Why Your Office Needs to Outsource its Medical Billing

What is the primary purpose of your medical practice? Why did you become a doctor? For most, the answer to both questions is "to help others". The patients needs and your dedication to serving those needs should come first. Of course, you should be compensated for using your skill set and perpetuating goodwill, yet do you have the time to keep track of medical billing management in the office? You could have present staff devote time towards patient billing, yet the process is highly meticulous and medical collections really should be a full-time process. Have you thought about outsourcing the duty of medical collections to professionals?

Think about the comprehensive job a dedicated and concentrated medical billing company could perform. What are some of the things they can do for your medical practice?

- medical coding
- editing and checking the validity of medical claims
- printing and mailing of patient bills
- fielding patient calls and contacting insurance agencies

Those are just a few jobs a medical billing company can address.

Now, let's discuss you. Would you like to make sure you are properly compensated for duties performed? Would you like to gain more time to focus on your core profession? Would you rather not deal with billing questions and medical coding? These questions relate to factors, which you and many doctors have to deal with each working day. As previously stated, the most important aspect of your job is addressing the needs of your patients. The health field is meant to serve mankind; all other business matters are important, yet should not interfere with your primary focus. Medical billing agencies exist to help with the 'business' side of health care.

Would you like to see more money? Would you like to deal with fewer headaches? Would you rather focus on your profession rather than administrative duties? Would you like experienced and highly trained professionals conducting medical billing coding, patient billing, and the like? Do not hesitate to better the state of your office; outsource your medical billing needs to professionals who want to help you better serve others.

Medical Billing for Beginners

Medical billing can be a complicated concept to understand. With the constant changes to Health Insurance, it is difficult to stay on top of the procedures. This article will help to simplify the medical billing process.

Let’s first discuss the definition of medical billing. Medical billing is the process of healthcare providers submitting medical claims to insurance companies in order to receive payment for services rendered. In better terms, medical billing is when your doctor requests payment from your insurance company for a service the doctor provided (i.e. exam, treatment, diagnosis, prescription, etc).

The process begins with a patient visiting a doctor or provider. At the completion of the visit, the doctor or a staff member updates the patient’s medical record to reflect the treatment or procedure received, the patient’s demographical information, and a diagnosis (if possible). The procedure and diagnosis are then used to develop a medical code. The code is dependent upon the level of the exam, the complexity of the diagnosis, and the patient’s medical history. Medical coding is completed by qualified personnel with experience in the medical coding field.

Once a code is determined, a medical biller will transmit the medical claim to the patient’s insurance company for review. The insurance company then evaluates the claim and decides on approval. If the claim is approved by the insurance company, the provider is reimbursed a pre-negotiated percentage of the billed services. If the claim is rejected, the insurance company sends it back to the provider to reconcile. When possible, the provider will make any necessary changes and resubmit to the insurance company. The reject and resubmit process can occur multiple times until the provider feels they have received the maximum payment the insurance company will reimburse.

As you can see, the medical billing management process becomes quite time consuming for a doctor or provider. The process of medical coding is very complicated. The wrong coding can cause a reject and resubmit to occur time and time again. Previous research on the topic shows that over 50% of medical claims get rejected or denied and these mainly transpire from a coding error.

To help prevent coding errors and to streamline the process, there are many medical billing companies that offer their services to doctors or providers. Cobalt Health is one example of a medical billing company. Cobalt Health takes care of submitting and processing claims, medical coding, and medical collections for their providers. A medical billing company, like Cobalt Health, has the software and technology to provide electronic billing as well. Electronic billing allows the medical billing company to do electronic insurance verifications before a provider conducts an exam. They also create a means for electronic claims submission to the insurance companies. The concept of a provider hiring a medical billing company to service their billing needs helps free up their time to focus more on their patients. It streamlines the process, secures their patients data, and reduces their number of unpaid claims. All of which lead to increased revenue.

Medical Billing is not simple but hopefully reading over this article you can begin to understand the importance of the process. The good news is that medical billing is becoming easier. The added electronic capability and existence of specialized medical billing companies, like Cobalt Health, lead us toward a less complicated outlook for the future.

How a Medical Billing Service Can Help

The process of medical billing can be stressful for the parties involved. It can be a meticulous effort for medical offices, and stressful for patients and their health carriers if a bill arrives in error. Medical billing services work as a third party to ensure proper coding, medical office payment, and professional communication with patients' health care providers.

The following blog post addresses some of the ways medical billing assistance can help your office.

- Doctors and their office workers get paid through a patient's health care provider. If medical claims are done incorrectly, then the entire process is slowed down, which results in a delay of payment. Medical collection services make sure doctors are paid on time.

- Rules and regulations associated with medical claims and insurance policies can frequently change. Medical billing services stay abreast with changing policies to ensure the process is done correctly and in a timely manner.

- Doctors and their workers need to pay meticulous attention to their patients' needs rather than spending time on making sure associated payment papers are done correctly. Patient billing services provides the extra time for doctors to do their job in the best way possible.

- Medical claims services also send original and repeat notices to clients. If a client does not respond in a particular frame of time, then the medical billing providers can alert the doctor's office or refer the account to a collections agency. This is another portion of the billing process the doctor's office can evade while performing their core duties.

- Some medical collections providers offer consulting services to doctors' offices. Patient claims management consulting can involve credentialing, reviewing and negotiating insurance contracts, and developing and optimizing superbills.