How SLPs Get Paid (Recorded Video, No CEUs)
Recorded On: 02/14/2025
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This introductory level presentation will cover basic principles of health care payment, including working with payers (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, private/commercial insurers), reviewing fee schedules and insurance contracts, and understanding coding systems (e.g., Current Procedural Terminology and International Classification of Diseases), as well as provide guidance for efficient and compliant billing and documentation. This course is specifically designed for graduate students and practicing clinicians with little to no experience in real-world billing and payment across settings.
Outcomes-based documentation, health care coding systems, billing, and coverage criteria for speech-language pathology services are each part of a dynamic process making the business of providing such services increasingly more complicated. Payers of health care services are always looking for ways to decrease payments and employers are always looking for ways to slow inflation related to health insurance premiums. It is imperative that speech-language pathologists, especially those new to the health care world, understand the relationships among the code systems, documentation, compliance, and coverage criteria and the impact these relationships have on payment of services and timely patient access to care.
The dependence of fair reimbursement on accurate billing, coding, and documentation to support the speech-language pathologist’s diagnosis will be emphasized. The audience will be provided with strategies for efficient claims submission such as understanding different payers’ criteria and requirements, choosing appropriate CPT and ICD codes, and the importance of demonstrating skilled care. Participants will also learn how to appeal denials, if needed, and to learn from billing mistakes to ensure future compliance and minimize disruptions in patient care.
This session will provide real-world clinical case examples and allow time for audience questions.
Learning Objectives
- Identify payer sources
- Discuss basic billing best practices
- Describe the health care denial appeals process
Originally recorded on February 14, 2025 (No CEUS for the recorded video).
Rebecca Bowen, MA, CCC-SLP, PNAP, CAE
Director of Health Care Policy, Value, and Innovation
American Speech-Language Hearing Association
Rebecca Bowen M.A., CCC-SLP, PNAP, CAE is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist with more than a decade of experience working with individuals with communication, cognition, and swallowing disorders across the lifespan. In 2019 she joined the National Center for Evidence-Based Practice at the American Speech-Language Hearing Association where she developed tools, resources, and clinical practice guidelines to steer assessment and treatment in audiology and speech-language pathology. She currently serves as ASHA’s Director of Health Care Policy, Value, and Innovation and focuses on analyzing and refining value-based care policy and advancing ASHA’s public policy agenda. In addition, she serves on AHSA’s Diversity Team, as well as the chair of the Health Care Advisory Committee for the American Society of Association Executives, developing priorities and sharing knowledge with dozens of health care associations representing a wide variety of disciplines and medical specialties.
Financial - Salaried ASHA staff member
Non-Financial - None
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