Participate in AMA provider survey on use of virtual payments

Friday, April 17, 2015 02:26 PM
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To support ongoing advocacy efforts on provider payment issues, the American Medical Association (AMA), American Dental Association (ADA) and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) are conducting a provider survey seeking information regarding health plan usage of virtual credit cards and Automated Clearing House Electronic Funds Transfers (ACH EFT).

Similar to Direct Deposit offered by many employers, ACH EFT is a standard form of payment that enables health plans to deposit claims payments directly into a provider’s designated bank account. Due to a federal regulation under the Affordable Care Act, all health plans are required to offer claims payments via ACH EFT upon provider request and may not incentivize the use of nonstandard payment methodologies such as virtual credit cards.

The AMA, ADA and MGMA have been growing increasingly concerned that some entities are charging excessive fees for these payments or are issuing “virtual” credit cards (VCCs) instead of ACH EFT for payments. VCCs have become increasingly utilized by health plans and some vendors and involve sending to the provider practice (via fax, mail, or email) a single use number that needs to be keyed into a credit card point of sale system in order to receive contractual payments. This payment methodology, which is often implemented without provider notification or choice, results in lost revenue and increased administrative burden for practices.

The survey should take no more than five minutes to complete and will strengthen ongoing efforts to protect provider interests surrounding electronic claims payments. The survey will remain open until May 8. Click here to take the survey or enter this URL into your browser: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H2Q9NTN.


Posted in: LiveWire | Practice Management | Coding and Billing | Initiatives | AMA
 

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