Unbilled Mental Health Services Due to Verification Delays

$1,000-1,400 per patient (45-60 min verification via VA phone lines + 40-50% risk of unbilled services due to authorization mismatch = $300-500 per patient uncollected); scales to $40,000-$60,000 monthly for 40-50 VA referral patient volume • $1,000-1,500 monthly from documentation follow-up, claims rework, and billing delays traced to incomplete records • $1,000-1,500 monthly from documentation gaps, billing adjustments, and session limit disputes

Billing specialist manually reviews intake notes and court referral letter; calls back to intake coordinator to confirm authorization; spreadsheet cross-check of court case number, authorization number, and payer; manual phone call to insurance if details missing • Billing specialist receives referral from intake; manually reviews school enrollment form and insurance card images; calls school billing department to confirm payer; spreadsheet of known school billing rules; WhatsApp with intake asking 'what payer did you put for this student?' • Case Manager manually calls EAP authorization lines; maintains handwritten notes of verification calls in patient chart; reliance on patient to self-report prior sessions or other providers; verbal communication with EAP recorded only in clinical notes, not in structured data