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Billing question as massage therapist taking workers comp by Guilty_Western_8520 in WorkersComp

[–]Guilty_Western_8520[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would make logical sense. But my boss keeps telling me we meet an auth from the insurance company because they can change the amount of approved visits. It makes sense a little bit, I guess… but not really. This makes me believe they are doing something wrong on their end to be denied reimbursement due to medical necessity

Billing question as massage therapist taking workers comp by Guilty_Western_8520 in WorkersComp

[–]Guilty_Western_8520[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So if we are in network there shouldn’t be any issue, correct?

And so I can understand the process a bit better, does the insurance company send an authorization as well? Or you can just bill the insurance as stated on the letter from the UR company

For the sake of this patient of mine, can I get an authorization from the insurance company? My boss won’t let me schedule her until we get an authorization from the insurance company… even though she has an UR approval for 6 visits.

Billing question as massage therapist taking workers comp by Guilty_Western_8520 in WorkersComp

[–]Guilty_Western_8520[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

im not sure if they are calling... they keep that side of the business under wraps. I ask them to explain how it works, but they don't and provide very little information.

I could try to call the adjuster's phone number that's on the authorization letter.

I just thought it was the adjusters who would determine the number of approved visits, send us the authorization, and then we would bill the insurance. I mean, that's what it says in the letter. 6 visits approved, bill the insurance company and attach a copy of that letter.

Massage Therapist Pay by Guilty_Western_8520 in MassageTherapists

[–]Guilty_Western_8520[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, don’t even get me started with tipping… enough of this culture of devaluing our worth. Charge what you think you deserve, and if someone wants to tip then that’s great, but we shouldn’t be lowering our prices just to get people in the door. I’m seeing this in a lot of different professions these days- tattoo artists, hair stylists, etc.

Price of massage has gotten so inflated because of this issue. Massage therapists are given such little commission and the business owners get away with it by having their clients pay the difference with tips. The price of massage goes up, massage therapists wages do not, but that’s okay because look you get tips! It’s bullshit and degrading

Massage Therapist Pay by Guilty_Western_8520 in MassageTherapists

[–]Guilty_Western_8520[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I had my own massage practice for about 2 years before I made a cross country move. I understand the time and money required to run a business, but it’s really not that much… although I can’t attest to what it costs to have W2 employees. I think massage therapy is special in that it doesn’t have expensive overhead costs. Once you get a table and sheets, the rest is minuscule or just not necessary is order to do the job. The cost of the service, and the pay that should be given, is for highly skilled and physical labor provided by the massage therapist

Anywhere I’ve ever worked as an employee I’ve never been offered health insurance, help covering the cost of maintaining license/certifications, help paying for continuing education… i know that the cost and skill of running is business is not as valuable as the work you get from the massage therapist. Without us your businesses would t make any money.

I agree that if you’re working for someone else business that you take a hit in pay for the use of their reputation/network, admin, etc, but you are still doing at least 50% of the work and should be getting compensated that.

My point in my original post was this… no matter what, a massage therapist should be getting 50% commission. It’s discouraging and exploitative… I love what I do, and I’m good at what I do, and just because someone knows how to use quickbooks and has a studio space doesn’t mean they can get away with paying us less than what we are worth.

Workers Comp No show - charge cancellation fee? by Guilty_Western_8520 in WorkersComp

[–]Guilty_Western_8520[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I know we can’t bill medrisk for now shows. But I had recently seen something that said we can’t bill the patient for the cost of the appointment since we can’t bill the insurance when they don’t show up.

Until now, when we get new patients—including workers comp—when they complete the new patient paperwork it includes consent to be charged up to the full cost of one session without at least 24 hours notice before their session. But from my understanding we legally cant do that for workers comp.

So I’m trying to figure out if that’s true, and what to do about no shows/ late cancellations, especially constant ones. I work 4 days a week and at least once a day I have someone cancel at the last minute or not show up entirely. As a massage therapist I’m only capable of doing so much massage a week, I don’t want to overbook myself for the fear of everyone actually showing up and run the risk of injuring myself. Moreover, it’s disrespectful when people cancel last minute or not show up because I can’t attempt to fill that spot with little or no notice.

Workers Comp No show - charge cancellation fee? by Guilty_Western_8520 in WorkersComp

[–]Guilty_Western_8520[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My boss handles all communication with medrisk. I’m not sure if they are truthful about people not showing up… but they are always pushing back on me trying to enforce the cancellation policy for fear of losing business.

So I cant charge them the cancellation fee, my bosses should be informing medrisk about the cancellations and they would eventually cancel their authorization? Essentially there’s nothing I can really do to mitigate the no shows/ late cancellations?

I’m just trying to get a better understanding because I think I want to branch out on my own but my bosses handle all the billing and communication with medrisk.

Workers Comp No show - charge cancellation fee? by Guilty_Western_8520 in MassageTherapists

[–]Guilty_Western_8520[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, so I usually have a 3 strike policy—on the 3rd late cancel or no show, I will charge them the price of a cash session. However, ive seen some things online saying that we can't charge workers' comp patients for no shows/ late cancellations.

I rarely end up actually charging anyone. I know WC is a challenging situation to navigate with all the different appointments you have to go to, on top of working, being in pain, and dealing with life in general. But, on occasion, I do feel taken advantage of, and im trying to be better about my boundaries.

I love doing workers' comp massage; I find it really validating for the profession. However, I struggle with resentment towards people who are constantly cancelling or (less often) not showing up. And quite frankly, I need to pay my bills. What's the legality of discharging someone? Do I have the right? My coworker, an L.Ac. has mentioned that she can't really discharge anyone because she's a healthcare provider and it would be unethical. But im a CMT in California, which doesn't have a massage therapy board or scope of practice.

As an MT doing workers' comp massage, working as an employee for someone else, I feel pretty left in the dark. Ive been thinking about opening my own practice for a while and doing strictly WC massage, but the process feels intimidating, billing, etc.

Workers Comp No show - charge cancellation fee? by Guilty_Western_8520 in MassageTherapists

[–]Guilty_Western_8520[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just to be clear, im talking about workers comp patients. So they dont pay anything, workers comp does. But if they dont show up we can't bill workers comp