Tips on Automating your Revenue Cycle and Avoiding EFT Fees

As part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), health plans as of Jan. 1, 2014 are required to offer physician practices the option of receiving their payment via electronic funds transfer (EFT) using the established national standard. This standard is combined with a set of ACA-mandated EFT business conventions known as “operating rules.” In concert with the existing HIPAA standard for electronic remittance advice (ERA) and new ERA operating rules, also required by the ACA, these important components of the practice revenue cycle have been significantly streamlined.

However, as practices have transitioned away from paper checks to EFT in an effort to gain efficiencies, some health plans either charge a fee for EFT, or route their reimbursements through a third-party payment vendor, who then charge the practice a fee for this service.

This toolkit is designed to provide assistance to practices that are making the decision to move to EFT by offering action tips to push back against fees charged by health plans or their payment vendors.