How to Maximize Your Out-of-Network Benefits
👉Use my link to get $2,500 of your transaction fees waived with out-of-network billing! (Affiliate link)
Have you wondered:
1️⃣What does out-of-network benefits mean?
2️⃣What are my out-of-network benefits with cigna (or whatever insurance you have)?
3️⃣ Does Tricare have out-of-network benefits?
Hear how Thrizer simplifies out-of-network billing for therapists and clients!
Erin talks with Sanjana, cofounder from Thrizer to discuss how their platform is revolutionizing out-of-network billing for everyone involved. Thrizer helps with verifying out-of-network benefits, submitting super bills, and ensuring timely reimbursements. The conversation highlights how Thrizer takes care of the administrative burden on therapists and makes therapy more accessible for clients by managing claims and payments efficiently.
Timestamps:
00:33 Introducing Thrizer: Simplifying Therapy Payments
01:33 The Benefits of Using Thrizer for Therapists
03:37 Thrizer's Client Experience
08:57 Thrizer's Payment Platform Explained
12:37 Thrizer vs. Reimbusify & Other Billing Services
14:58 Referral Bonuses and Future Goals
18:41 The Importance of Out-of-Network Therapists
25:22 Thrizer's Instant Reimbursements
32:13 Expanding Thrizer's Services Beyond Mental Health
34:31 Thrizer's Customer Success and Feedback
40:13 Encouragement and Advice for Clients and Therapists
42:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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Thrizer Episode with co-founder, Sanjana Sathya
Erin H. Davis: [00:00:00] We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting, intrusive images, thoughts, and feelings.
And urges about your partner or loved one. Breaking the OCD cycle takes effective treatment. Go to n ocd.com to get evidence-based treatment. Well, for all the therapists and practices out there, I definitely recommend jumping on board with Ryer because it's so easy to run a payment. Not only run the payment, but you guys also do the claim submission.
It's like all in one. Exactly. One click.
Hi, I'm Erin Licensed clinical mental health counselor and OCD specialist. I'm also a wife mom [00:01:00] to three and small business owner helping those who are spiraling from intrusive thoughts. To come out of that valley with long term recovery and self awareness, reheat your coffee and pop in your AirPods to learn how to boss up to OCD.
Senjana, thank you so much for being here today. It's going to be so fun kind of getting to talk to you about Thryser and telling the listeners more about Thryser. So again, welcome.
Sanjana Sathya: Thank you so much, Erin. I really appreciate the opportunity.
Erin H. Davis: Yes. So I am a huge fan of Thryser and just for the listener's awareness, Thryser, at least, you know, in my experience with it as a therapist, it has been super helpful in doing the out of network claim processing and helping my clients get their out of network benefits.
And I've seen a lot more clients say yes to therapy because They [00:02:00] have a clear picture of their out of network benefits. And yeah, so I, I just am so excited to have this conversation today. And Sanjana, can you tell the listeners more about like how Thryzr got started?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, absolutely. So Thryzr really got started because of our own experiences.
Doing the out-of-network billing side of the house. So me and Ron were both longtime therapy goers ourselves and we had been seeing, you know, out-of-network providers ourselves and. Super bills were just a nightmare. Like we would submit super bills, never hear back. Oftentimes it was just confusing where to even go for resources.
I didn't necessarily want to bring it to my therapist because I knew there was a reason why she was out of network. And it was just a lot to, to kind of handle and manage on, on by ourselves. So that's where Thrizer was born. It's the fact that we understand that. A lot of us want to see out of network [00:03:00] therapists, right?
Maybe we found our fit with that, but we really do need, you know, if we needed the support to kind of navigate everything, we figured that a lot of other people do. And we also realized this is actually a great tool for therapists to also attract their dream clients, right? If they have a resource to really help you guys.
like, you know, say, Hey, like, you know, I have a partner who can help manage all this for you. You don't, you're not on your own. Right. And I think that ended up being kind of a win situation for both, you know, therapists and clients. And we felt like this was really addressing the need that existed at the time.
Erin H. Davis: That's wonderful. Yes. And so Can you explain how it works on the client's end and how Thrizer helps a client? Let's say if you are that person who's shopping for a therapist and you find someone who seems like the right fit, but they're out of network, what does the client do?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah. So Thrizer, first of all, helps the client.
clients verify whether they have out of [00:04:00] network benefits. So that's always step one.
Erin H. Davis: Okay.
Sanjana Sathya: So when they, you know, either they're a therapist, if they're using thrizer, they can check their benefits on behalf of their clients. Or, um, if they want to create their own account and verify their benefits, it's really simple.
They just input their insurance information and they get an instant breakdown of, Hey, here's my deductible. Here's how much is remaining, remaining on my deductible. And here's what my estimated reimbursement amount is. Oftentimes, even if you're submitting super bills on your own, the price transparency aspect is really not there, right?
It's kind of like you submit your first claim, and you get the check that you get. Really, there isn't like, you don't know what you're going to get back before you start therapy. And so that's the first hurdle that we're trying to, you know, tackle and say, hey, you'll have price transparency before your first session, even with your therapist.
And so that's always step number one.
Erin H. Davis: That's awesome. Yes. And it seems to be so beneficial when I'm in that consultation with new potential [00:05:00] new clients. And I'll say, Hey, I will take your insurance information, hand it over to Thryser. And Melissa seems to be, One of those representatives that I get the most.
And you guys are always so good at getting back to me within one business day.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah. Customer support we realize is one of the most important things in this business. Right. Because we understand that insurance and healthcare and payments, and they're all just very sensitive, touchy topics. Right. And it can be nerve wracking if you don't hear back.
Within one to two business days. Right. And so we make that an absolute priority at thrizer. We definitely never want to leave you hanging, whether that's you or your clients. And so that's always, you know, a huge priority for us. Right.
Erin H. Davis: I'm glad you had a
Sanjana Sathya: good experience.
Erin H. Davis: Yes. And I really appreciate it too, because it is so painful calling insurance because before thrizer, I mean, I would help my clients as best I could, but it [00:06:00] Me as well as the client to call insurance.
And that just created another barrier and frustration that doesn't need to be there. So, I mean, I sincerely appreciate you guys because just emailing in or, you know, uploading things to the portal makes it so much more efficient and simple and transparent versus calling someone, calling the insurance, getting misquoted and still feeling just uneasy about it.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, exactly. And it just saves you so much time. I think both for you and the clients, right. You could be put on hold. You don't know who you're going to get. And a lot of times what I found is, you know, the allowed amounts are always a black box. And it's kind of a 50, 50 shot that you're going to actually get a rep.
On the call that you get on insurance with that they're actually going to tell you what your estimated allowed amount is and you know, they might say, Hey, I don't feel comfortable sharing this or I don't have the information. Right? And [00:07:00] so if you're not going to have that number, you won't know what your actual reimbursement amount is.
Even if they tell you what your deductible is, they can tell you what your coinsurance percentage is. But that's where we, you know, in our budget. Instant benefits calculator, we give you an estimated allowed amount because we have a wealth of knowledge that we've collected from various insurance plans that we work with.
Right? And so that can feel so much more comfortable to have a number in front of you saying that, hey, you're going to get back 80 or 90. And. Even if that's an estimate, we're definitely always within the ballpark, right? And so you have that, again, transparency going into sessions that, you know, you wouldn't otherwise have,
Erin H. Davis: right?
Yes. So just for the listeners awareness, like a super bill is basically your receipt or your invoice that you get from your therapist. And then you would send it in normally to insurance. But in this case, they would upload it to their thrizer client portal.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, so we actually have two separate products.
So [00:08:00] one is our bread and butter. That's our payment platform. That's what most of the practices and therapists that we work with use so that they can offer their clients courtesy. Claim submissions actually. So I can talk about that for a bit, but we also, you're right. We do have super bill uploads where, you know, if the practice doesn't want to use thrizer for their billing or, you know, a client finds us on their own and their therapist hasn't been onboarded onto thrice, they can absolutely create an account and upload their own super bills.
So we have two separate products, just depending on how involved the practice and therapist wants to be, and they're kind of pros and cons on both sides.
Erin H. Davis: Right. Well, for all the therapists and practices out there, I definitely recommend jumping on board with Thryser because it's so easy to run a payment, not only run the payment, but you guys also do the claim submission.
It's like all in one. Exactly. One click.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, exactly. And that's what we wanted. So to kind of break down the Thryser payment [00:09:00] platform a bit more, it is a payment platform designed specifically for out of network therapy. It'll look and feel similar to billing through Stripe or Square or your EHR. But the benefit of charging your clients after sessions via thrizer instead, is that exactly what you said is every time you charge a client and out of network claim is automatically submitted to them.
So there's no need to request and submit super bills or know where to submit that or email that into insurance. So we handle all of that. We also manage those claims end to end. So if insurance gives us any headaches, it's us on the phone with. Uh, them and not you or your clients, and we built these relationships with them.
So we understand who to contact and how to get things done very quickly. So, you know, it's less burden on the client or the therapist to, to get a random person on the phone and, you know, answer all those questions for you. The. Basic kind of first steps that we make sure we hit. And the really cool thing about thrizer beyond those two things is that, you [00:10:00] know, once a client meets their deductible, we actually say, Hey, like you only have to pay your co insurance for sessions and not even have to wait for reimbursement.
We'll wait on your behalf and we'll also make sure that we cover your therapist fee in full, right? And that's really the game changer. And that's where our unique point is. I know there are other people on the market who are doing claim submissions and claim management, but we realized early on that, and also from our own experiences, right?
Cause we were going. To weekly therapy and it became really expensive to front, you know, 200 every session. And then at the end of the month, right, I'm out 800 and I don't have a reimbursement check yet and it can feel nerve wracking. It's a little, you know, like I know the check might be coming, but I'm not, I've had to have all this cashflow to pay for therapy.
Right. And so this feature really came out when we saw the need that. Clients, even if they know they have out of network benefits and they know they're going to get a reimbursement [00:11:00] check, they still need to have support paying for sessions at the time of the session, right? And so with riser, similar to end network co pays, we let them just pay a co insurance.
So it's much more manageable for them to pay, you know, 50 instead of 200 at the time of the session,
Erin H. Davis: right? I love that and it's a win on both sides and as a provider you can go in there and select and you can see Where they are with their deductible, but you can also select that thrice or pay option So it's wonderful in that one click of a button I get my full session fee and the client only pays the portion that They need to pay like they don't have to pay the full fee as long as they've met their deductible.
Sanjana Sathya: Exactly. Exactly. And I think that's what, you know, 90, you know, we also offer clients the option to, if they say, Hey, I don't want to do that. And I don't want to pay more in fees. Cause that has a little bit more in fees. They could say, Hey, I don't mind like paying my therapist, full fee upfront and waiting for [00:12:00] reimbursement.
And so that is also an option. And that's, you know, just a 1 percent fee versus a 5 percent fee for the thrizer pay or coinsurance option. But, you know, we find that I think it's, I'm trying to remember the exact number, but 90 percent plus clients who work with us end up choosing thrizer pay. Because it just, you know, it feels better.
They don't mind paying 5 percent to, you know, have us manage the claim and not even have to worry about reimbursement, right? You pay for your session and you're done. You don't have any action items afterwards. You don't have to submit a super bill or wait for reimbursement or wait for that check in the mail.
Like, you know, it just, it's. It's just much easier and feels like that in network experience for them.
Erin H. Davis: Yes. And so Sanyana, you were speaking to kind of some of those differences between Thryser and those other billing services out there. So for example, like I've heard of reimbursify, what would you say are some key differences between Thryser and reimbursify?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah. So the biggest difference, as I mentioned, is the fact [00:13:00] that we offer this co insurance option. So reimbursify doesn't have that. All they're doing is really submitting the claim on behalf of the client. Either. I think the therapist can offer courtesy claim submission similar to us, or I think the client can submit their own super bills, but that's pretty much it.
That's really all they do. They actually don't manage claims end to end either. So if anything happens with insurance, they'll kind of. Yeah. Tell the client, Hey, here's what you need to say when you get on a call with insurance, but it's still on the client to get on the call. With their insurance company, which is not what anyone wants to do.
So that's the big way we're different. We do the end to end claim management and they don't, but really it's also that thrice or pay feature. The fact that we allow clients to just pay a co insurance for them, you would still need to wait for reimbursements via check in the mail and the other way we're different is we're also much more cost effective for both clients and therapists.
We offer therapists, the benefits calculator for free. I know reimbursify charges monthly fees of like 60 [00:14:00] or 90 or something like that, especially if you are someone who has a smaller caseload or, you know, you have a smaller practice. You don't need to pay monthly fees for that, right? You should be able to, if you have a prospect come in month 2 or month 3, like, Shouldn't be paying 60 for one prospect call, right?
And then you want to check their benefits. So we really believe that we wanted to keep that benefits calculator for free for our therapists. And the client fees are much more manageable too. So a strong belief that we have is that if a client is working towards their deductible, they're And their therapist is offering them claim submission or, you know, courtesy claim submissions.
They shouldn't pay any fees for that because they're not getting any reimbursement, right? So we actually don't charge any fees for the clients if they're working towards the deductible. But, you know, reimbursement charges the 3 or whatever they charge. So those are kind of the big ways that we're different.
So thrizer pay, the coinsurance option, cost effectiveness and end to end claim management would be the three ways.
Erin H. Davis: Yes. And the other thing [00:15:00] I've noticed in just doing my own research and kind of investigating these different billing services is thrizer offers a referral bonus, whereas these other platforms do not.
And so I just, maybe we can speak to that, you know, together here for a moment. But like. I got a referral link from a colleague on LinkedIn and I got 2, 500 off from my transaction fees and I can continue to give that. So if you're listening and you're a provider and does it also work for clients too? If a client were to, it's just
Sanjana Sathya: providers for now.
Erin H. Davis: Okay. So if you're a provider, you can use my link in the show notes and they can get their first 2, 500 off transaction fees.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So that's one of the ways that, you know, we wanted to encourage just free trials, right? Like we understand that. A lot of comments that we hear or, you know, feedback is this seems too good to be true.
Like what's the catch. [00:16:00] Right. And we get that a lot. And so this free trial is really an opportunity for you to hop in there and see it for yourself. And like you mentioned, we give the 3 percent is the credit card charge that we, we pay. Do for therapists and practices. So that's waived for your first 2, 500 in payments.
And to your point, every time you refer a peer, you get that 2, 500 and they get that 2, 500 each time. So, you know, you could end up not paying credit card fees for a long time because you're kind of just, you know, spreading the word and all of that.
Erin H. Davis: Yes. And I feel like it is a gold mine. I mean, it has been.
It's been a long time coming, and I'm so thankful you guys exist. Whenever you first started to think of this business model and this business idea, what were your dreams and your goals and your aspirations for Thryser?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, I love this question. I think just ultimately, you know, our motto is to make therapy work [00:17:00] for everyone are, you know, of course, we've had, you know, our experiences from a client perspective, navigating the whole super bill and out of network space.
But as we started to think about a solution for that, we saw a lot of just, we did a lot of therapist interviews. And clinician interviews in general, practice managers, just a lot of people to understand what's missing in the space. And it's easy for therapists to get blamed for the mental health accessibility gap, right?
It's a lot of like, Oh, you know, you're it's on you to make mental health more accessible. But then, you know, we started learning more about reimbursement rates that insurance provides and all the paperwork and then all the headache, the insurance paneling and like how that whole process is and it insurance really doesn't incentivize therapists to be a network, right?
It really just doesn't work for a lot of people. Right? And so we quickly realized that there's kind of a wind that exists for both clients and [00:18:00] therapists. If we figure out a system that's seamless and streamlined, that being out of network works. for clients, and it also works for therapists, right? And so that's where we really felt like we need to educate on that out of network.
Benefits are fabulous, like they really do bridge the gap. And so really, our dream was to make sure that people know they have out of network benefits and are able to use them seamlessly. That then benefits both clients and therapists, right? And Just to create a frictionless seamless process to bridge the gap between the two.
And that's really been our dream since then.
Erin H. Davis: Yes. And I can attest that it has, that has been my experience so far with Thryser. And I love how you're phrasing it with like the accessibility of mental health care, because it's not always about the number of therapists in your area or who's, Um, and it's not just in network or out of network and all the things it's really about finding the right fit and anyway, based upon [00:19:00] your experience, maybe from a business standpoint or personal standpoint, what are the benefits of using an out of network therapist?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, yeah. So really using an out of network therapist, like the first thing off the bat is, let's say you, you know, want to start therapy quickly. Right? And you're like, Hey, I really want to do this right now. And maybe, you know, the first step that I, when I had that realization is When I said I want a therapist, I went on to psychology today and it was intimidating, right?
It was like going through that process. A lot of them, you know, a lot of therapists profiles I read didn't accept insurance. And then I was like, Oh no, like, do I have to do this? Like, what if they don't accept my insurance? So off the bat, if you're trying to start therapy and You want to do that quickly, you will find a larger plethora of, I think, out of network providers who are ready to offer care.
A lot of them tend to be more specialized as well, right? Like a specific, you [00:20:00] know, whether it's anxiety or OCD or whatever, it might be really specialized and that's maybe exactly what you need as a client. And especially if you have those out of network benefits, it's not going to be much of a difference for you from a cost standpoint of an in network co pay versus an out of network co insurance.
And so if you end up doing the math, then maybe just is pretty similar from both angles. Right. And so if you're able to tap into get care, when you want to get care, as soon as you want, get a specialized expert to be, you know, your guide through everything. And you have the out of network benefits to be able to support this financially.
It really just ends up being the right option for you. And another thing is, you know, I, my first therapist, I found her through a, for, through a referral, right. And so it was a peer who had been going to therapy for a while. And she was like, I love my therapist. And I was like, wow. Okay. Yeah. Let me just set up a consult call and she ended up being a great fit.
And she was at a network [00:21:00] and I was like, you know what, it's fine. Like I'm going to, you know, she seems like someone I want to work with. Right. So it just gives you that opportunity to find someone that you just feel like is. you know, supporting your journey and it makes you feel like therapy is worth it.
And so I think those would be kind of the main reasons,
Erin H. Davis: right? Yes. I completely agree because when you're thinking about some of these conditions, especially with OCD, you feel like. The client feels so far gone and like there's no one that can help them or they have gone to a general therapist and experienced that result of actually not getting better.
And they're still anxious, still experiencing the intrusive thoughts when what they really need to do is see an OCD specialist. And so, yeah, it's really nice that as myself, an OCD specialist in doing the out of network courtesy billing is that I'm also getting extra support from Thryser. So [00:22:00] it makes, My role as a therapist, just a lot more simple.
Like I can show up in session and be fully present and there's not any wasted time and us talking about, did you sit in the claim? Where's your re or like, they're asking me, where's my reimbursement check? How do I get this? How do I navigate that? So we're able to fully focus on their presenting issues and their goals and.
It's just been a breath of fresh air.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, as it should be. Right. I think both the therapist and the client, the last thing they want to talk about is finances and reimbursements and insurance and all that, like it's, it can. leave a, Oh my God, I have so much to accomplish after I have so much to do after I leave session versus just leaving session with like, wow, that was a great session.
I really got so much out of it and I don't have to worry about anything else versus leaving the session being like, Oh wow. Now I have to request a super bill. I need to submit the super bill. I need to wait for reimbursement. There's just [00:23:00] so many action items that can take away from just enjoying the therapy process, which is how it should be for both clients and therapists.
Erin H. Davis: We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's Relationship OCD. It comes with unrelenting, intrusive images of your relationship.
thoughts and urges about your partner or loved one. If you think you may be struggling with relationship OCD, there's hope. NoCD offers effective affordable and convenient OCD therapy. NoCD therapists are trained in exposure response prevention therapy, the gold standard treatment for OCD. With NoCD, you can do virtual, live, face to face video sessions with one of their licensed specialty trained therapists.
It's affordable and they accept most major insurance [00:24:00] plans. And I feel like Thryser is becoming that bridge for clients to help access their mental health care in a much easier, simple, transparent way. Exactly.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah. Yeah.
Erin H. Davis: So what have been some key moments of growth for Thryser?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah. So the two big ones that come to mind is when we introduced this thrice or pay features.
So initially when we launched our payment platform, which was our first product that was still picking up, it was taking off, but when we introduced this, co insurance, you just have to pay that and we'll take care of the rest and wait for reimbursement on your behalf. That's when we started really seeing growth because that was the need that wasn't being addressed in the market.
Right. And so soon as we had the [00:25:00] Thryser pay feature, that's our, like I said, the biggest differentiator from our competitors, right? We do it really well. We have predictable payments every Friday for therapists, right? It's just a very streamlined process. That it just kind of started taking off there. So that was really our one.
I think that was about a year ago is when we launched that. And that was a huge moment of growth for us. And the second moment of growth was when we launched our Thrysr super bill uploads. And so that's where we recognized either one that a therapist may not want to switch over all their billing to Thrysr and they still want to offer their clients a resource to manage their out of network process.
Right. That was the one need that we found. And the other need was what if a client finds thrizer on their own and they just need help with their super bills. Right. And so. We recognize even if we have the payment platform, there was still this need. And so that's where we launched the thrizer super bill uploads about, I think like two to three months ago at this point.
And so [00:26:00] it's relatively new, but it's really been picking up right. Because it is just such a valuable resource. All the therapist has to do is provide their client with the super bill. The client Pfizer benefits on their, um, account, and then they just upload super bills onto their thrice or portal every time they see their therapist.
And we manage everything we submitted to insurance. We manage the full claim. We also send reimbursements back to directly to their bank account. So they don't have to worry about checks in the mail. And we actually recently also launched our instant reimbursements, which is another that's, that was more recent even actually, and that's where, you know, even if their therapist isn't.
Using thrice or pay with them. They can request an instant reimbursement after they meet their deductible directly to their bank account in one to two business days. Instead of like waiting for reimbursement as soon as they upload their super bill. Right. And so that's, again, helping them manage their cashflow much better.
And so these are kind of our pivotal, I think, I guess all of them are product updates that we've [00:27:00] had or new features that have come out and they've all been born out of, Hey, there's a solid need for this out there, right? It's not, okay, we're making enough money. Like, let's just stop here. Right. It's, it's always like, how do we, you know, built into our DNA is how do we Better listen to our users, better listen to the market and create products that are truly meaningful and really bitch bridge the gap and all the friction, the little friction points that exist along the way.
We're not okay with good enough, right? We're like, Hey, we're going to keep pushing it. We're going to keep trying to find more of those little moments or areas where things are falling apart. Cause ultimately our goal is to make sure. As many people who want therapy, get therapy in with no strings attached.
Right. And so those are, I would say like kind of our key moments of growth.
Erin H. Davis: Wow. I feel like the more you share, the bigger my eyes are getting because it's just amazing. And I mean, just to clarify for the listeners, like, even if your therapist [00:28:00] doesn't take thrizer. Every therapist is going to provide you your super bill.
I mean, that's just part of our work and what we do. And a lot of these electronic health record systems automatically do that for you, or you can go in your own client portal and request it. But anyway, the client can be empowered to access their out of network benefits with a lot less friction if they use thrizer.
Yeah,
Sanjana Sathya: exactly.
Erin H. Davis: Awesome. Yeah. And what's also interesting to me, because I know just also in my own personal experience and then also being a therapist, like it can take time to get that reimbursement check or to even get an explanation of benefits back from your insurance saying, Oh, we got your claim, you know?
So how do you, Like a smooth, efficient process, like just from the Thryser [00:29:00] end.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah. And I think it's, you know, it's actually crazy because I remember when I actually came into Thryser as a client, so I had super bills I'd been submitting and I never heard back and I basically lost faith in the whole reimbursement.
You know, I, they say I have out of network benefits, but I'm not even to your point, receiving an acknowledgement email that says, Hey, we've received your claims, like we're working on it. Like we'll get back to you within three weeks or four weeks, like no communication whatsoever. Right. And so it can just feel like such a black box.
And what we found with riser is that somehow when we, you know, have, obviously we have our, you know, Expert billing team, right? Who knows how to work with insurance. That's, they're the people who are really on the front line, making sure that we get in front of the right people. Things get submitted to the right place that nothing gets lost in the cracks.
So our billing teams, like huge shout out to them. They're amazing. They're really like. The backbone of our entire company, but [00:30:00] yeah, besides that, right. Because we're submitting claims in bulk insurance tends to listen to us. Right. And we built that relationship with them, but we're submitting thousands of claims.
And so because of that, we've kind of figured out a streamlined process versus a client doing it on an Island alone for their one claim. We're like, Hey, let's aggregate all the claims. We'll submit thousands of claims at a time. We've built the relationships. things don't get lost in the cracks. And even if we do, we have our expert billing team to get on the phone with them, really track it down and make sure that the client receives their reimbursement.
So I think that's kind of the way that we've been able to build that out.
Erin H. Davis: Yes. And I've just got a few questions out of curiosity. So if a claim is denied, how does thrizer navigate that?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah. So we have a couple of strict policies around that. So of course, first, if a claim gets denied, we're on the phone with them fighting for the client, right?
So that's always [00:31:00] our step one. We try to gather as much information as possible on, Hey, why did it get denied? A lot of times it ends up being just like a minor thing that we can fix on the claim and things get resolved pretty quickly. So, you know, we're able to quickly resolve that with our billing team, but.
For whatever reason, if it continues to get denied, whatever it might be, we have a strict, no back charges policy. So, you know, if a client has already paid their co insurance for a session, we're not going to go back and back charge them for that claim or that session if it was denied, because we understand there's a level of trust they've instilled in us, right?
And we don't want to slap them with, Hey, now you owe us. The 100 that you thought you were going to get from reimbursement, right? So we have that as a strict policy for us. Again, we try to fight it as much as possible. Ultimately, if it continues to get denied at that point, we do have a conversation with the client and their therapist that, Hey, it seems to be, you know, For whatever reason, the insurance plan isn't going through at that point, the client would be responsible, but they [00:32:00] would have had enough lead time.
And, you know, us being on the phone with insurance, really finding it not slapped with that back charge for any claims they've already paid for. So that's how we'd manage that.
Erin H. Davis: Wow. That's amazing. And. Also, I mean, this may not be part of your day to day operations right now, but do you guys also do out of network billing for other medical providers, not just mental health therapy?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, yeah, we're actually getting into that recently. So other types of therapy, so physical therapy, occupational therapy, dietitians, those have been kind of the places that we're trying to navigate into. Of course, our bread and butter is still mental health therapists and psychiatrists, but we are, we do have, you know, several
Erin H. Davis: I'm glad you mentioned psychiatry because a lot of people do need a psychiatrist and not many psychiatrists are in [00:33:00] network with insurance. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, just for the listeners awareness, like as a medical provider, whenever you sign up for insurance, the insurance tells you what you're going to get paid.
And it's like, I didn't go to school for you to tell me what I'm going to get paid in my own business. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Just my own soapbox. And so I can especially understand that from a psychiatrist perspective, when you've done medical school and all this extra residency, no, thank you. Are you going to take away like potentially two to 300 per month?
Worth per session that I just write off and I don't get.
Sanjana Sathya: Exactly. And that's where, that's where thrizer pay becomes even more helpful, right? Cause if you are expected to pay three 50 for a session. And you may get your reimbursement six weeks from now, at least paying maybe 200 for a session instead of three 50, right?
Can be a huge burden off your shoulders, right? Cause you can at [00:34:00] least afford to see your psychiatrist as frequently as you want. And so absolutely psychiatry is. Our big client base. Like we, we absolutely work a lot with psychiatrists and group practices full of psychiatrists. Yeah.
Erin H. Davis: I'm sure that's huge.
Yeah. I'm glad you mentioned that. Cause I didn't even know psychiatry was in the wheelhouse right now. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. And so, I mean, I've had a lot of great customer service. Sounds like you guys really prioritize the customer service experience. Are there any other things that Thryser does to help like.
Elevate the customer and give them top level white glove support.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah. Yeah. I really think it is our customer support. I know you mentioned Melissa. She's awesome. We make sure that we get back to you within one to two business days, whether you're a client or clinician, right. And we really kind of work with you through whatever it might be.
And that's where I think we [00:35:00] differentiate ourselves too. We try to make that an absolute priority for us. And we just want to make sure you don't feel like you're on an island. It can be nerve wracking whenever, again, like I said, healthcare and money, you put them together. It can be very, very stressful.
sensitive topics to talk about and navigate. So we understand and we approach it with empathy to make sure that, you know, everyone gets what they need.
Erin H. Davis: And what has been some of the feedback you guys have gotten either from the providers or. Individual consumers and clients about their experience with Thryser.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, we were very loved. It's great to see that, you know, we recently launched our Thryser love page on our website and that wasn't supposed to exist by the way. It was supposed to be just, you know, a couple of testimonials we put on our website. On the therapist page or the client page, like a little carousel.
And we just got such an outpour of love that we're like, we're going to dedicate a whole page to this. And yeah, it's everything we talked [00:36:00] about. The customer success or support is something they really appreciate. The thrizer pay feature is something they really appreciate the fact that, you know, the courtesy claim submissions, all of these things, the benefits calculator, the instant benefits calculator.
So they don't have to call insurance to figure out whether they have these benefits. Like every aspect of our workflow is very loved and kind of fits in really well with the practice. And I think more and more, I know I mentioned group practices, group practices are really starting to use us because we have a wealth of just features that, you know, We can have one practice portal, but as many clinicians and admins as you want, right.
For that same 3 percent fee, there's no additional fees or monthly fees, depending on how many extra team members you have or anything. So group practices are really showing a lot of love for Thryser right now. So yeah, overall, it's been a really good experience, both for therapists and clients.
Erin H. Davis: Yes. And so, And speaking of the instant benefits calculator, is that the piece [00:37:00] within the portal where you put in the client's insurance information, then it auto populates.
Yeah. They're exact benefits info, which is again, super duper nice because number one, you're not having to call insurance. And then number two, I'm not having to go on to all of these different insurance provider portals and getting lost because those are so hard to navigate because it. I can't even tell you, like, it's, there's a different portal, different username, password for each insurance, and then you can't even find their eligibility and benefits, like their own calculator very easily.
So for you guys, again, it's like you have really simplified and made it easy and less frustrating in so many ways.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, exactly. And that was totally our intention with that, right? Cause it's so easy. Kind of the process that you explained to get lost 30 minutes into the process, right? And you still [00:38:00] don't have an answer and that's 30 very valuable minutes.
You could be, you know, resting in between sessions. You could be doing your notes. You could be seeing more clients, right? 30 minutes is very valuable. And so if you're able to spend 10 seconds, just entering The insurance information date of birth name, and you get that instantly. You've saved yourself 30 minutes.
And so I think that's where, you know, that's another thing that's really loved. It's Exists in the therapist portal or the clinician portal so that, you know, you're able to provide that white glove service for your clients and, you know, make it even easier for them. Or clients can also check their own benefits by creating an account.
So it's kind of up to both of you, whatever works best, but those are kind of the two ways where that instant benefit verification lives within Thryzer.
Erin H. Davis: Yeah. So. Does the client necessarily have to accept, or are they doing some type of agreement with Thryser? Because what I would love to do is, like, after a consult, check their [00:39:00] benefits in Thryser, and I don't have to wait on them to accept an invitation.
Or, like, you know what I'm saying?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, that's where that instant benefits calculator is super helpful. So it's just in your portal. You, all you have to do is collect their insurance information, either when you're on the call with them or they email you their insurance information, you can quickly check it.
So they don't even need to be in the thrizer system for you to check their benefits and you can provide them with an answer before they even sign on with therapy with you.
Erin H. Davis: Okay. Okay. Yes. And I imagine. To that with Thryser, it is HIPAA compliant, very safe and secure. Did you want to speak to that a little bit?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for asking. So we are HIPAA compliant. We also are, you know, our privacy and security in terms of the financial data is backed, you know, we use Stripe as our infrastructure. So it's, you know, very compliant. All within the, whatever rules and legal confines of all of that. [00:40:00] So we're absolutely HIPAA and privacy and security compliant.
So no issues there.
Erin H. Davis: Yeah. All right. Well, do you have any words of encouragement or advice for anyone listening today?
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, yeah. So for, you know, clients who are listening, if you are considering to start therapy, or you are seeing a therapist who's out of network, and you don't know if you have out of network benefits, it's the easiest thing in the world to just create a quick account on thrizer thrizer.
com. Just verify your benefits, right? Because you could be leaning, leaving a lot of money on the table. When maybe you think the process is intimidating and overwhelming, right? And that's really our intention to make it as easy and frictionless for you as possible. So if you don't know, if you have out of network benefits, I would encourage everyone to know that with about their insurance plan.
And if you are a therapist who is, you know, considering going out of network or already is out of network, and you want to check out our payment [00:41:00] platform or the Super Bowl uploads, it's a very simple process to get started. You know, again, the free trial can really help you explore things without really committing too much.
You could try it out with 1 to 2 clients, see how the process goes for you. There's no. Minimums or contracts or any of that, right? So it truly is, just give it a try. If you end up loving it, you can bring on the rest of your caseload.
Erin H. Davis: Yes. And that was exactly my experience. I got the referral link, like I was saying from a colleague on LinkedIn and I tested it with one new client, then it was a second new client.
And I'm like, okay, everybody, this is what we're going to be doing now. And it has been especially helpful for the TRICARE beneficiaries. I mean, it's awesome that you guys help with the military service members and their families when they're trying to access mental health care, because like TRICARE, you can't even become an in network provider right now, unless you offer medicine.
They are so full with providers. So [00:42:00] the only option for me was to be a TRICARE certified provider, which is like out of network and having Thryser has again, bridge that gap to helping more like military spouses and these army wives and Marine wives. And you know, all these ladies that can now get the OCD treatment that they've been and specialized treatment that they've been looking for.
So I just appreciate you guys so much.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah, thank you so much for sharing that. That definitely makes me feel really warm and fuzzy. Yeah, TRICARE has been something that we've integrated very well with. We have so many people using us for TRICARE, and so we're happy to be able to provide that service.
Erin H. Davis: We're partnering with NoCD to raise awareness about OCD. OCD is more than what you see on TV and in the movies. Imagine having unwanted thoughts about your relationship with your Stuck in your head all day, no matter how hard you try to make them go away. That's relationship OCD. [00:43:00] It comes with unrelenting, intrusive images, thoughts, and urges about your partner or loved one.
Breaking the OCD cycle takes effective treatment. Go to n ocd.com to get evidence-based treatment. Are there any other closing thoughts or pieces of information you would like to share that we didn't cover?
Sanjana Sathya: I think we kind of covered everything. I just want to thank you again. I really appreciate this opportunity.
I think it was a very transparent, but organic conversation. Hopefully that, you know, people understood and broke things down in a very simple way, hopefully. So I just really want to thank you for the opportunity so much.
Erin H. Davis: Yes. Well, I really appreciate all the help and things that you guys do. It's truly been a game changer in my private practice and has eased.
So much. I'm not even getting like so much of the stress that comes with out of network billing because I've been doing [00:44:00] courtesy billing for, I mean, years, like ever since I had independent licensure, even with that, that was tough, you know, because I felt the same. Like if you're going to a therapist, I already know you're struggling to get out of bed sometimes.
So let me take this off your plate. But it would still somehow end up on my plate and I couldn't, it just created a, almost like a miscommunication or this rift in the therapeutic relationship that didn't need to be there.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah. And again, my goal is that everyone hears about riser because there is someone else who can take care of all of that, right?
Like it doesn't have to be on your plate. It doesn't have to be on your client's plate. Maybe, you know, automating it. And like I said, submitting claims in bulk just even gives you better effectiveness, like better, you know, just success, right. And so just kind of offloading all of that to someone like riser can just save.
Both people just so much time [00:45:00] and stress, right? And anxiety and all of that. So,
Erin H. Davis: yeah.
Sanjana Sathya: Yeah. Thank you.
Erin H. Davis: Yeah. All right. Well, thank you again for being here today and I hope the listeners can walk away feeling very empowered and feel like they can take the next step in seeking out mental health care and not feel limited by, Oh, are they in network with my insurance or are they not?
Like just go find the right fit and thrizer can help you in that process. Exactly. Exactly. Thank you for listening to another episode of bossing up overcoming OCD. This information is intended to be helpful and not a substitute for professional counseling. If you're struggling with any mental health challenges, I encourage you to seek help from a qualified therapist or healthcare professional.
If you enjoyed today's episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and don't forget to check out the affiliate links in the [00:46:00] show notes below. For hand picked recommendations that can brighten your day. Your support through these links helps keep the show running and provide valuable content.
You're not alone in your journey. Stay strong, stay resilient and keep bossing up. See you next time.
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