How to Set Up a Medical Massage Office With Insurance

As massage therapy gains wider acceptance as a treatment for everything from sports injuries to chronic illness, insurance companies are increasingly willing to pay for visits. Massage therapists need to take a few steps to prepare for insurance billing.

Things You'll Need

• Billing software
• Claim forms
• National Provider Identifier

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Instructions

• 1

  Get a National Provider Identifier. As part of the new regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), health-care providers need to use their unique identification number for financial transactions and insurance billing. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services assigns NPIs. Providers can apply on the department's website.

• 2

  Get billing software. Insurance billing uses standardized claim forms that require specific information. Claim forms must have the numeric code for the patient's diagnosis (called ICD9 codes) and numeric codes to describe the kind of treatment or therapy given (called CPT codes). The numbers and terminology can be daunting to a newcomer, but good software will help. Look for software designed specifically for massage offices so it's preloaded with the correct CPT codes for various techniques. Massage Office Professional is one of the widely available software programs.

• 3

  Get an instruction manual or take an insurance-billing class. A user-friendly software program might take much of the mystery out of the insurance-billing process. However, various classes and books offer valuable tips for navigating the world of medical insurance.

• 4

  Consider outsourcing. Large medical offices hire full-time staff members to handle their insurance billing. Massage therapists often do their own billing. Billing services are a third option. Some services have secure servers that allow therapists to enter their notes and billing information online. The billing company then processes the insurance claims.