Medical billing is the activity of submitting and following-up claims to health insurance companies for reimbursement of medical services provided by a doctor. It includes coding, which comprises medical diagnosis and procedures and submitting of claims to insurance companies and handling of payments collected. The purpose of medical billing is to pay healthcare providers in a timely manner and in accordance with insurance policies and standards.
The purpose of medical billing is to facilitate timely collection of payment to the healthcare providers while conforming to the insurance requirements and parameters. This comprehensive guide will show you how to find the right medical billing company, by comprehending the essential factors that will enhance your billing efficiency and financial outcomes.
Choosing a medical billing partner
Selecting a medical billing partner is a major decision that will have a significant impact on the bottom line and efficiency of your practice. With changing healthcare laws and the pressure of finances aspect the need for a proper medical billing company becomes paramount to sustain a constant flow of income. The top medical billing companies stand out for their expertise, technology, and proven results, helping healthcare providers confidently navigate industry challenges. It’s important to select a partner with experience in your specialty, strong industry credentials, and a proven track record of improving claim accuracy and reimbursement rates.
Factors to consider when Outsourcing Billing
Outsourcing is one of the most effective and efficient plans to enhance capacity, decrease operation cost and enhance efficiency in organization and company’s processes. When you outsource your medical billing, it saves your employees a lot of time and allows you to be able to spend more time with patients treating patients. Determining outsourcing goals is a critical step in the process. Here are some key factors to consider when outsourcing medical billing requirements:
- Experience
- End-to-end RCM Solutions
- Coding proficiency
- Infrastructure and IT Support
- Recruitment and HR Support
- Pricing
1. Experience
Billing for healthcare services has remained a challenge due to too many rules, regulations and codes involved. When hiring an experienced company you can be assured that you are dealing with an expert in the process. They will be well informed regarding all aspects of billing for medical services and important rules and compliance as well as best practices. They stand in a position which gives them the ability to address the specific issues since they have dealt with insurances. Ensure that you work with a company that has some experience with your area of specialization.
2. End-to-end RCM solutions
Select a company that offers full RCM services since you will need them all. Features of complete and specific RCM services incorporate patient registration, insurance verification, coding, charge entry, cash application and reconciliation, claims creation and submission, accounts receivable, and denial management. An ideal partner will have a team of billing specialists that can go through the entire RCM process.
3. Coding proficiency
Implementing coding mistakes can be attributed to the highest rate of denials. It is important that you select a company which employs personnel with AAPC certification specialized in ICD-10-CPT coding. For expert coders, the medical record can be read with the required accuracy and coded as needed. They can also reach out to providers when required to make sure codes are assigned and the payment received.
4. Infrastructure and IT support
Many people fail to understand that infrastructure and IT support are key factors in organizational effectiveness. While considering outsourcing, see whether the potential outsourcing provider employs the right technology. Ask if they have a healthy infrastructure, since quality business infrastructures and IT services contribute to progress to avoid disturbance of proper organization and executions of tasks.
5. Recruitment and HR support
The HRM is often critical with the management of the employee life cycle, with functions of recruiting, selecting, training and developing and maintaining employees. It also manages the allowance of employee benefits in the company.
6. Pricing
This is a hard-to-understand, but check with the company about the cost and fees they might be charging. Know how they pay – some billing agencies take a cut of collections or a flat fee, and others a combination of both. Ideally, you will find a company and a price point that will save you 30-40% of your expenses. There are initial quotations which do not come with any hidden costs or fees so check to see if there are any.
How to Evaluate Billing Companies
Consider Past Experience
Firstly, verify the experience of a medical billing company. This is not only applicable during working years. Also, understand the types of healthcare providers they have dealt with and the types of cases they had to handle. Working with a qualified company can be invaluable great resource of experience and practical ideas specific to the field that can improve your revenue cycle, respectively.
Request a Demonstration
Request the company to explain to you how their billing software and operational procedures work. It makes sense to get a brief walkthrough of the system in action, showing that it works in sync with your practice management software. Take note of usability, reporting, and flexibility features.
Well-Established Billing Partner
Reputation plays a vital role in the medical billing field. This depicts a company competence, dependability and ethical standards. Research the company’s standing within the particular sector, find out about the positive and negative feedback, ask for the reference list, and attempt to realize how satisfied the previous and current clients are.
Get Documentation of Your Specialist Practice
It is important to be specific and choose a billing company that has experience in your specific practice. Request the company to produce evidence of working with other similar practices. In terms of medical billing, a general practitioner has different requirements as opposed to a surgeon for instance. It will help acquire specialty-specific experience, which may enhance your billing cycle and minimize claims denials or rejections. Ensure that the medical billing companies have qualified personnel that has been certified by professional bodies like AAPC or AHIMA among others. This keeps the billing company’s team well informed and well trained to deliver their services.
Medical billing Outsourcing Solutions
1. Insurance Verification:
Verify insurance and eligibility of patients so that no last-minute surprises are caused by unexpected charges, and bills and codes are correct.
2. Medical Coding:
Code medical interventions, diagnoses and treatments correctly so claims get submitted.
3. Charge Entry:
Fees for medical services and other accounting data is written in to the patient accounts.
4. Denial Management:
Audit, identify and correct the denial errors immediately and respond to denied or late claims promptly.
5. Patient Statement:
Patients are issued statement with patient unpaid and waiting to be collected on time and remaining.
6. Payment Posting:
Payment information goes into the system and the balance of the patient’s payment and insurance check is checked.
7. Accounts Receivable Follow-up:
Reduce the A/R days through appeals and end-to-end denial management.
Benefits of hiring a billing company
Choosing a well-experienced medical billing agency to help you make success and remain as competitive as possible is the best and most sustainable solution. By using a billing company, you can outsource the administrative and financial tasks from doctors to those better trained and equipped to do it. Some of the benefits are:
- Reduced Billing Errors
- Greater Revenue for Practitioners
- Greater Accountability
- Higher Financial Transparency and Analysis
- Streamlines Daily Billing Operations
1. Reduced Billing Errors
To avoid making mistakes in the forms and insurance claims, it is essential to hire a medical biller. It is estimated that around 78% of the medical bills have some sort of error that can compromise the way insurance providers are paid for the services delivered. Hiring a professional medical billing company to manage billing services will help you develop and issue flawless documents and process insurance claims efficiently. It implies improved office organizing, adherence to provisions, decreased coding and billing mistakes, and more per patient savings if they are using their billing professionals.
2. Greater Revenue for Practitioners
In regards to insurance claims, health care practitioners often suffer annual revenue deficits, as their insurance claims are usually denied. The AARP also revealed that one of every seven claims is denied and there are over 200 million claim denials daily. This occurs for various reasons including missed appointments, incorrectly filled claim forms due to wrong information, wrong medical code, insurance and many others. Few people know that the statistics show that about 30% of all insurance payments are either paid or rejected. An efficient medical billing company improves the overall collection of net revenue and corrects the flaws of the existing revenue cycle.
3. Greater Accountability
It is rare to find a medical biller who does not use software to manage revenue cycle processes efficiently. This means you will achieve the best results and avoid compromising your practice’s financial outcomes due to the human factor. The featured medical billing services demonstrate professionalism, technological advancements, and successful outcomes that enable providers to address the industry’s issues effectively.
4. Higher Financial Transparency and Analysis
It is almost impossible to maintain the transparency of medical billing. Healthcare facilities and employees can make significant impacts on the patient’s condition by optimizing flow of billing and payments. The costs and timing complications associated with a medical practice can be tackled effectively and with ease through engagement of a qualified medical billing agency. An experienced medical billing company can increase your cash flow and improve operating margins by adopting efficient billing solutions. The increased operational transparency and financial efficiency will help you enhance the patient experience, which is essential to achieving business outcomes.
5. Streamlines Daily Billing Operations
Working with codes and insurance is a dynamic field, which requires time to understand and follow all regulations and policies. A professional medical billing and coding specialist is familiar with medical coding, billing, and the procedures relating to the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. A skill doctor and coders can easily identify compliance problems, thus reducing payment rejections and increasing the practice’s cash receipts and revenue. The employees of the medical billing company that you hired will reduce stress, recover rejected insurance claims, and give you the opportunity to devote more time to improve patient care or expand your medical practice.
Final Thoughts
After carefully assessing all these factors, you can select the billing service that is right for your practice. Couple of additional quick notes always make sure to read customer reviews and definitely start with a free trial if possible. Most of the best medical billing companies provide a free trial to help you try them out and see how they work before deciding on a partnership. Contact us today to know more about outsourcing!