Chiropractic Office Billing Software and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) in New Jersey (Interview

Barry Fredson has been practicing law for nearly four decades. His office specializes in collecting Personal Injury Protection Benefits (PIP) for medical providers in the State of New Jersey. Last week, we had a chance to speak with him.

Question: What is Personal Injury Protection?

Barry Fredson: The system as established in New Jersey requires that providers of medical benefits to those injured in automobile accidents are paid promptly and according to a fee schedule. The concept is excellent however, insurance companies tend to delay and deny payments.

Question: Is it difficult to get paid?

Barry Fredson: Insurance companies are in the actuarial business. Accordingly, the longer they keep the provider’s payment, or the more obstacles they create to avoid full payment, the better it works for the insurance company. To counter these tactics medical providers need the assistance of counsel who understands insurance company procedures and can efficiently resolve medical provider’s claims.

Question: Is it better to not treat accident victims and avoid these problems?

Barry Fredson: Definitely not. My office processes thousands of these claims for dozens of medical providers in the State of New Jersey. The claims are processed efficiently and promptly taking full advantage of shared distributed computing platform.

Question: Will using the services of your law firm increase any provider’s costs?

Barry Fredson: No. The Personal Injury Protection Law is structured so that when medical providers are not paid within 60 days of submission of their bill, the insurance carrier who has denied/delayed payment is required to pay the attorney’s fee. There is never an additional charge to the medical providers.

Question: What makes Personal Injury Protection Benefits different from other claims?

Barry Fredson: From the provider’s point of view, there is no difference. The legislature has created a formal arbitration system for PIP claims. Although this a technical area of the law, and the insurance companies have highly trained lawyers and claims adjusters who look for minor errors or non-complete submissions, we use a combination of doctor’s notes, supplemental documentation and certifications to eliminate insurance company objections and prevail in this lucrative but complex area of medical reimbursement.

Question: Do I need any particular volume of claims or any particular specialty to take advantage of this lucrative area?

Barry Fredson: No. Many providers of services to accident victims from small chiropractic offices to hospitals, diagnostic facilities, surgery centers, orthopedists, neurologist, chiropractors, physical therapist, pharmacists, and other providers, all can take advantage of this lucrative area of reimbursement.

Question: How do I take advantage of your service?

Barry Fredson: By using Vericle—Billing Precision’s unique integrated revenue cycle management platform with built in controls and accountability, you are on the way. Our staff would interface directly with Vericle and you would be kept notified in the usual efficient manner used by Billing Precision’s services.

Yuval Lirov, PhD, author of "Practicing Profitability - Network Effect for Revenue Cycle Control in Healthcare Clinic and Chiropractic Office: Scheduling, SOAP Notes, Care Plans, Coding, Billing, Collections, and Audit Risk" (Affinity Billing) and "Mission Critical Systems Management" (Prentice Hall), inventor of patents in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Security, and CEO of Vericle.net - Distributed Billing and Practice Management Technologies. Yuval invites you to register to the next webinar on audit risk at BillingPrecision.com.