Spending Too Much Time on Liens?
Lien rights for Medicare, Medicaid, and other forms of health insurance have been vastly expanded. These expanded rights mean healthcare liens have become an increasingly large portion of a personal injury law firm’s unbilled hours. Unfortunately, while law firms spend more time on these liens, these processes do not increase their revenue. Too much time is involved in understanding which lien holders are asserting rights, let alone how to resolve these liens to provide clients with the largest settlement possible. As the overall claims resolution process changes, it is important for law firms to understand how that process is taking a toll on the service provided to clients.
The necessary evil of lien resolution often consumes more of a case’s time than is known. On average, attorneys and paralegals will spend up to eight hours per week to completely resolve uncomplicated liens, not counting the appeals and waiver requests required to ensure the maximum possible lien reduction. These extra, non-revenue earning hours, suggest outsourcing healthcare lien resolution could be an integral part of your law firm’s successful operation, allowing you to not only mitigate risk but also to maximize revenue.
Rand Corporation’s report on The Role of Health Care Liens in Litigation and Recovery suggests the average amount paid out to resolve healthcare liens is on average 10-20% of the total claim value, and oftentimes much larger than that. This makes it increasingly important for law firms to repeatedly scrutinize liens and resolve each before settlement funds can be disbursed. Outsourcing this work will allow you to focus on revenue-generating activities directly related to your clients’ needs.
Taking into consideration the time, cost, and risks associated with lien resolution, outsourcing may be the smartest business decision you make in 2023. Contact MASSIVE’s experienced and dedicated lien resolution team today and see how we can make a bigger recovery for both you and your clients.