The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs took another step Thursday in helping Arkansas health care providers receive millions of dollars in payments for treating VA patients.
At Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, five VA employees sat behind computers scattered around a large meeting room. During hour-long appointments with representatives from 36 health care facilities, the employees answered questions and tracked the progress of the providers' outstanding claims, some of which were up to three years old.
The bigger purpose behind Thursday's workshop was to build a better relationship between providers and the people who process their claims, said Holly Shryock, the VA regional officer overseeing the state's claims processing.
"I think it's very beneficial for everybody here to sit with somebody, hands on, face to face," Shryock said. "We have work to do. I think they have work to do. We can both gain a lot from this."
The workshop was part of an effort started in April, when U.S. Sen. John Boozman's office invited Arkansas health care providers to meet with VA officials and air their problems with processing claims. At that meeting, Paul Cunningham, executive vice president of the Arkansas Hospital Association, announced that about 35 hospitals he surveyed had a total 4,400 unpaid claims worth an estimated $24 million.
The lack of payment has caused at least one Arkansas provider to deny care to VA patients.
In April, health care providers cited various problems with working with claims processors, including being placed on hold for long periods of time when calling about the status of a claim and being told medical records they sent in had never been received.
On Wednesday, Boozman's office emailed the state's health care providers with a list of actions the federal VA completed as a result of the April meeting. Among other things, a national call center was piloted and the VA re-educated its staff on handling and scanning medical records.
"I've heard there have been improvements -- not by leaps and bounds -- but there have been improvements," said Anita Deason, Boozman's military and veterans liaison.
Shryock said the improvements have been "massive" in the past two years, during which the number of claims going through the system has multiplied. To cut wait times at VA clinics and medical centers, the department has allowed more veterans to seek outside care.
Claims are filed by health care providers seeking reimbursement for care that they provide to VA patients. A VA patient may receive care at a non-VA facility in emergency cases when a VA hospital can't be reached in time; if VA facilities can't treat the patient in a timely manner; or if the patient needs a specialist that the VA hospital does not have on staff.
Most claims from Arkansas hospitals are sent to the South Central VA Health Care Network, which is based in Pearl, Miss. That office decides whether to approve them.
In January 2014, only 26 percent of the claims being processed out of the South Central VA network were "current," meaning they were less than 30 days old, Shryock said. As of Thursday, almost 73 percent of the 143,000 claims at that office were current.
Shryock attributed the progress to a recent reorganization of how the claims process is handled.
That reorganization has caused some "growing pains," said Robin Porter, assistant chief in the business office at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. Porter's office moves authorized claims from the state's health care providers to the South Central VA network.
"That's part of the reason we're doing this, to try to make sure it is flowing and identify those processes that aren't," Porter said. "Because let's face it, we need our vendors. They're the ones we're going to go to for help. That's crucial to us."
As providers left Thursday's workshop, Deason surveyed them about the experience. Most had positive comments, she said, and some felt optimistic they would get paid.
For others, it was just more of the same.
Carla Taylor, who oversees billing at McGehee-Desha County Hospital, brought in a list of 65 outstanding claims that are worth more than $75,000 and date back to September 2012.
"We mail the records, and they say they don't get the records and want us to send them again," Taylor said. "That's what we heard again today, that they don't have the records that I sent.
"But at least they're more focused on the problem. It's a start."
The experience was similar for Lori Williams, owner of an in-home care service in Fort Smith.
Williams treated about 30 VA patients before August 2014, when she dropped them as clients because of the lack of payment. She said her business, Christian Companion Senior Care, is owed approximately $73,000 and hasn't received a payment since September 2014.
When asked by a VA employee Thursday whether she'd consider taking VA patients as clients again, Williams responded, "If we know we're going to get paid."
Heather Spainhouer and Kathryn Walker, billers at Delta Memorial Hospital in Dumas, called the workshop "wonderful," "informative" and "something we didn't expect."
The pair learned of errors they made when submitting claims, and a VA employee tracked the 15 claims they brought in.
"We got more information than we thought we were going to get, and we want to do this again," Walker said. "In this one hour we've gotten more information than we ever have."
Deason said a similar workshop will likely be held again.
Metro on 08/14/2015