Top 10 Ways Medical Billing Services Can Help a Practice Grow

An end-to-end medical billing company can manage a practice’s coding and billing processes as well as claims follow-up with all the insurance carriers. They may provide additional services, such as analysis of a practice’s overall financial progress, new payer credentialing and compliance status, or even marketing and branding. In small practices, it is extremely challenging for back-office staff to meet medical billing deadlines as well as needing to perform insurance verification and patient-related responsibilities? 

This workload often results in mistakes or shortcuts that can cost the practice revenue in both the short and long term. Moreover, carrier follow-up and pursuing denied claims are two areas where most services outshine in-house staff.

The following are the top 10 reasons why use a medical billing service to grow a practice?

• Saves time:

A professional medical billing company can help you save time spent on administrative tasks. It would make your physicians and doctors free for more productivity and patient-oriented services. It can also drive maximum patient satisfaction as they can get the time and attention they deserve with reduced insurance and other preventable errors that could cause headaches not only for your staff but for your patients. 

• Saves money:

Medical billing services would help you save money that could be spent on hiring additional staff for medical billing and coding personnel. Thus it would allow funds to go to the building, equipment, or other necessary improvements. When one considers that employing staff not only includes salaries but insurance and other benefits that make you upgrade expertise, the amount of money spent on outsourcing medical billing services pale in comparison. Moreover, some studies show that poor medical billing practices cost providers an estimated @125 billion yearly. 

• Improves workflow:

Your staff should be more efficient and able to attend to patient’s requirements by improving their workflow. Hence, it would drive maximum patient satisfaction and improve your practice’s bottom line. Many smaller practices’ office staff are bound to wear more than one hat: reception, A/R and A/P as well as having to code and submit claims. These tasks leave less time to spend on correctly performing claims submission not to mention following up regularly. Overworked employees tend to make more mistakes to get rid of the burden and forego claims follow-up. 

• Clean claims:

Fewer medical billing mistakes in the initial revenue cycle management result in fewer resubmitted claims, which can translate into maximum revenue sooner. A good medical billing service has trained and experienced employees dedicated to processing the claims who are completely focused on their tasks. They don’t need to distract themselves from a streamlined process and they can work faster but stay on the top of the latest in government and insurance industry regulations. 

Training and retraining a practice’s employees to upgrade their craft to comply with the latest changes can be expensive and time-consuming. Especially in a smaller and medium-sized business. Most providers would probably rather spend that money on capital improvements as well as branding their business and other means of attracting new patients.

• Analysis of operational capabilities:

The better medical billing services offer an analysis of a practice’s claims management and can help providers to establish effective plans to improve medical billing. It would also reduce errors and resubmissions of claims and thus increase revenue-recovery efficiency. This can be especially helpful for newer practices with limited resources available to grow their practice. While you can make your business stay at the competitive edge in today’s consumer-based markets. Having an insider’s assistance to create a plan for growth and the tools required to help stay on track are some of the best features offered by an outstanding medical billing company.

• Better Protection Against Fraudulent Claims:

Fraudulent and abusive claims can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. While the larger cases are more likely to collect the most attention, small claims can be just as expensive cumulatively.  Expert medical billing professionals have the resources and time to focus on these small claims just as much as the large ones. Additionally, they have a greater awareness of the red flags that you might otherwise miss, meaning that they are more likely to catch the fraudulent activities that might otherwise slip away. And that means you can save more money by preventing revenue loss between the cracks.

• Better Informed of Changes in Law and Industry:

Changes occur within all levels of the regulations and industry standards on a daily basis. From the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to the National Correct Coding Initiative, it's a difficult task for you to comply with everything. As soon as the laws and code changes, you are liable to new challenges of upgrading your existing system. With billing professionals handling the matter for you, you will know exactly what you require to know when you need to know it.

• Better Poised to Adopt New Policies:

Being aware of and complying with the new laws is only one step in ineffective billing practices. As the new laws come into effect, you have to know how it will impact your policies and how you need to change your policies to avoid being penalized or revenue loss. Since medical billing professionals specialize in this field, they have significant knowledge and experience in adapting current policies to reflect the trends in the industry and protect your interests. Failing to adapt your policies or making the wrong choice can both be expensive mistakes.

• Better Supervision and Advice Billing Practices:

Billing practices themselves can be time-consuming in their procedure, but they also have to be managed. You may find some of your medical services becoming more expensive, or you may want to offer additional ones. A medical billing company can help keep track of these changes and provide expert advice on the changes you should consider.

• Better Protection Against Investigations:

According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, healthcare practitioners lose more than 80 billion dollars each year. While the perpetrators may not be hospital staff or medical personnel, hospitals and their staff are often subservient to investigation when these claims are submitted. A qualified medical billing professional will offer extensive documentation and reviews for both pre and post payments.  Additionally, they will use standardized formats and strategies for handling billing matters that will simplify the process. They can create essential blueprints of information that is required to investigators.

Medical Billing Benefits provide the latest news on the whole medical billing process with intuitive strategies for accurate coding, insurance verification, claim submission, and payment follow-up. Contact us today! To schedule a free business consultation about billing and revenue management requirements.