Medical Billing is a knowledge-based and time consuming occupation. Physicians are becoming more aware that a strong medical biller is essential to having a successful practice. As their patient volume increases, so does the workload for the medical biller. This often becomes an overwhelming burden for one person to handle creating a financial disaster for the physician. A biller spending endless hours submitting claims, still submitting paper claims, getting denials on claims that were not submitted on time, or not following up on unpaid claims is a sure way to deplete a physician's income. If any of this is occurring at your facility, address these issues and consider outsourcing your medical billing to a company that will ensure maximum reimbursements for services rendered. Finding the right company is the first and most important step.

 

Every company has a different infrastructure, so it's essential when researching options, that the physician understands how the service is provided before signing a service contract. For example, some companies have their employees work from their residence. The billing company sets the employee up on their private PC giving them the ability to process claims from the comfort of their own home. This might not be the best option when seeking a medical billing service. Recently, a company operating under this plan discovered that some of their employees were signing up new clients with company contracts, failing to notify the billing company of their new customers and invoicing the victims who were clueless to what was happening. Basically, the medical billing company set up an employee to run their own medical billing company on their dollar…quite the scam. Choosing a medical billing service with an office of supervised employees is a simple way to avoid this scenario.

 

A qualified billing service will submit all claims on time, aggressively follow-up on unpaid or denied claims, only invoice a percentage on those claims that it assisted in collecting, stay current on fee schedules and reimbursements for procedures, handle all billing concerns for patients, be HIPPA compliant, and provide quarterly reports allowing the physician to be up to date with their finances. Fair market value for this service can range from seven to sixteen percent. Working alongside a company that gets a percentage of what they collect will decrease overhead, increase profits, eliminate staff turnover, and give more time to provide better patient care because everything associated with medical billing is redirected to a different location that has the time to address concerns patients may have. The physician will never pay more than they are bringing in under this scenario, unlike a salaried employee who garnishes a check regardless of monthly revenue. Keep in mind that when the physician doesn't collect, neither does the billing service since they don't get paid until after the physician gets paid. This creates a greater incentive to get the maximum reimbursements because a percentage of zero is zero. It is vital to choose a company that requires all reimbursements go directly to the physician's bank account giving them complete control of their finances.

 

Everyone needs medical care at some point in their life and there is no reason why a physician shouldn't get paid for serving their patients and the community.