Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois replaced Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan on the Chiropractic Office Billing Software Precision Index (BPI). Overall, August 2007 BPI dropped 5% from its July mark, bringing the index down from 12.1 to 17.1, just 0.6% above the national average of 17.7%. BCBS MI left its lead position last month and dropped the index entirely. August BPI replaced two chiropractic billing index participants on the list of top ten performers. BPI guides chiropractic office managers and helps the development of both chiropractic office billing software and billing performance standards.
BPI = 17.1 means that the average of ten top performing payers working with Billing Precision clients have 17.1% of Accounts Receivable beyond 120 days. BPI is a key billing performance characteristic, as it is a proxy of the claims that are never paid. Obviously, the lower is the index the better is billing performance. The table below also lists the top ten performing payers and their relative index as recorded in the Billing Precision's system.
Billing Precision Index 17.1
Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois 10 (down from 7.1 in July)
Aetna 12.7 (down from 8.8 in July)
United Healthcare 11.3 (up from 18.4 in July)
Medicare New Jersey 13.3 (down from 7.5 in July)
Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey 15.3 (up from 18 in July)
CIGNA 16.4 (down from 8.9 in July)
Blue Cross Blue Shield Georgia 22.9
Blue Cross Blue Shield Pennsylvania 28.3 (down from 17.2 in July)
Blue Cross Blue Shield South Carolina 34.1 (down from 17.1 in July)
Medicaid Illinois 36.7
August BPI dropped two participants since July:
Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan 3.6
Medicare Illinois 16.2
August BPI added two new participants since July:
Blue Cross Blue Shield Georgia 22.9
Medicaid Illinois 36.7
Six payers lowered their index in July while keeping the index membership:
Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois 10 (down from 7.1 in July)
Aetna 12.7 (down from 8.8 in July)
Medicare New Jersey 13.3 (down from 7.5 in July)
CIGNA 16.4 (down from 8.9 in July)
Blue Cross Blue Shield Pennsylvania 28.3 (down from 17.2 in July)
Blue Cross Blue Shield South Carolina 34.1 (down from 17.1 in July)
Two payers improved their August ranking since July:
United Healthcare 11.3 (up from 18.4 in July)
Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey 15.3 (up from 18 in July)
Coverage
BPI is rule-based, i.e., payer participation in the index is defined by dynamically rules at the time of computation and not by a static listing of specific payers. Therefore, any specific payer may start or discontinue participation in the index, dependent on satisfaction of rule's conditions.
Current selection of payers for participation in the BPI is based on one hundred top-volume providers and all payers across all United States that have processed more than six hundred claims through Billing Precision services. This inclusion rule is superior to the previous rule because of broader coverage on the one hand and more conservative value on the other hand.
Update Cycle
BillingPrecision.com updates BPI on a monthly basis.
Volume Weighting
BPI is volume weighted, which is important to accommodate future growth of provided information, index combinations, and sensitivity across multiple indices.
Information Provided
BPI computes the percent of Accounts Receivable beyond 120 days. Note that national average across all medical specialties of percent of accounts receivable beyond 120 days is 17.7%.
Summary
Chiropractic Office Billing Software Performance Index helps the development of both chiropractic office billing software and billing performance standards. Chiropractic office managers can use the index to benchmark their billing performance and guide its improvement over time. Rule-based index definition allows for automated inclusion and exclusion of payers in the index based on payer attributes, such as numbers of processed claims, accounts receivable distribution, certain mix of CPT codes, or patient demographics.
By: Yuval Lirov
