Scale is one of the most important things to consider when choosing a medical billing company. You'll want to go with a medical billing company that provides services to tens or hundreds of clients.
For instance, If a $150,000 per year billing system administrator is required, then a medical claims billing company with 200 clients only needs each of its client to carry $750 per year of that person's cost. If a practice of four providers employed this person, then each provider would need to carry $37,500 per year of that person's cost; this is the value of scale. A medical practice can achieve significant advantages by leveraging the superior scale of a mid- to large-sized medical insurance billing company.
A good medical company uses resources and technology that stand-alone medical practices can't afford to support. Here are some examples of such resources and technology:
- A state-of-the-art billing system, offering advanced reporting and claim management capabilities. Such systems are often too expensive for a small to medium sized medical practice to afford; so they select a sub-standard system that they can afford.
- A pre-submission claim scrubber that applies the payers' adjudication rules before the claims ever leave the medical insurance billing services four walls.
- A good billing system manager that stays updated with constantly changing claim submission rules from different payers. Sometimes claims can go several weeks before getting submitted, simply because many payers change their formatting rules so often. Medical billing companies are less susceptible to such tactics.
- Advanced collection tools, such as predicting payment yields from patients (such as the amount the patient owes times the likelihood they'll pay).
- A well-defined and managed billing process that will not grind to halt because a single employee is lost and eliminates errors before they propagate through the system.
- Dedicated individuals who follow up on claims that haven't been acted upon by payers within reasonable time frames.
These and other advantages show that most medical practices can't afford the personnel and technology to match the services that a good, properly scaled medical billing company provides.
Most of the costs of maintaining these technologies and procedures are fixed, so medical billing companies tend to distribute the costs among their clients. This is why bigger medical billing companies can afford to serve practices better than smaller ones. Smaller medical billing companies may struggle to simply keep up with developing industry technology.
To sum it all up, your medical practice can get huge advantages when choosing a properly-scaled medical claims billing company. You'll be better able to collect from payers who make it a point to keep as much money as they can.
Copyright 2009 by Carl Mays II
For instance, If a $150,000 per year billing system administrator is required, then a medical claims billing company with 200 clients only needs each of its client to carry $750 per year of that person's cost. If a practice of four providers employed this person, then each provider would need to carry $37,500 per year of that person's cost; this is the value of scale. A medical practice can achieve significant advantages by leveraging the superior scale of a mid- to large-sized medical insurance billing company.
A good medical company uses resources and technology that stand-alone medical practices can't afford to support. Here are some examples of such resources and technology:
- A state-of-the-art billing system, offering advanced reporting and claim management capabilities. Such systems are often too expensive for a small to medium sized medical practice to afford; so they select a sub-standard system that they can afford.
- A pre-submission claim scrubber that applies the payers' adjudication rules before the claims ever leave the medical insurance billing services four walls.
- A good billing system manager that stays updated with constantly changing claim submission rules from different payers. Sometimes claims can go several weeks before getting submitted, simply because many payers change their formatting rules so often. Medical billing companies are less susceptible to such tactics.
- Advanced collection tools, such as predicting payment yields from patients (such as the amount the patient owes times the likelihood they'll pay).
- A well-defined and managed billing process that will not grind to halt because a single employee is lost and eliminates errors before they propagate through the system.
- Dedicated individuals who follow up on claims that haven't been acted upon by payers within reasonable time frames.
These and other advantages show that most medical practices can't afford the personnel and technology to match the services that a good, properly scaled medical billing company provides.
Most of the costs of maintaining these technologies and procedures are fixed, so medical billing companies tend to distribute the costs among their clients. This is why bigger medical billing companies can afford to serve practices better than smaller ones. Smaller medical billing companies may struggle to simply keep up with developing industry technology.
To sum it all up, your medical practice can get huge advantages when choosing a properly-scaled medical claims billing company. You'll be better able to collect from payers who make it a point to keep as much money as they can.
Copyright 2009 by Carl Mays II
About the Author:
Before you select an electronic medical billing service be sure to speak with ClaimCare, one of the leading medical billing providers in the nation. In addition, be sure to visit the ClaimCare medical billing blog. Here you will find articles that will lead you through the process of selecting the best medical billing company for your practice.
Posts
1 comment:
I'm currently in medical billing training and bigger is better is not always true.
Post a Comment