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In these uncertain times, with all the current changing regulations of how claims are submitted, received and processed by Insurance Carriers, it can be very overwhelming financially. The most common questions asked are… Am I collecting the maximum amount possible? How do I know I am collecting around possible? How can I increase my revenue? Perhaps a Medical Billing Service could answer all of these questions and calm the angst that’s connected with them. There are lots of benefits to a Medical Billing Service. Below are six benefits which can be explored in more detail.

Increase Collection Rates with a Medical Billing Service

Many individuals are under the impression that Medical Billing is merely data entry; however, it’s a great deal more than that. In order to generate the maximum sum of money on the claims being submitted there needs to be follow-up on the claims medical billing company. This sometimes is where in-house billing falls short, with respect to the number of staff that’s area of the department, claim submission and payment posting end up being the priorities. As an example when you yourself have one biller in a two physician practice that sees a significant number of patients per day, 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 create the money received to each CPT code, yet extremely important. With just those two responsibilities, there is very little time left for the claims that need more action. Most often the claims which can be denied require little action in order to become paid claims. However, it does take care to follow-up with the insurance company to see what is required to obtain the claim paid. Follow-up alone is a full-time position. With a Medical Billing Service you can find multiple personnel working for your practice. Sometimes there is one full-time dedicated person following up on all claims that need further action. As opposed to paying for two full-time employees most Medical Billing Services have follow-up on claims as a regular service of Claim Processing.

Increase Profitability with a Medical Billing Service

You can find multiple ways that a Medical Billing Service can increase the profitability of a Medical Practice, including, however not restricted to staff availability, eligibility services, and CPT trending. Once you hire a Medical Billing Service you’re getting multiple billers focusing on your account. There is constant activity with claims submissions, payment posting, follow-up, patient billing and account inquiries. If one particular billers happens to be out, you can find multiple billers there to complete, ensuring that no work is left until that biller is in the office. What this means is 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 currently covered under 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 big change of insurance, mistyped ID number, etc) to be fixed before the visit, ultimately causing a rise in “clean” claims, which often contributes to a rise 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 tendency from what codes are being paid and just how much will be received per code. This will often lead to two different scenarios. One being that certain codes are not being paid on, which often allows the practice to determine whether to keep to offer that service to their patients, or find an alternate or comparable service that they’ll 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 mentioned are only three out of many ways a Medical Billing Service can help Increase Profitability for a Practice.

Increase Physician Productivity with a Medical Billing Service

Whenever a physician is confident that the financial aspect of these business is in good hands, and is not focused on whether claims are being submitted and money will be collected, they can concentrate on what’s the most important aspects of a physician’s job – patient care. With a Medical Billing Service when there is a CPT code under consideration or even a diagnosis code that can not be found, the Medical Billing Service will have a way to assist in finding 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 figure out what the code is. Just like CPT trending, which supports increase profitability, an identical trend happens once the billers are reviewing claims prior in their mind 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 assist the physician and save them time when doing their chart notes. Many Medical Billing Services provide the services of a Business Analyst who will work with the physician and their office staff and provide suggestions on how to maximize using tools readily available (i.e. EMR, MAs, office flow, etc). This can 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 will even offer training on how to properly register an individual, collect co-payments, and create an optimum office flow that may increase productivity through the office. Many office staff members don’t realize the significance of their job; not realizing they are projecting the very first impression on patients that walk through the door. Properly trained office staff will give more of these attention to the patients, which often will be appreciated by those patients who’re also more prone to recommend the physician to their friends and relatives. Along side increasing the efficiency of work a Medical Billing Service also eliminates many patient calls regarding their accounts. Whenever a patient features a question regarding a record, or even a bill they’ve received either from work or an insurance carrier, the call is handled by the Medical Billing Service. They can assist your patient in an expert manner, without the pressure of experiencing to check on in patients, answer the phone, etc. The eye and professional manner in which the Medical Billing Service personnel conduct their business will assure the patients that their questions and concerns are being managed properly.

Decrease Claim Denials with a Medical Billing Service

With a Medical Billing Service, the staff that’s dedicated to your practice experiences each claim before it’s submitted to make sure that it is a “clean” claim. A “clean” claim is what it sounds like; a state that’s the right CPT codes connected 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 greatest percentage of “clean” claims possible are being submitted to the insurance carrier. This advances the revenue returning to the practice along with decreases the total amount of labor needed to follow-up on claims. Medical Billing Services realize that enough time spent reviewing claims to make sure they meet with 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 run to offer physicians complete insight to the financial side of these practice. Medical Billing Services know what money will be billed out to the insurance carriers, along with 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, as opposed to giving reports that show miscellaneous data that will not pertain to the key financial insight of the practice. Many Billing Services are also able to supply physician requested financial reports very easily. As an example, in case a physician needs to know 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 get insight in to the financial side of the practice would be to trend how a insurance carriers are paying. If an Insurance carrier increases or decreases the amount received, it will be seen straight away by the Medical Billing Service, thereby allowing the correction or renegotiation of any discrepancy in payments.