How Andre Stores EOBs Outside Eaglesoft
Prior to the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act) signed into law on December 13, 2016, many people recommended storing Explanation of Benefits statements (EOBs) in the SmartDoc of Each Patient. In many cases, slicing up a bulk payment EOB multiple time.
When I started in dentistry, we stored EOBs first, in a file drawer group by the date they were processed in Eaglesoft, then as we transitioned to a Chartless office, we stored them electronically. Not in the Patient’s record but in an electronic “file drawer” group by the date they were processed in Eaglesoft. No different in the overall processes just in the place the documents were stored.
To reference the EOB in the future all you need to do is “pull” the EOB from the Server. Say, you need a June 15th EOB, open the June folder on the server and look for EOBs named 2023_06_15. Like the old days of paper EOBs in a file folder. I also go a step further by using Admin Statement Notes when posting the EOB (i.e. didn't pay for fluoride based on age. That Admin Statement Note reflects when the Processing "issues" were so it’s a line item in your Account and on the Statement.
With the advent of Optical Character Recognition (OCR), you may be able to do a “search” of your scanned EOBs by name, date, or other information on the EOB. Be aware, the OCR “searchable” text is actually sitting on a separate layer within the PDF file, which increases in size of the file OCR adds between 1 and 5% to the total size of the source file if the source file is scanned in black and white according to Adobe.
Once Scanned, I wait 24 hours (to make sure the database is backed up) then I would shred the original EOBs. Future access to the EOB is also not always guaranteed. Sometimes, outside participation in a network or if an insurance carrier has initiated and audit or the office is under review the access to that EOB can be hindered. Remember that the records retention requirements of the practice and is not the responsibility of the Insurance Carrier. In many cases, Insurance Carriers are only required to keep EOBs for up to two years.
The final step in the process is as Payments are posted to the Account a Amin Note MUST be posted with any situation that deviates from a full payment as estimated. I kept track of one Insurance’s Policy IF Mapping codes and used those to create Admin Autonotes that are posted in conjunction with posting EOBs. Ther is also an option to mark the note so that it appears on the next Statement.
If you make a Note to Display Note on Statement, it will show in the body of the statement, but the Statement format will only allow up to 65 characters (The character counts include commas, spaces, periods, etc.).
Examples:
108 - We are unable to establish the patient's eligibility.
Admin Autonote: No COVERAGE WAS FOUND FOR YOUR LAST VISIT. Please call us ASAP
206 - According to the enrollee's program, this procedure is a covered benefit only after a contractual waiting period has ended.
Admin Autonote: Because of your WAIT PERIOD, part of your visit was not covered
FLY - We have applied an alternate benefit.
Admin Autonote: White fillings DENIED by insurance. The balance is yours to pay.
More details on Statement Notes are here: https://www.thecrewprocess.com/eaglesoft-blog/statementnotes
DISCLAIMER:
This is a resource guide and all decisions on each dental office setup should remain the sole decision of the dentist/owner of the practice. Eaglesoft is a registered trademark of Patterson Dental Company. All other software or products mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Although Andre Shirdan was an employee of Patterson Dental, he is not associated with Eaglesoft or Patterson Dental Company or endorsed by Patterson or any other Company Mentioned in this blog
