Outsourcing hospital billing services has come up as the most significant and efficient way to manage a healthcare organization’s revenue cycle management. Major healthcare organizations tend to take care of billing on their own but at some point, they will have to hand over their billing to professional medical billing companies.
Billing is a complex process which requires a lot of time and effort from healthcare professionals. At Unify Healthcare Services we strongly believe that the sole responsibility of healthcare professionals should be to provide good quality patient care. They should not have to deal with the complexities and hardships of medical billing.
Having a medical billing partner can be very beneficial for any practice as it saves a huge hassle for them. Once you take healthcare billing services, you can leave all the back-office tasks to the professionals and focus solely on providing the best patient care.
These professionals can help you save a lot of money and effort needed throughout the billing process. However, choosing a billing partner is not an easy task. There are loads of options for hospital billing solutions. This makes it a very tough decision for healthcare professionals. This blog will help you choose a billing partner with all the steps one should take.
Let's dive straight into the process step by step.
Determine The Scale of Your Practice
The first thing one should keep in mind while looking for the best suited medical billing partner is that different companies specialize in different account sizes. What it means is that some companies are well equipped to manage the billing of large healthcare organizations. They can also manage multiple physicians that accept a variety of insurances.
At the same time there are medical billing companies that can only handle the billing of small practices with low budgets, lesser physicians and fewer insurance carriers.
You can determine the size of your practice by considering three things- Your practice’s size, budget, and accepted insurance carriers. Based on these factors there are three types of medical billing companies.
Small-Scale Billing Service
Small-scale medical billing companies work smoothly for small practices. They are well equipped to handle billing with small budgets, data volumes, and physicians. Though it is small, it is not only bad news.
On the positive side, small-scale billing services can provide a better and more personalized billing service which is highly reliable.
Moreover, they will be cost-effective and can save you a lot of money on billing. However, make sure that the company has relevant experience in the field to handle the billing needs.
Physician Practice Management Company
Major healthcare providers need physician practice management companies to handle their billing. These companies provide billing services for practices who have a headcount of over 200 staff members.
These are well-established and well-equipped to provide efficient hospital billing solutions. They can easily handle high volumes of data at a time.
Professional Billing Companies
Having a professional medical billing partner can allow you to add valuable features to your practice. This takes a huge load off your shoulders so that you can focus completely on patient care.
These organizations charge more and need you to allocate a bigger budget for your billing and coding needs.
Find Companies with Experience in Your Specialty
One thing that you should always consider is that there is no such thing as one size fits all. Every medical billing partner has their own expertise in different fields. However, there can be companies having multiple specialties and have an expertise in vibrant fields.
The number one thing to ensure while hiring a medical billing company for your physician practice is that they have sufficient experience in your specialty. This ensures that your billing and coding are done accurately resulting in an efficient revenue cycle management.
A lot of healthcare organizations prefer partnering with companies providing expertise in their field. The benefit of doing so is that your billing will get undivided attention which avoids errors.
Ask for a Cost Breakdown
When it comes to outsourcing hospital billing services every company wants to get the biggest bang for their buck. However, you must ask them to bring their costs down.
It is not important that you get a bargain but what services you are getting for the cost you are paying. Make sure you understand all the elements that you are getting so that you can filter out the unnecessary elements. This will automatically bring the costs down.
Also, different companies have different payment policies for providing healthcare billing services. Some will straight up charge you a certain amount upfront for their services. However, some will charge by a percentage of your revenue which usually ranges between 3-9% of your annual collections. It depends on the area of specialization you need a medical billing partner for.
Compliance Is a Must
Every healthcare practitioner needs to be compliant with certain guidelines set by the government. There is no scope of leniency as these compliances play a major role in maintaining the integrity of patient health data.
When you are talking terms with a potential medical billing partner make sure you ask them to provide the list of precautionary measures, they take to ensure compliance. You should also provide a list of procedures to ensure what steps they take for their employees so there will not be any data leak.
Look for Software Compatibility
If you are using software for streamlining your billing procedures make sure you ask the company if they are using the same software. Transitioning into a new software can be a hassle which you might face afterwards. It also requires additional money and resources. You will have to train your staff in the new software.
If you want to make the transition you can ask the company if they are including software training in their package. This will be very fruitful for you as you would also want to optimize the workflow to prevent complications with data entry.
Keep in mind that you are giving a big responsibility to a third-party vendor so the flow must be easy and seamless.
Ask How Rejected Claims are Handled
When you are deciding the best medical billing partner for your practice make sure you ask them about their procedures regarding rejected claims. Make sure that they have a process for resubmission so you can assure that you get reimbursed accordingly.
Also ask them about their rejection rate and ask for proof. If you feel the rejection rate is higher, it means that they are not doing billing and coding efficiently.
Get The Best Hospital Billing Solutions
Summing it all, it is evident that there are a lot of things that need to be kept in mind while choosing a medical billing partner. Unify Healthcare Services checks all the boxes required for the best healthcare billing solutions.
It has a team of experts who are well-versed in all the aspects of medical billing. The expert billers and coders ensure that all the claims are filed with a hundred percent accuracy which reduces denial significantly. You will be free from all the hassle related to billing so that you can provide quality patient care.
Unify Healthcare Solutions envisions that every healthcare provider should be solely focused on providing the best patient care with zero hassle of billing and coding.
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