that San Marco claimed that the Postal Service mistreated her, but that she never said anything violent or talked about murder, but that they had to "pay", which may have indicated revenge as another possible motive.

San Marco purchased the murder weapon and ammunition from two different pawn shops (one in Grants, the other in Gallup). She was able to do this with no problem, and passed background checks. She also got a buzz cut hairstyle, which left her barely recognizable (and may have helped her gain entry into the building to commit the shooting).

Victims:

[plutushealthinc]

Factors To Consider While Choosing Mental Health Billing Service Providers

Mental health service providers are always busy offering quality care and treatments to their clients. Sometimes, they compromise on their billing and claim submission to provide quality treatments to their clients, which hampers their practice in the long run. 

The right care is necessary to keep your clients healthy. Similarly, a good mental health billing partner is required to keep your practice healthy. Punctures in mental health coding and billing lead to improper claim submission resulting in rejections and denials. Mental health service providers should consider outsourcing mental health billing services as it will save massive efforts and give them more time to provide care to the clients and grow their practice. 

Mental health billing is complex due to the various steps involved while submitting a claim. Behavioral and mental health billers must be highly skilled in understanding complex codes and modifiers and should know all the regulations to stay in compliance. There are multiple behavioral & mental health billing service providers in the market, and choosing the right partner depends on your need. But before choosing mental health billing service provider, consider these top 5 factors.

Services offered

Mental health billing is not restricted to adding codes and submitting claims to insurance payers. It involves many steps that need to be followed to get full reimbursement for the services offered. Companies that offer behavioral health billing provide end-to-end RCM solutions, and not all the services might be currently necessary for you. Answer the following questions to know what kind of services you need from the RCM partner.

What is the end goal of partnering with a mental health billing provider?

What is the specialization of the company you are considering partnering with?

Can the company cater to your requirements?

Are the benefits, time, and efforts aligned with your needs?

You should know the services of mental health billing companies before partnering with them. If you get answers to all these questions, you can partner with the company that meets your expectations. 

Cost

Hiring a highly skilled and experienced team in-house could be expensive. It demands a lot of time, effort, and cost investment. You should create a coding budget and partner with a firm that can provide you with the services within your budget. A few services could increase the cost of your billing and coding services. You should clarify the charges with the service providers the price before you start leveraging services from them.

Transparency

Timely and prompt decision-making is essential at the time of claim submission. But this does not mean the mental health billing company can make decisions without taking prior approvals from you. Mental health care providers should look for a transparent billing company while filling and submitting the claim. You do not need to micromanage any of the activities. All you need is to stay aware of the processes followed by the Medical billing company. You should know the claim's status and the reasons for delay or denial. A reliable mental and behavioral health billing partner will provide you detailed reports on the progress regularly and will take feedback on the new changes recommended to avoid denials. 

Security

Mental health billing is all about secure information and involves colossal revenue. If there is a minute security breach, it will lead to a huge money loss to the practice. Patient privacy is also a big concern for mental health care providers. Patients trust you with sensitive information, and their faith in you is essential. You should always search HIPPA-compliant companies as they will always provide high security and data protection to your practice. You should also stay compliant with government rules and regulations.

Credentials   

A strong recommendation from your fellow practice is convincing enough to partner with a mental and behavioral health billing service provider. But it is vital to verify all the company details, background, their numbers before deciding. Search whether the company complies with HIPPA, state, and federal regulations. Search for the answers to the following questions:

Does the mental health service provider do a self-audit?

What does the company do to educate its employees regularly?

Are the employees updated with current rules, regulations, and updates?

Your mental health billing partner should be capable of guiding financial and process development decision-making for the betterment of your practice.  

A mental health coding and billing provider is like a dedicated business partner who will make efforts to grow your practice like you do, ensuring your practice's success. When you trust a third-party mental health billing provider with sensitive information, you make them an integral part of your practice. The decision could impact your practice significantly, and you should take utmost care before taking a final call. 

[scottfeldberg]

How to State Budget Cuts On Affect Mental Health Medication Management?

Mental health is emotional or physiological wellbeing. Mental health illnesses are depression, anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. However, mental health is a taboo subject. In fact, there are many who believe that one can cure mental health without the help of a psychiatrist or psychologist. Moreover, there are many who live in denial of mental illness. In such circumstances, state budget cuts seem to add more fuel to the fire. Let us understand these budget cuts and their impact on Mental Health Medication Management In detail in this blog.

What Is Mental Health Medical Billing? Billing Services for Mental Health Providers consist of Billing Codes for Mental Health. The insurance company reimburses a psychiatrist for their services on the basis of the codes. The coders have a thorough knowledge of the Mental Health Code of Practice. These codes are the basis for reimbursements from insurance companies.

Why Is the Mental Health Code Of Practice More Complex Than Medical Billing?

Psychiatry Medical Billing is much more complex than other medical billing. Below are a few major reasons why it is so: Different Ways of Treatment The methods of treatment by mental health providers are different. Some treat their patients with medicines while some with therapy and meditation while others with both. This is quite different from medical billing where the work is more streamlined and standard.

Time Period of Treatment Not Fixed The time doctors take to treat the patient is never fixed. Even though there are some insurance companies that limit the number of treatments in a week. It is not a standard format. On top of it, it is not so easy to determine mental health lengths as compared to medical health. This leads to less remuneration or even rejection of the mental health-based claims.

Inability to Take Pre Authorization It is very difficult to take preauthorization from patients because most of the patients that visit are out of network.

Insurance Companies Do Not Cover Patients Sufficiently As per a 2019 blog of the National Alliance of mental health insurance companies do not cover mental health patients adequately. This makes Psychiatry Medical Billing more difficult to handle than regular medical billing.

Dearth of Staff The usual norm is that medical practitioners have a staff that deals with the patient query and follow up with insurance companies for reimbursements, patients, and the medical coder if necessary. However, mental health practitioners usually work alone or in partnerships. Therefore they do not keep a lot of staff to handle such queries.

Limits on Service What Is The State Budget Cut? State budget cuts are a reduction of funds for providers of mental health. The reduction of State spending has started to influence the psychological medical care administrations in many states. As per a review, states have cut more than $1.6 billion in overall funds in the financial years 2009 through 2012. This trend has continued since 2009 till date. Even in 2020, amid the pandemic, there was a cut on a youth program mental health. The state has also axed the budget for children’s mental health programs.

What Are The Effects Of State Budget Cuts On Mental Health Practitioners? Due to economic depression, the budget kept for mental health care has been cut. That means the doctors will not get the actual amount for the services they provide. This means the doctor will have to incur the loss or the patient will have to bear the expenses. If the patient is not in a position to bear the expenses he or she may avoid taking the treatment. In all the above three scenarios either the patient or provider is at loss.

How Can A Behavioral Health Biller Come To The Rescue? The present circumstance is disturbing for mental medical services experts. It is so because they need to zero in on persistent consideration to get legitimate repayments from insurance companies. This is not their actual body of work. A Mental Health Billing Services provider is the fitting entity for this job. They can help them to get the claim payments from insurance companies with ease.

Why Choose Legion Healthcare as Your Mental Health Insurance Billing Partner? Long and Successful Track Record of Work Legion health care has done Billing for Mental Health Services for a long period of time. That is why we have become one of the prominent Mental Health Insurance Billing Service providers.

Follow All Guidelines Our Mental Health Billing Specialist makes sure to adhere to all the guidelines of HIPPA and other important laws that concern the mental health field.

Competent Charges Our charges are very competent. We have done mental health billing for hospitals as well as newly come up mental practices.

Increase in Revenue We help medical practices to get Reimbursement for Mental Health Services. On the other hand, the staff at the practices can focus on their core job to bring in more appointments and serve their patients better. All this leads to revenue growth for the mental health practice.