What is the toughest part about your role as Clinical Director?
Davey: Documentation. No clinician likes to do documentation. I think that Illuminate has done tremendous things for us in that regard - in helping us train us in what is needed in the documentation. Documenting medical necessity. It's necessary. It's important in today's insurance climate. It's hard for us as clinicians to do because we naturally want to look for what our clients are progressing with in terms of their achievements - what they're doing well. So sometimes it's counterintuitive for us to look at reasons why they need to remain in treatment, and to document those things. Illuminate has been very helpful to us in making sure that we know what is needed in our documentation. That's a challenge for us.
What is your relationship like with Illuminate?
Davey: The first thing that pops into my mind is how kind they've been in their training. When they've taken time to say, "Look, your documentation is great... it's always there...however..." [Laughs] "There are some things that need to be modified a little bit" "Let's try to do this..." and "Here are some ideas, here are some suggestions." They've always been very genuine and very kind in how they've trained us. They've done a tremendous job in helping us understand what is needed in the documentation to make sure we have what's required for medical necessity.
Have you ever used a different billing company?
Davey: There have been several different billing companies that I've been involved with in my career. I've been involved with in my career. I would say what I think makes the difference is their investment in us. They want us to succeed. They're willing to go above and beyond what other companies have ever been willing to do to make sure that we are successful. Like I said, with training and things like that. That's beyond the scope of what that. That's beyond the scope of what a typical billing company would do, aside from what they would normally do at the outset. I think being a team player, being invested in us, being invested in our success is what really sets them aside. In addition to that, being willing to dig deep in going after payments that other billing companies just chalk off because it requires more work. It requires more effort on their part. And they're not afraid to put the time in to go after insurance payments that we should get. They're willing to put in the extra work to do that. In addition to that, Illuminate has clinicians that work for the company, so they understand clinical language. They understand clinical jargon. They know how to talk to the insurance companies in a language they understand. So they're able to go after the payments in a way other companies aren't able to.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about switching their billing to Illuminate?
Davey: Switch. Just do it. You'll be happy that you did. I haven't heard anybody that wasn't happy they made the switch. And I've talked to several people that have been very happy... as recent as last week. So....yeah, just make the switch. You'll be glad you did.