In these uncertain times, with all the changing regulations of how claims are submitted, received and processed by Insurance Carriers, it can be very overwhelming financially. The most frequent questions asked are… Am I collecting the most amount possible? How do I understand I’m collecting as much as possible? How do I increase my revenue? Perhaps a Medical Billing Service could answer all of these questions and calm the angst that is related to them. There are lots of benefits to a Medical Billing Service. Here are six benefits which can be explored in more detail.
Increase Collection Rates with a Medical Billing Service
Many people are beneath the impression that Medical Billing is only data entry; however, it’s a whole lot more than that. To be able to bring in the most sum of money on the claims being submitted there must be follow-up on the claims covid billing. This often times is where in-house billing falls short, with regards to the quantity of staff that is the main department, claim submission and payment posting become the priorities. As an example when you have one biller in a two physician practice that sees a good quantity of patients per day, the biller’s time is especially going to be spent on creating, submitting and posting payments for claims. Entering in the claims, and reviewing each claim before it gets sent to the insurance carrier is time consuming. This is also true with payment posting; it’s time intensive to publish the money received to each CPT code, yet extremely important. With just those two responsibilities, there’s little time left for the claims that require more action. Most often the claims which can be denied require little action to be able to become paid claims. However, it will take the time to follow-up with the insurance company to see what is needed to have the claim paid. Follow-up alone is a regular position. With a Medical Billing Service you can find multiple personnel doing work for your practice. Quite often there’s one regular dedicated person following on all claims that require further action. As opposed to investing in two regular 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 the Medical Billing Service can boost the profitability of a Medical Practice, including, however not limited by staff availability, eligibility services, and CPT trending. When you hire a Medical Billing Service you’re getting multiple billers focusing on your account. There’s constant activity with claims submissions, payment posting, follow-up, patient billing and account inquiries. If one particular billers is out, you can find multiple billers there to fill in, ensuring that no work is left until that biller is back the office. This means there’s no disruption in the Billing Process and no hiccup in the revenue received. Patient Eligibility is among the easiest ways to ensure proper payment of claims. Before the patient even walks through the entranceway, the patient has had their eligibility verified. This in turn ensures the practice that the patient is currently covered beneath the insurance carrier on their file, and any referral that is needed has been obtained. It also makes for any Insurance Carrier discrepancies (such as a big change of insurance, mistyped ID number, etc) to be fixed ahead of the visit, ultimately causing an increase in “clean” claims, which in turn contributes to an increase in profit for the practice. Another way to improve profitability with a Medical Billing Service is through CPT trending. When payments are receiving posted to CPT codes, the billers often see a development as to the codes are now being paid and just how much is being received per code. This may often result in two different scenarios. One being that certain codes are not being paid on, which in turn allows the practice to decide if to continue to provide that service to their patients, or find an alternate or comparable service that they can provide and that will be paid. The next 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 are just three out of many 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 the business is in good hands, and is not focused on if claims are now being submitted and money is being collected, they could focus on what’s the most important areas of a physician’s job – patient care. With a Medical Billing Service if there is a CPT code involved or perhaps a diagnosis code that can not be found, the Medical Billing Service will be able to assist in finding that code. This in turn allows the physician to keep on seeing patients and charting without skipping a beat, instead of sitting and trying to find out what the code is. Much like CPT trending, which helps increase profitability, a similar trend happens when the billers are reviewing claims prior to them being submitted to the insurance carrier. The billers will assist the physicians if you find a conflict in the codes being billed or if they see something that is being repeated that will assist the physician and save them time when doing their chart notes. Many Medical Billing Services offer the services of a Business Analyst who will continue to work with the physician and their office staff and provide suggestions on how to maximize the usage of tools available (i.e. EMR, MAs, office flow, etc). This can increase efficiency and productivity.
Increase Staff Productivity with a Medical Billing Service
Along with offering the services of a Business Analyst, some Medical Billing Services may also offer training on how to properly register a patient, collect co-payments, and create a maximum office flow that’ll increase productivity through the office. Many office staff members do not realize the importance of their job; not realizing that they are projecting the initial impression on patients that walk through the door. Properly trained office staff gives more of the awareness of the patients, which in turn will undoubtedly be appreciated by those patients that are also more likely to recommend the physician to their friends and relatives. Along with increasing the efficiency of the office a Medical Billing Service also eliminates many patient calls regarding their accounts. Whenever a patient features a question regarding a statement, or perhaps a bill that they have received either from the office or an insurance carrier, the decision is handled by the Medical Billing Service. They can assist your patient in an expert manner, without the pressure of having to check in patients, answer the phone, etc. The eye and professional way 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 is dedicated to your practice goes through each claim before it’s submitted to make sure that it is a “clean” claim. A “clean” claim is what it seems like; a state that has the right CPT codes related to the diagnosis codes, complete patient information, and complete insurance information. This decreases the chance of denial by the insurance company. Medical Billing Services make certain that the highest percentage of “clean” claims possible are now being submitted to the insurance carrier. This increases the revenue coming back to the practice in addition to decreases the amount of labor needed to follow-up on claims. Medical Billing Services know that enough time spent reviewing claims to make sure they meet the insurance carrier standards is well worth the time.
Gain insight into your practice financials with a Medical Billing Service
A Medical Billing Service knows which reports to run to give physicians complete insight to the financial side of the practice. Medical Billing Services understand 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 run the appropriate reports that show the physicians what they want to know, instead of 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 provide physician requested financial reports very easily. As an example, in case a physician needs to learn exactly how many specific procedures were done in a date span for Credentialing, the Medical Billing Service can certainly obtain this information. Another way to gain insight in to the financial side of the practice is always to trend how a insurance carriers are paying. If an Insurance carrier increases or decreases the total amount received, it will undoubtedly be seen right away by the Medical Billing Service, thereby allowing the correction or renegotiation of any discrepancy in payments.