In these uncertain times, with all the current changing regulations of how claims are submitted, received and processed by Insurance Carriers, it can be quite overwhelming financially. The most frequent questions asked are… Am I collecting the most amount possible? Just how do I know I am collecting around possible? How can I increase my revenue? Perhaps a Medical Billing Service could answer most of these questions and calm the angst that’s associated with them. There are lots of benefits to a Medical Billing Service. Listed here are six benefits that are explored in more detail.
Increase Collection Rates with a Medical Billing Service
Many people are underneath the impression that Medical Billing is only data entry; however, it’s a great deal more than that. To be able to bring in the most amount of cash on the claims being submitted there must be follow-up on the claims medical billing company. This quite often is where in-house billing falls short, with regards to the quantity of staff that’s area of the department, claim submission and payment posting end up being the priorities. As an example if you have one biller in a two physician practice that sees a decent quantity of patients daily, the biller’s time is especially going to be allocated to creating, submitting and posting payments for claims. Entering in the claims, and reviewing each claim before it gets delivered to the insurance carrier is time consuming. This is also true with payment posting; it’s time consuming to publish the cash received to each CPT code, yet extremely important. With just those two responsibilities, there is little time left for the claims that need more action. Usually the claims that are denied require little action to be able to become paid claims. However, it will take time to follow-up with the insurance company to see what is needed to have the claim paid. Follow-up alone is just a full time position. With a Medical Billing Service there are multiple personnel doing work for your practice. Often times there is one full time dedicated person following through to all claims that need further action. Rather than spending money on two full time employees most Medical Billing Services have follow-up on claims as a standard service of Claim Processing.
Increase Profitability with a Medical Billing Service
There are multiple ways that a Medical Billing Service can boost the profitability of a Medical Practice, including, but not restricted to staff availability, eligibility services, and CPT trending. When you hire a Medical Billing Service you’re getting multiple billers taking care of your account. There is constant activity with claims submissions, payment posting, follow-up, patient billing and account inquiries. If some of those billers happens to be out, there are multiple billers there to fill in, ensuring that no work is left until that biller is back the office. This implies there is no disruption in the Billing Process and no hiccup in the revenue received. Patient Eligibility is one of many easiest ways to ensure proper payment of claims. Before the patient even walks through the doorway, the patient has received their eligibility verified. Therefore ensures the practice that the patient is covered underneath the insurance carrier on the file, and any referral that’s needed has been obtained. In addition, it enables any Insurance Carrier discrepancies (such as a change of insurance, mistyped ID number, etc) to be fixed before the visit, leading to an increase in “clean” claims, which often contributes to an increase in profit for the practice. Another way to boost profitability with a Medical Billing Service is through CPT trending. When payments are receiving posted to CPT codes, the billers often see a pattern to what codes are now being paid and just how much is being received per code. This may often cause two different scenarios. One being that certain codes aren’t being paid on, which often allows the practice to determine whether or not to carry on to provide that service for their patients, or find an alternative or comparable service that they’ll provide and that will be paid. The second scenario is that the practice is performing a procedure often, therefore allowing a renegotiation with the Insurance Carrier of just how much to be compensated. The above mentioned are just three out of several ways a Medical Billing Service will help Increase Profitability for a Practice.
Increase Physician Productivity with a Medical Billing Service
Whenever a physician is certain that the financial aspect of their business is in good hands, and is not focused on whether or not claims are now being submitted and money is being collected, they could focus on what’s the most important aspects of a physician’s job – patient care. With a Medical Billing Service if there is a CPT code involved or a diagnosis code that cannot be found, the Medical Billing Service will be able to aid in discovering that code. Therefore allows the physician to help keep on seeing patients and charting without skipping a defeat, as opposed to sitting and trying to determine what the code is. Similar to CPT trending, which supports increase profitability, a similar trend happens when the billers are reviewing claims prior for them being submitted to the insurance carrier. The billers will assist the physicians when there is a conflict in the codes being billed or if they see something that’s being repeated that will help the physician and save them time when doing their chart notes. Many Medical Billing Services provide the services of a Business Analyst who works with the physician and their office staff and provide suggestions on how best to maximize using tools available (i.e. EMR, MAs, office flow, etc). This may increase efficiency and productivity.
Increase Staff Productivity with a Medical Billing Service
In addition to offering the services of a Business Analyst, some Medical Billing Services may also offer training on how best to properly register an individual, collect co-payments, and create an optimal office flow that will increase productivity throughout the office. Many office staff members do not realize the significance of their job; not realizing they are projecting the initial impression on patients that walk through the door. Properly trained office staff gives more of their awareness of the patients, which often will undoubtedly be appreciated by those patients who are also prone to recommend the physician for their friends and relatives. Along with increasing the efficiency of work a Medical Billing Service also eliminates many patient calls regarding their accounts. Whenever a patient has a question regarding a record, or a bill that they have received either from work or an insurance carrier, the decision is handled by the Medical Billing Service. They are able to assist your patient in an expert manner, without the pressure of having to test in patients, answer the telephone, etc. The attention and professional manner in which the Medical Billing Service personnel conduct their business will assure the patients that their questions and concerns are now being handled properly.
Decrease Claim Denials with a Medical Billing Service
With a Medical Billing Service, the staff that’s specialized in your practice goes through each claim before it’s submitted to make sure that it is just a “clean” claim. A “clean” claim is what it appears like; a claim that’s the proper CPT codes associated with the diagnosis codes, complete patient information, and complete insurance information. This decreases the chance of denial by the insurance company. Medical Billing Services make sure that the best percentage of “clean” claims possible are now being submitted to the insurance carrier. This advances the revenue finding its way back to the practice in addition to decreases the quantity of labor needed seriously to follow-up on claims. Medical Billing Services know that the time spent reviewing claims to make sure they meet the insurance carrier standards is really worth the time.
Gain insight into your practice financials with a Medical Billing Service
A Medical Billing Service knows which reports to operate to offer physicians complete insight to the financial side of their practice. Medical Billing Services know very well what money is being billed out to the insurance carriers, in addition to what’s being received from insurance carriers and patient payments. This is turn allows the Medical Billing Service to operate the correct reports that show the physicians what they want to know, as opposed to giving reports that show miscellaneous data that will not pertain to the main financial insight of the practice. Many Billing Services may also be able to offer physician requested financial reports very easily. As an example, if a physician needs to understand how many specific procedures were done in a date span for Credentialing, the Medical Billing Service can quickly obtain this information. Another way to achieve insight into the financial side of the practice is always to trend how a insurance carriers are paying. If an Insurance carrier increases or decreases the quantity received, it will undoubtedly be seen straight away by the Medical Billing Service, thereby allowing the correction or renegotiation of any discrepancy in payments.