This article outlines the key policies and procedures for patient billing, insurance collection, appointment cancellations, and provider responsibilities.
Billing your patients
We have already collected insurance information and have a credit card on file before adding a new patient to your calendar. We handle the collection of all patient obligations (e.g., copays, coinsurance, and deductibles). Interest-free payment plans are available, upon patient request.
Rula recommends that providers always be transparent about billing their patients through Rula and/or their practice outside of Rula, documenting discussions as they arise.
Patient insurance and billing questions
If your patient has a question about billing, please have them contact support@pathccm.com.
Credit card charges
We charge the patient's card on file 1-2 days following the submission of your charge slip and before payer adjudication if they have a known copayment or coinsurance amount. A patient may have their credit card charged twice for a single visit. This may occur when the patient is first charged for a known visit copayment or coinsurance amount. After the insurance processing is complete additional patient obligation was determined (e.g., the balance was applied to the deductible).
Late cancellation and no-show policy
All patients sign Rula's 24-hour Cancellation and No-Show policy during registration (details here). This policy states that if a patient cancels within 24 hours of their appointment or is a no-show for their appointment, they will be charged the no-show fee on their credit card. In addition, clinicians must take the following steps when a patient is absent at the start of a scheduled appointment.
- At 3 minutes: Resend the link to the patient via email
- At 5 minutes: Call the patient
- After 15 minutes: Consider the patient a no-show
Once you've determined that the patient is a no-show, there are two things you'll need to do to be sure you are paid:
- Complete a Missed Appointment note with the outreach attempts listed above
- Mark the patient a no-show and that they should be charged
If a clinician enters a no-show as "no charge" due to their clinical discretion, the clinician will not be paid for the missed appointment.
Rula's Support team will manage any disputes or exceptions. Please direct the patient to contact Support at support@rula.com. Clinicians are not involved in decision-making around no-show fees once you have entered the Missed Appointment note in the chart. We'll take care of those details to ensure you can focus on the relationship with the patient.
Multiple sessions in one week
If your patient requests to see you more than once a week, you can do so if you deem it medically necessary for the patient's treatment. We recommend you check with Rula's Support Team to ensure they do not have a session limit before scheduling multiple weekly appointments. Please document the additional session's medical necessity in each note. Insurances only cover one psychotherapy session per day; do not bill back-to-back or multiple sessions on the same day.
Self-pay patients
You are welcome to use Rula tools and billing services for private pay or self-pay patients. Our private pay rate for patients is $225 for an initial session and $175 for follow-up sessions. You will be compensated for these visits at your contracted hourly rate.
Patients located outside of their home state
Generally speaking, you are only allowed to bill insurance if the patient is physically located in the state you are licensed. While we verify their location before ever scheduling them, it is best practice to ask where they are located at the start of every session. Suppose you have a continuity of care issue for a patient who has temporarily relocated to another state (e.g., less than 30 days). In that case, providers are expected to contact the appropriate licensing board in that state to determine if it is permissible to continue to provide services.
CPT codes
Please read this article for more information about CPT codes.
Diagnosis codes
When adding a diagnosis, please use F codes — Z codes are not reimbursed by insurance.
Provider no-show policy
Our goal is to provide world-class support and care for our patients. We collaborate with providers who contract with Rula to ensure our patients receive life-changing treatment. To confirm this, providers agree to the following:
- Please arrive on time for their appointments with patients.
- In case of an emergency, reach out to the patient directly and promptly to let them know about changes to the schedule.
- Align with the patient before making adjustments to the appointment time.
- Provide patients with at least 24 hours' notice of a cancellation or rescheduled appointment.
If we hear from a patient that a provider was late or missed their session, we will check in with them. However, after three instances of late cancellations, missed appointments, or tardiness, we will pause sending new patients to that provider until they have demonstrated the ability to arrive on time and communicate appropriately with patients.
For more information on our no-show policy, please read this article.
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