Medical Billing Companies & Consultants in Camp Hill, PA

Based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, Velocity Medical Billing LLC serves behavioral health practices throughout central Pennsylvania, Harrisburg among them. The company limits itself to mental health billing and does not take on general medical accounts. Therapists, counselors and other mental health clinicians make up its client base, and the company's goal is to relieve them of the claims, paperwork and office tasks that compete with time spent treating patients.

Support From Intake to Reconciliation

Velocity's involvement begins before a client sees a new patient for the first time and ends only once insurer payments have been matched against what was billed. The company organizes this process into three phases: the initial phone contact from a prospective patient, the first session, and the period following payment by the insurance company. Tasks it handles include:

• Verifying a patient's coverage and benefits, and determining whether mental health care falls under the main medical plan or is administered by a separate carve-out company
• Identifying the patient's copay, coinsurance and deductible amounts, and whether the clinician participates in the relevant network
• Determining whether a payer requires prior authorization
• Recording patient demographics, insurance information and the services each clinician provided
• Filing claims, monitoring their status, and contacting payers to resolve denials or errors
• Examining explanation of benefits forms and remittance documents, applying payments to accounts, and refiling claims as necessary
• Preparing statements for patients and responding to their billing inquiries
• Supplying clinicians with periodic summaries of account activity

Why Mental Health Billing Is Different

Velocity maintains that billing for mental health care involves complications not found in other specialties. One example is a clinician who participates in an insurer's general medical network yet is out of network with the outside company the insurer uses to manage mental health coverage; Velocity says it screens for that situation. The company also points out that a growing number of insurers now demand advance approval for behavioral health care, and a claim submitted without required approval may never be paid. Many smaller practices lack dedicated administrative employees, according to the company, and that gap makes handing billing to an outside firm especially worthwhile for them.

Leadership and Qualifications

Jennifer heads the company. Her career in healthcare has included roles as a therapist, as a manager overseeing practice operations and revenue cycle, as a director of outreach and communications, and as a billing specialist. She brings over a decade of experience in mental health billing and practice operations. Her certifications include Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) through AHIMA, Certified Medical Reimbursement Specialist (CMRS) through the American Medical Billing Association, and Certified Professional Compliance Officer (CPCO) through AAPC. Academically, she has earned associate degrees in both health information management and occupational therapy, plus a bachelor's degree in communications from Penn State Harrisburg. Drawing on her familiarity with federal fraud-prevention guidance from the Office of Inspector General and with the HIPAA regulations governing patient records, she assists practices in satisfying government rules.

Pricing and Terms

According to Velocity, its services suit practices of nearly every size, solo practitioners included. Clients may pay for billing by the hour, by the claim, or through a share of the money collected, while compliance consulting carries an hourly rate. No long-term commitment is required, and every client gets a monthly report detailing the tasks completed on its behalf. Any work touching protected health information takes place within the United States, and the company states that it never assigns tasks to contractors overseas. Velocity adds that using an outside billing service can reduce what a practice spends on software and office equipment.