Hiring medical billing services at your practice demands some serious thinking. For one thing, it sure is the start of a long-term relationship and compatibility matters. Let’s see what does it take to achieve that.
1.Cost effectivity
Price of hiring is the most significant determinant while looking for external medical billing services at your practice. As per the current trend, billing companies charge you a percentage of the revenue being captured through their service. Now, if the practice does not have enough volume of files to reach the minimum basic amount charged by the biller, chances are you will be at loss. The cost of service is calculated based on the percentile claims being submitted, number of payers involved, clearing house charges and amount of co-pays received.
Always compare the cost of processing the bills in-house to the service charge stipulated by the external biller. See what works for your practice. Taking the efficiency factor and turn around time, an external biller is the cheaper option in most scenarios. Not to mention how much one can save by sparing additional billing staff, costly billing software, data storage and infrastructure required for doing billing in-house.
2.Client support features
Always, make sure that the staff at the medical billing services are readily approachable to answer your queries about billing process. While hiring a service, check what kind of communication they will maintain with clients throughout. The provider and the administrative staff should be able to reach the billing company regarding any clarification required without delays. Choose a company that maintains single point of contact with clients to avoid confusions at work.
Go for a biller who can guide and support you in improving the workflow. Experienced billers offer educational training to the staff at the facility for process updating. One surely requires help with data migration and transition of billing process to the new environment. Your biller should able to conduct the necessary handholding while making the shift. And that includes template creation, EHR migration, workflow integration and more.
3.Agreeable service contracts
Different medical billing services come up with varying lengths of services and packages. Scalability is very important while choosing a biller. Go for a company that can scale up or scale down to match the requirements of your practice. And when it comes to terms of contract, be wise in opting the number of years required. Some companies tend to revise their billing rates over the years. Also look out for the penalties mentioned in the contract in case you choose to discontinue their services. Because these are a few areas often overlooked, but pose serious revenue loss to practices.
4.Coding process
The most important decisive factor for medical billing services is their coding process. When it comes to billing and claim, using proper codes is key. Make sure their coders are qualified, certified and uses proper coding software at work. Practices get into trouble with Federal coding audits all the time due to poor coding compliance. Many at times, practices outsource their revenue process to professionals after facing frequent coding errors.
Coding is an area that demands attention to detail and experience. With the shifting sands of coding regulations these days, one has to undergo periodic training to stay abreast in the trade. Also, incorrect coding leads to high rates of claim denials. When a code is missed by inexperience, valuable service goes unpaid. All these pose breaches in the bottom lines of your practice but are surely avoidable. Make sure your biller has a flawless coding process to offer.
5.Support to speciality practices
Not all medical billing services support all kinds of healthcare specialities. This is one thing you should research while hiring a biller. Ask you peers and look out for client reviews while outsourcing your practice specialities revenue cycle management. The biller should be proficient in dealing with multiple speciality practices and their special requirements regarding billing patterns and coding regulations. Clarify with the support team on your special demands regarding customizing the practice templates and EHR charting.
6.Privacy and security measures
This is another critical area of concern for providers when they outsource billing process to medical billing services. The government takes privacy of personal and health related data of patients very seriously. Any violation or breach in data security while handling the billing process or online transfer of treatment records is a federal violation. The provider and practice will face legal issues if there is accountable evidence of negligence found. Double check with the billing service on their commitment to HIPPA and data security measures to eliminate possible glitches in process.
7.Advanced technology solutions
Most medical billing services operate on cloud-based environments where they can access your patient data on an integrated platform. This means digitalizing your entire workflow. Always prefer a billing company that partners with the best practice management software available in the market. This way, you can digitalize the practice to increase efficiency and also enjoy the benefits of outsourcing.
With bundled services that offer software solutions; training and software support is offered as an add on. Make sure you get maximum assistance in migrating the existing bills to the new digital platform. Good billing services take up the existing account receivables at the practice, and work on them to speed up reimbursements. Apart from that they guide you on practices of process improvement and train your staff to maximize profit.
8.Patient engagement services
Patient management is a highly sought out area by providers, which takes away the burden of handling appointments and payment collections to a great extent. Medical billing services can help with this in a very efficient manner. Ask for a billing service which also provides patient portals for easy correspondence. Through which the patients can book appointments with their favourite provider, look into the billing invoice, get answers to all their concerns and make convenient payments. This in turn has helped providers with improved patient satisfaction and increase in referrals.
The right sync and connect between a biller and provider can be the beginning of a profitable revenue cycle. Make sure you do some critical thinking on the key areas listed above.
