8 Reasons To Use A Medical Billing Company ( And 1 Reason Not To ) - By: Jeff Roh

You may have heard the saying "do what you do best and outsource the rest." This saying can easily apply to medical billing and your front office operations. Some of the reasons to do so may be obvious, while other reasons you may not have considered. And there is even one reason why you may not want to. So for your consideration, here are the top 8 reasons to consider hiring a medical billing company, and one reason why not to.

1. Be a doctor again
Remember, do what you do best and outsource the rest? You are a doctor, that is what you do best. All of the other duties of your practice are administration, which take time away from seeing patients when you are wrapped up in the day-to-day operations. With Medicare cuts, insurance paying less, costs rising, seeing more patients is as important as ever. Handing these functions over to an outside medical billing service can free up staff to perform other essential operations that sometimes get pushed aside. Likewise, outsourcing can also prevent your billing, collections, and follow up from being pushed aside as so often happens when the office gets busy.

2. Stay current with the latest updates
Healthcare billing is more complex now than even just a couple of years ago. Insurance carriers are constantly changing their rules, making updates, compliance and regulatory agencies do as well. And when the mandated switch to ICD-10 diagnosis coding occurs, there will be more than ever before to keep current with. The focus of a professional biller is on the pulse of healthcare billing. A medical billing service will stay on top of everything for you.

3. Cut your rejection and denial rate
Denials can run up to 30% or more of a practice's billing. Sometimes collections are allowed to go past a collectable date. Even having an in-house billing person dedicated to nothing else does not always resolve this. It is inevitable that other tasks will draw the attention of staff throughout the day. A medical billing specialist is dedicated to getting as much of your money for you as possible. After all, they do not get paid if you do not get paid.

4. Reduce expenses
This is a result of the last reason, as well as overall it is much more cost effective to outsource your medical billing. The cost to hire, train, and employ an in-house biller can far exceed that of sending your claims filing to an outside source. Plus, the motivation to collect your money for you is often times greater. You pay your staff whether your denials and unpaid claims are 35% or 2% For an outside biller, their pay is tied to your pay. Who do you think is going to be more motivated?

5. Keep compliant without the cost
Another money saving consideration. What does it cost you to keep and implement a compliance plan? Keeping a compliance plan in place, training, education for staff. When you outsource, the cost of compliance and a compliance officer is taken on by the billing company who in turn is able to spread their cost out over several clients.

6. Technology is expensive - and requires constant updates
In-house billing software is expensive. And it requires constant updates which are expensive. Even if you use web-based applications, there are monthly costs associated with those as well. Pass these costs off to a billing company.

7. Payroll is one of your biggest expenses
The Society of Human Resources Management estimates that the cost of recruiting, hiring, and training a new employee is $3500. Hiring competent help can be hard. Factor in sick time, vacation time, employee turnover, benefits, taxes on employees and the cost of keeping billing in-house can add up.

8. Reduce employee theft
It is unfortunate that I have to put this reason here, but you would be surprised at some of the stories I have come across. Unfortunately there are people out there who might take advantage of you. Having one person in-house handle the billing and the money could create an unwanted opportunity. Having an outside company handle your claims filing will not completely eliminate this threat. You will still handle the money in-house. However, an independent medical billing service creates another "check and balance". It is always a good idea to split the responsibilities that involve money between a few people.

So there you have it. Eight reasons to consider how outsourcing your medical billing can save you money, time, waste and energy.

And yes, I did say there was one reason not to outsource your medical billing.

Letting go can be hard to do
Sending your billing outside can feel like you are giving up control, and that is a reasonable concern. If I did not address that here then I would be doing a disservice. After all, your claims are what keep the lights on. It can be scary trusting the most important administration function of your practice to an outside source.

But you do not have to give up control when you outsource your billing. When hiring a billing company, ask questions, discuss expectations. Keep good communication with your consultant. Make sure they provide you with reports. A company that files claims using web-based software can give you 24/7 access in real-time to the status of your money.

Physicians are already working harder than ever, and with changes in healthcare coming down the pipe, your burdens are bound to increase. One question you may ask yourself is why have the additional burden of running a billing and collections operation? Many business people today live by the rule - never do anything that you can have someone else do more efficiently and at a lesser cost. Your practice is a business. Could it run more efficient? There are eight things for you to consider. Ultimately, it is your decision.

About the Author

Jeff Roh owns a physicians billing service specializing in cost efficiencies and cash-flow solutions. He writes on topics of billing and practice management. Medical practitioners can find more information and help with billing at http://www.profastbilling.com.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Jeff-Roh/70797

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