Physical Therapy Billing | Best Practices from Michael Walsh, PT

Michael Walsh, PT: I’m doing my documentation as I go. The hardest thing for me is if I become swamped or have a patient who just kind of shows up and they’re a new patient.

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I’ve got some establish patients here and stuff like that, I’ll make notes occasionally you know little range of motion things here and there but overall, if I have an established patient and their notes are already in the system, I can just plug in with the change. Did some of the treatment change? Maybe it did. Did their pain levels change? I hope so.

If certain things change, I may actually see I would…I can knock on a note for an established patient in probably 30 seconds. As I work I do my notes so I would say like on the hour, if I’m seeing, say I’m seeing two patients an hour, after I get them treated or doing some kind of exercise, I’ll knock out part of the note and then I’ll check the work bench.

With the insurance companies, I try to make sure I follow the rules to the T so at the end of the day, I get compensated and I stay compliant.

You guys call them with all the other stuff you know, why should I pay them? I don’t like this stuff, and for the most part I don’t want to hear from them.

Jason Barnes: Any chance you have a note that you need to complete right now?

Michael Walsh: You know it’s funny, while I was fooling around I just did my last note.

Jason Barnes: While you were here?

Michael Walsh: Yeah, while you guys were setting up. I did my last note then.

Jason Barnes: Can you give bestPT a rating right now.

Michael Walsh: It’s you know I’d say A+

I mean, its tough to find people who know how to do this stuff.

Having people on your payroll who call out sick, claims don’t go out. Phone calls don’t get made you know headaches, headaches, headaches.

You’re like me, where would you go? If I’m not getting paid, you’re not getting paid. If you’re not doing your job, I’m pissed off I mean its as simple as that.

You guys are a commission-based company so it forces you to do your job. Then you celebrate the 15th of the month, when that payment comes out. Seriously, that’s how it is.