Understanding Write-Offs in Imaging Center Billing

In the complex world of imaging center billing, understanding different components is crucial for managing the financial aspects of your practice. One such component is “write-off”.
A write-off is an amount an imaging center decides not to collect from a patient or insurer, removing it from their list of expected payments. This usually happens when the amount cannot be collected for distinct reasons which we have discussed below.

Collecting accurate payments from insurance and patients is crucial for an imaging practice's financial health. Despite their best efforts, imaging practices sometimes need to write off amounts. Here are some common reasons for write-offs:

1) Mandatory/necessary/ approved write-offs:

You need to provide these write-offs as part of your imaging center’s financial rules or per the terms of the contract with the payer or patients.

2) Contractual write-offs:

According to your contract with the payer, each procedure code has a set dollar amount known as an allowable fee. Regardless of how much you charge for the imaging services, the insurance company will only pay this allowable fee. The remaining balance is marked as a contractual write-off.

3) Charity write-offs:

This kind of write-off depends on your imaging center’s overall philosophy. Some imaging centers define it as financial assistance towards the community or a financial assistance program. You need to have clear guidelines about what falls under charity write-offs so that your imaging center billing team can account for them without any confusion.

4) Small balance write-offs:

As the name suggests, you can go for small balance write-offs when the balance is too low to raise an invoice. For example, if the balance is only $6, mailing or calling a patient or their insurance company to remind them would be a lot of effort. In such cases, the imaging center billing team often writes off such an amount. Your imaging center billing team can add that amount to a patient’s next visit.

5) Promotional write-offs:

To encourage payment at the time of visit, some imaging centers opt for promotional write-offers. Such write-offs can be a financial help for patients with no active insurance coverage.

The write-offs mentioned above are either part of your imaging center’s contractual agreement or philosophy. However, there are times where write-offs are caused in your imaging center billing due to inefficiencies and these write-offs damage your overall practice revenue.

Write-offs caused by imaging center billing inefficiencies:

• Uncredentialed write-offs are common in imaging center practice when a provider is not approved by a payer, so the payer does not cover the cost. This means the practice must write off the amount, even if the patient has active insurance. Imaging center billing team usually collects insurance details beforehand and inform patients if their payers do not cover certain services.

• Timely filing write-offs happen when charges are submitted after a payer's deadline. Medicare requires claims within 12 months, Medicaid rules vary, and commercial payers often have tight limits, typically around three months. Missing these deadlines results in denied claims and write-offs.

• Admin write-offs occur due to patient dissatisfaction and are approved by imaging center managers based on the situation. These write-offs are case-specific.

To avoid the bad write-offs mentioned above caused by imaging center billing inefficiencies, many imaging centers outsource their billing practice to professional third-party RCM companies. A professional billing partner knows how to streamline a perfect imaging center billing process to avoid any potential write-offs and other billing issues that eat up revenue.

If you are searching for a perfect outsourced billing partner, Sunknowledge can be the perfect destination. As a professional RCM expert with an experience of over 15 + years, Sunknowledge provides essential expertise and resources to help imaging practices minimize write-offs, adhere to payer guidelines, and maximize reimbursements.

If you want to know more about the end-to-end imaging center billing process, schedule a non-obligatory call with one of their RCM experts.