In September, the Chiropractic Office Billing Precision Index (BPI) gained 2 points above its August mark. Overall, September BPI reached 21.2 under-performing the national average of 17.7 by 3.5, and 5.7 points away from its best record of 15.5 in March of 2008.

Keeping one hundred percent of its August membership unchanged, three members of the September index, changed positions. Specifically, while BCBS Illinois and CIGNA retained their top first and second positions respectively, Medicare Illinois and Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey each upgraded their positions, pushing United Healthcare down two levels to the fifth position.

Billing Precision Index 21.2 - September 2008

1. Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois 7
2. CIGNA 13.6
3. Medicare Illinois 13.8 (up from #4)
4. Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey 14.6 (up from #5)
5. United Healthcare 16.27 (dropped from #3)
6. Aetna 22.1
7. Medicare New Jersey 28.9
8. Blue Cross Blue Shield South Carolina 40
9. Medicare South Carolina 49
10. Medicare Indiana 62

BPI = 21.2 means that the average of ten top performing payers, used by the patients of Billing Precision providers, reached 21.2% of Accounts Receivable beyond 120 days.

Note that an insurer can turn a profit even if the cost of administration and insurance claims exceeds the premiums it collects. It does so by investing income on the float in stocks and bonds between the time when a client pays a premium and the time when the client needs payment for his or her medical expenses. For instance, Aetna (number six on BPI of September 2008), taking advantage of the float, earned about 7% net interest income on the premiums, bringing its total profit margin to around 14% (ignoring taxes and other revenue sources).

BPI is one of the few important billing performance characteristics because it approximates the proportion of claims that are never paid. It is also a key billing transparency instrument, which allows the practice owner to see both the big picture of office billing and its position within the national average.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yuval_Lirov