Telehealth has transformed how mental health services are delivered. Patients can now receive care from home, and providers can offer flexible scheduling without the constraints of a traditional office. But this convenience comes with one major challenge: billing.
Mental health practices that offer telehealth sessions often struggle with claim denials, inconsistent payments, and shifting insurance rules. That’s where Revenue Cycle Management, or RCM, comes into play. Managing RCM effectively each month is what helps providers get paid for the work they’re already doing.
This monthly guide offers a realistic and easy-to-follow approach to managing mental health telehealth billing. Whether you’re a solo practitioner or part of a growing team, this step-by-step plan will help you stay organized and maintain a steady cash flow.
What RCM Means for Telehealth Mental Health Providers
RCM covers every step in the financial process of patient care. It begins when a patient schedules an appointment and ends when the provider receives full payment for that session.
In a mental health telehealth setting, RCM includes:
- Verifying insurance before appointments
- Making sure documentation and CPT coding are correct
- Submitting claims in a timely way
- Posting payments and adjusting balances
- Following up on unpaid or denied claims
Many providers find that managing RCM on a monthly schedule is easier than dealing with billing in real time. Grouping tasks by week creates a routine that fits into the natural rhythm of the practice.
How to Manage RCM Monthly in a Mental Health Telehealth Practice
A structured billing cycle can make the difference between getting paid quickly or chasing claims for months. Here is a four-week breakdown that can help your practice stay on top of mental health telehealth billing.
Week 1: Review the Previous Month and Resolve Issues
Start each month by reviewing what happened in the previous one. This helps you catch any missed sessions, rejected claims, or documentation gaps.
Your checklist should include:
- Reviewing all claims submitted last month
- Identifying any denials and reasons for rejection
- Fixing and resubmitting problem claims
- Finalizing sessions that were not yet billed
A quick audit at the start of the month can keep small issues from becoming long-term problems. For additional support, Details RCM’s behavioral health billing services offer help with claim corrections and performance reviews.
Week 2: Verify Insurance and Confirm Appointments
Telehealth billing often fails due to insurance eligibility issues. Even long-term patients may experience changes in coverage that affect payment.
Tasks to focus on in the second week:
- Check insurance eligibility for upcoming appointments
- Confirm authorizations for therapy sessions, if required
- Audit scheduled visits and confirm documentation is ready
- Match appointment types with covered services
Being proactive with insurance verification can prevent delayed payments. Many practices lose revenue due to preventable eligibility errors.
Week 3: Submit Claims and Track Status
The third week of the month is a good time to submit all recent claims and check the status of earlier submissions. Consistency matters here. The longer a claim sits unaddressed, the harder it becomes to fix if problems arise.
During this week:
- Submit all claims from the past two weeks
- Track clearinghouse reports and fix any errors right away
- Log claim status updates for easier follow-up
- Send secondary claims where primary payments have posted
Using a team that specializes in mental health billing can speed up this process and reduce the time spent on claim corrections and follow-up.
Week 4: Post Payments and Review Denials
The last week of the month is for posting payments, reviewing outstanding claims, and analyzing trends. This is when you see the results of the work done earlier in the month.
Key tasks include:
- Posting insurance and patient payments to accounts
- Adjusting balances based on insurance rules
- Reviewing denied or partially paid claims
- Resubmitting corrected claims when necessary
This is also a good time to make notes about any payer issues or documentation gaps that keep recurring. If the same problem comes up every month, it’s worth changing the workflow to fix it for good.
Common Billing Challenges for Telehealth Mental Health Services
Mental health billing always requires attention to detail, but telehealth adds a few extra layers of complexity. These are some of the most common issues:
- Missing or incorrect modifiers for telehealth codes
- Place of Service (POS) codes not matching payer expectations
- Documentation delays that hold up billing
- Clients receiving care across state lines without verified licensure
Keeping up with changing payer rules is time-consuming. A billing partner like Details RCM can handle payer-specific updates and improve claim success rates by using correct coding every time.
Smart Tips to Improve Monthly RCM
Even small changes can lead to more consistent payments. Here are a few tips mental health providers can apply right away:
- Create a monthly checklist and follow the same process each cycle
- Keep CPT codes updated for all services, especially for telehealth
- Use patient portals to collect copays or balances before sessions
- Track common denial reasons and fix them at the source
- Stay in touch with clients about insurance changes
The goal is not to make billing perfect. It’s to make it manageable, predictable, and part of the regular routine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I bill for therapy sessions held over video calls?
Yes, most insurance plans cover video-based therapy sessions. Make sure to include the correct CPT code and telehealth modifier.
Which codes are most common for telehealth mental health billing?
Codes like 90791 (assessment), 90834 (45-minute therapy), and 90837 (60-minute therapy) are widely used. Add modifier 95 to indicate telehealth.
How often should I verify insurance eligibility?
At least once a month, before scheduled appointments. Insurance benefits can change at any time, especially with employer-based plans.
Is it better to outsource billing for telehealth mental health services?
If billing is taking time away from clinical work or causing frequent errors, outsourcing can improve cash flow and reduce stress. Details RCM offers tailored support for mental health telehealth providers.
What does a good monthly billing routine look like?
It includes reviewing past claims, verifying coverage, submitting clean claims, tracking payments, and correcting denials within the same month.
Taking a structured monthly approach to mental health telehealth billing can reduce claim delays, improve income flow, and ease the mental burden on providers. With a consistent routine, fewer billing tasks fall through the cracks, and practices stay focused on what matters most—helping patients.
To explore billing support that understands the needs of mental health providers offering telehealth, visit Details RCM for more information. Their team can help simplify your monthly cycle and support your practice’s long-term financial health.
