Dr Maurice Pisciottano : Comparing cash practice to insurance billing practices

Chiropractic treatment had for a long time been disregarded in the medical field and chiropractic doctors were unrecognized. According to Dr Moe Pisciottano , this became a real problem as they were viewed as just mere physical therapists with no medical qualification. The Grow with Dr Moe magazine indicates that this perception made billing patients really hard as they did not have a representative body that would address their grievances. It is for that reason that after a long fight for recognition it was decided that they would involve insurance companies to demand payments on their behalf so that if a patient wanted to be served, he/she would visit the insurance to make payments there. This led to standardized payment rates but with time it also had challenges and brought about the issue of cash practice. Below is a comparison between cash practice and insurance billed practice.

• Payment effects

The use of insurance companies ensured that a patient would have to pay a predetermined amount of money for them to access chiropractic services. This helped chiropractors to get their worth for services given. In cash practice the patient is required to pay cash to the chiropractor. To ensure this happens, the chiropractor may have to charge less to have more patients coming in and also increase marketing strategies.

• Consistency of treatment

Chiropractic treatment involves a series of visits to the doctor before a patient fully recovers. Mechanical Motion Therapy takes about 45 minutes per session and has to be done consistently. In cash practice, if a patient doesn’t have the money at that time, they won’t make it for the revisit unlike in insurance billing where the patient chooses the number of procedures they take and pay for them at a go.
The choice of payment depends on the chiropractor because each practice has favorable benefits, says Dr. Pisciottano.