Payor Enrollment Mistake #3: Make sure to sign the form and make sure the right person signs the form.

This sounds silly, but it is one of the most common mistakes. You don’t want to go through all the work only to have your acceptance delayed because of a signature.

An approving signor is someone with a physician practice or medical provider’s office with the legal authority to bind the organization or legally commit the organization. Legal authority to bind the organization is typically granted to active and participating owners, executive officers, and office managers.

To help you avoid payor enrollment mistake #3, we provided our quick tip checklist.

Quick Tip #1: Stick with one approving signor

It is not uncommon for an organization to have more than one person who can sign off on a payor enrollment application. Although more than one person is legally able to sign off, it is always recommended to have one and only one person sign the application. This streamlines the review process and avoids any questions related to legal precedent.

Quick Tip #2: Illegible signatures are OK so long as they are consistently illegible

Doctors are notorious for signatures that no one can read; and that is OK. It is OK to submit an application with signatures that are hard to read, so long as they are consistently hard to read.

Consistency is important. When reviewing a contract for completeness, a verification a reviewer will do is to check the consistency of the legal signatures. As more of the application review process moves online, the more systems will be used to verify signature match.

Make sure to remind the legal signing authority to take their time and make sure their signatures are consistent on every page.

Quick Tip #3: Don’t forget to look for initials

Some sections within the application may require an initial. This is done to confirm the legal signing authority analogizes the section or article. Make sure to review the whole of the application and confirm every section that requires an initial is complete. A missed initial is the same as a missed signature.

Quick Tip #4: Dates matter

Make sure to check each signature page to determine if a date is required. It is OK if the dates on each signature page are different. This simply indicates the signor signed off at different points in time.

Although different dates are OK, a missed date is not OK. A signature that is required to be dated is not complete without a date. Make sure to check each signature to see if a date is required and is filled in.

Signing an application is not complicated but requires precision. Applying these simple quick tips will help you avoid payor enrollment mistake #3.

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