Strengthening the Capacity to Bill Across the Wisconsin Title X Network
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Grantees really appreciated the opportunity to connect jointly with representatives from Medicaid and Women’s Health Family Planning program staff to outline gaps and challenges related to billing. This work and future trainings will strengthen billing capacity in our clinics and help them work toward sustainability.Wisconsin Department of Health Services Family Planning Staff
In August 2018, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) received Title X funding for the first time. DHS has had a family planning program since 1977, funded by Title V and taxpayer dollars, but under Title X is now required to bill both public and private insurance for women’s health services. For the past year, DHS Women’s Health Family Planning program staff has been working with its 21 subrecipients to increase this billing capacity.
First, staff shared the FPNTC’s billing best practices webinar and third party billing resources, which include the rationale and strategies for billing, best practices training guides, suggested indicators, tools, and other billing training materials. Next, they adapted the FPNTC’s front desk job aid for all subrecipients to use when collecting co-pays and applying sliding fee scales in their settings. Additionally, staff met with Medicaid for guidance on billing practices, identified multiple opportunities for improvement, and will continue to meet quarterly. Finally, DHS intends to hire a staff development specialist to help subrecipients with billing as needed.
Looking back over the past year, staff is proud of the progress subrecipients have made toward being able to bill third parties. Staff is also grateful for the collaboration with Medicaid and that access to FPNTC resources has made meeting this Title X requirement easier.