The Hybrid eAssister-What is it like?
Below is an explanation of what it is like to be a “hybrid eAssister” and work multiple jobs.
By: Yvonne Reid, Account Manager
Don’t hate me because I make the top 6 on the leaderboards, instead I will share great tips I have learned to help get you on there too. I am the AM for only one office but that is because I also work full-time at an endo office. I wanted to pay off my debt quicker and found eAssist to be the perfect part-time job. It is the best of both worlds, I don’t feel I neglect my family since I work from home, plus I can still get out, get dressed up and meet new people!
My employer has considered retirement at some point so eAssist will be the perfect transition for me. Right now I find waking up and calling on claims as my first morning task to be the most efficient. I allow myself a half an hour to call on as many claims as I can. The insurance reps are friendly and not worn out yet and wait times are minimal. I sometimes find myself saying, call on one more, just one more, and oftentimes I do work 45 minutes instead of 30. I still leave time to walk my dogs before leaving for my full-time job. When I get home at night, I run my reports and submit my daily reports. Total eAssist working time is 45 minutes to 1 hour a day.
I complete these tasks in 4 days and have Fridays to run errands and do housework. I also use Fridays as a day to call insurance companies that are closed when I call Monday-Thursday early am. Don’t forget that Cigna reps are available 24/7 so sometimes I can even check on one on a Saturday or Sunday!
My first choice for claims submission is always electronic claims submission but it is not the fastest because it is still a third party. I love it when I call to check status on a Delta Dental of Virginia claim and find they don’t have it. I eagerly submit it via their portal and most times it is instantly processed giving me an eob but no check number. What a time saver! I also utilize the Metlife phone submission and speed-eclaims on United Concordia! I also like to fax in a claim using efax secure and have had reps give me their direct fax number and wait on the line while I send it to them!
When submitting claims electronically, I always run a report prior to sending them. This alerts me if I forgot a zipcode, need a payer ID, or a group number. It is so much easier to correct the claim before it is sent to the exchange. I love when I see no rejects! I also find that submitting dual insurance electronically is not the best option for me. Even though I input the secondary information I find some insurance companies still want a copy of the eob. If it is submitted via NEA, I oftentimes still have to call to alert the insurance company to find it and then my claim gets processed. I usually mail my secondary claims with a copy of the eob and find this works quickest. When sending a medical claim for a trauma case and the insurance company allows me to use a dental claim, I mail those too as they want a report of the incident and a copy of x-rays. I mail everything together (print out the x-ray) and this too seems to process quicker than submitting electronically.
Appeals and corrections seem to be the real claim agers. Submitting the appeal the same day you receive the eob as well as sending it to the correct appeals address is a time saver.
For exam and x-ray duplicates, call in as a correction instead of mailing it on an eob. If a general dentist submits a limited exam on the same day, most insurance companies will gladly reprocess these immediately, especially if it was their error.
Some days I want to quit my full-time job and work only for eAssist especially when my commute takes 2 hours instead of the usual hour or if I have an especially bothersome patient to deal with. But for now I enjoy being a hybrid and will look forward to bumping you out of first place on the leaderboard! Hah!
