What is Holistic Medicine?

Holistic medicine aims to treat and heal the whole person – mind, body, and spirit. It goes beyond just treating symptoms to get at the root causes of illness and disease.

Holistic medicine includes both standard medical practices like drugs and surgery plus complementary healing approaches like acupuncture, massage, nutrition counseling, meditation, and more. The goal is to stimulate the body’s natural ability to heal itself.

Some common holistic practices that aim to treat the whole person include:

• Acupuncture – thin needles inserted in strategic points on the body to rebalance energy
• Biofeedback – using the mind to control body functions like heart rate
• Herbal medicine – plant-based preparations prescribed to treat conditions
• Homeopathy – highly diluted doses of substances that trigger the body to heal itself
• Massage therapy – hands-on manipulation of muscles and tissues
• Meditation – practices to calm the mind and reduce stress
• Nutrition counseling – advice on optimal diets to treat conditions
• Physical therapy – exercises and techniques to improve mobility and reduce pain

Holistic practitioners come from many backgrounds like medical doctors (MDs), doctors of osteopathy (DOs), naturopathic doctors (NDs), chiropractors, acupuncturists, physical therapists, nurses, physician assistants, massage therapists, nutritionists and more. They incorporate both standard and holistic approaches in their treatment plans.

Why Billing for Holistic Services is So Challenging

Many holistic services are not covered by insurance, especially government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Most insurance plans only cover standard medical approaches.

This makes it super challenging for holistic practitioners to sustain a business when much of their work is not reimbursed.

Some specific billing challenges holistic providers face include:

• Many holistic CPT codes are not recognized by insurance companies. For example, codes for homeopathy, energy medicine, or certain exercise therapies.
• Insurance typically doesn’t cover nutrition counseling, supplements, probiotics, and other natural remedies. But these are core parts of a holistic healing approach.
• Insurers bundle payments, so you can’t charge separately for each holistic modality used to treat a patient.
• Holistic visits often last 60-90 minutes to fully assess the whole person. But insurance only reimburses for short, symptom-focused visits.
• Getting credentials and privileges from each insurance company is hugely time consuming for holistic practitioners.

To actually get paid for their services, holistic providers end up charging fees out-of-pocket. But this limits who can access their services. Many people simply can’t afford to pay cash for ongoing holistic treatments that insurance won’t cover.

Read Also:- Top Chiropractic Billing Mistakes Crushing Your Revenue

How Holistic Billing Services Can Help

A holistic billing service understands the nuances of getting holistic approaches reimbursed. They maximize payouts from both private insurance and government payers.

Here’s how a holistic billing service makes the process smoother for holistic providers:

• Credentialing – They handle the tedious credentialing process to get holistic practitioners set up with each insurance company. This allows providers to bill insurance directly.
• Coding expertise – They know which holistic codes have the best chance of getting approved for reimbursement. And they advise how to code so services aren’t rejected or unfairly down-coded.
• Bundling codes – Rather than charging separately for each healing method, they bill using package codes that better fit how insurance bundles payments.
• Appealing denials – They tenaciously appeal any denied claims and explain the medical necessity of holistic services for that patient’s condition.
• Coordinating benefits– If patients have both private insurance and Medicare/Medicaid, they coordinate payments between the two for holistic services.
• Verifying eligibility – They verify each patient’s coverage details upfront, so the provider only performs covered holistic services.

Questions to Ask Prospective Holistic Billing Services

Not all medical billing services truly understand the nuances of holistic medicine reimbursement. When researching companies, here are some very important questions for holistic providers to ask:

• How familiar are you with billing for holistic CPT codes and getting holistic modalities packaged for reimbursement?
• What success rate do you have appealing denials of holistic medicine claims with insurance companies?
• How do you efficiently handle credentialing for holistic providers across multiple insurance companies?
• Can you provide references from other holistic medicine practitioners you currently work with?
• Do you have real experience billing both insurances for a wide variety of holistic services?
• For what holistic modalities have you had the most success getting reimbursed by insurance plans?
• Realistically, what percentage of my holistic services can I expect you to get reimbursed by insurance companies?
• How quickly can you credential me with both private insurance plans and government payers?
• What is your billing fee structure? Do you charge a monthly fee, percentage of claims, or use a hybrid model?
• Is there a long-term contract lock-in or can I cancel anytime if unsatisfied?

The right holistic billing company will have extensive experience getting diverse holistic treatments reimbursed by both private insurance and government payers.

They should offer flexible billing options tailored to holistic providers and deliver a high rate of successful claim reimbursements. With the right partner, holistic practitioners can focus fully on providing quality care while the billing experts handle getting them paid.

We are Here to Help!

Olympus Billing specializes in medical billing services for holistic health practitioners. We currently work with over 100 holistic providers across the U.S. Our team of holistic billing experts achieves a high reimbursement success rate across various insurance claims. We handle credentialing, optimal coding, appealing unfair denials – everything holistic practitioners need to get reimbursed for their healing work. We even offer a 30 day free trial so you can experience our holistic billing services first-hand. To learn more and get a custom quote tailored to your holistic practice, contact us today. Our dedicated holistic billing services can help take your practice to the next level.