Medical billing services are companies that take the pain of collecting money out of the doctor’s office. A good service will maximize a doctor’s receivables, while keeping their cash flow consistent. The key is choosing the right medical billing service.
A great service will submit insurance claims timely (preferably electronically), track the payments, follow up on unpaid claims and deal with all denials. They will not let any claim go unpaid.
Representatives of the service will attend insurance company seminars, advise the doctor of changes in their field and provide them with regular financial reports. They should not only handle the billing needs, but should act as consultants for the doctor, advising of fee structure, coding practices, and other ways to improve the office.
An obvious way a doctor can save money by outsourcing his billing is in the savings he will generate through payroll, equipment, software support, updates, postage, forms, etc.
Outsourcing medical billing produces more than cash savings. A good service can maximize what the doctor actually brings in by collecting more money than an in-house staff can. In most offices, the in-house staff does not have the time, or the knowledge to handle the problem claims and the doctor ends up not getting reimbursed anything for those services.
By outsourcing, a doctor is hiring a professional. Medical billing services have the expertise to submit claims accurately, collect on all claims, even those that have been denied by the insurance carrier. This helps the doctor’s patients by avoiding billing the patient for a claim that should have been paid by the insurance carrier.
A doctor should avoid choosing the wrong service by carefully checking references. A doctor should call several other doctors who might be using a particular medical billing service.
When a doctor interviews a potential service, what is his overall impression of the people who will be handling his income? During the interview, he should pay attention to how they answer his questions. Are they confident in their answers? Are they correct in their answers? Does what they offer make sense?
Like many other fields, there are good and bad billing services. But medical billing services can be a great resource for a doctor if they are careful to choose the right one.
