In the playbook of operating a medical organization, there are many regulations that govern the treatment of patients, data privacy, and physician behaviors. However, there isn’t a rule that expressly commands medical billing to be conducted in-house. Many organizations feel that outsourcing can reduce the control a company holds over their billing practices, limiting their ability to effectively understand and work with their finances and the patient relationship. However, there are many benefits to outsourcing medical billing practices. With the right billing company, you can deliver better healthcare services. Let’s go over our top 7 reasons to outsource medical billing & coding.
- Accurate and Automatic Insurance Eligibility Confirmation
The busy nature of the daily operations can make it difficult to find the time or personnel to verify patient insurance coverages for each visit or procedure. If you have been bringing in part-time help or extending the hours of those already working in patient eligibility trying to make it all work, you are likely wasting your resources. It is more effective and efficient to hand this task over to a medical billing company. With current software and the trained eye of professionals, this data can be checked automatically and deliver instant results on whether or not the patient needs pre-authorization, still needs to meet a deductible, or needs to change procedures for lack of coverage.
- More Security With Patient Data
There are steep consequences for organizations that fail to safeguard the privacy of patient information. There are also high expectations from patients to have their personal data kept safe from criminal hackers. Even though you may have some IT gurus on your in-house team, it isn’t easy to stay on top of the latest threats and software vulnerabilities when you aren’t always in the field. Industry best practices are a part of a medical billing company’s specialty, including areas of IT and patient data safety. Rather than pull your IT department away from their work with the tech and equipment that will guide and assist the roles of nurses, doctors, and administrative personnel, you can leave them in their area of expertise without jeopardizing patient privacy.
- Increased Patient Satisfaction and Engagement
The patient experience is the heart of a successful medical practice, as dissatisfaction with any level of service can have a patient heading elsewhere for treatment. Whether it’s medical billing and collections practices or the ways patient feedback is received and acknowledged, every task or role your personnel takes on needs to support the desire for increased patient engagement and satisfaction. By outsourcing the medical billing tasks, your staff will be able to concentrate on the other details that go into making a better patient experience.
- Reduced Errors With Billing and Coding Tasks
Even with careful attention to attention and thorough training, mistakes are a common part of any professional environment. This doesn’t reflect poorly on your staff, but any mistake can create problems for your operations. When you outsource your billing, there is the opportunity to reduce the risk of errors. Medical billing companies specialize in coding and billing best practices, having expert knowledge of any changes or updates to regulations, procedures, or trends. This devotion to the craft means fewer errors and greater accuracy, a positive for your organization’s bottom line.
- Increased Productivity
Your team’s best efforts can still leave your finances falling short as claims or denials slip through the cracks or patient accounts go left unaddressed. With outsourcing, your company is given more tools to handle the exhausting requirements of billing and coding. Data mining, a tool used to reveal trends and patterns in patient accounts or insurance connections, can be relied upon to enhance productivity and direct attention to areas that need improvement. This information could change the way patients are seen during office visits, address staffing schedules, or direct marketing efforts.
- Improved Regulatory Compliance
The governmental regulations in the healthcare industry seem to always be changing. Falling out of compliance (even in small areas) can lead to severe consequences. Your organization could lose payments from Medicaid and Medicare if you are found not obeying the rules outlining patient privacy or otherwise. Staying on top of these areas of compliance is a full-time job and one that should not be left to somewhere who is unable to devote complete attention to the task. A medical billing company takes on that responsibility and follows through with consistency and accuracy.
- Improved Customer Service
Your customer service efforts will also improve when you outsource medical billing. Your staff is no longer putting patients on hold while they frantically research what services are covered or what the cost of a procedure may be. Phone lines aren’t tied up or email inboxes full with patient billing complaints or questions. There is more time and greater energy to devote to the core needs of patients and stellar service delivery.
These benefits of outsourcing should dispel any questions you may have about moving forward with a medical billing partnership. PracticeForces delivers on the need for accuracy and efficiency in your billing and coding department, giving results that will propel your medical organization into a more successful future.
