Common Pitfalls
By Catherine Hirsh

Here are seven tips that will help speed the accurate and timely payment of your claim:

Ensure that all patient information is correct—legal name (no nicknames), correct address, SSN and DOB.
Any attachments submitted with the claim must clearly show patient information that matches the information on the claim.
Align your claim form in your printer so that all data is printed in the proper fields.
Print your claim with a legible font and make sure that the print is not too light. This improves accurate reading of the data as it passes through optical scanners.
Use caution when marking text with highlighters; dark-colored highlighters tend to distort or black out text images.
Claims and attachments should not be torn, taped or have bent pages.
Do not staple or place paper clips on the pages.