It might seem convenient to outsource your billing to a billing service around the corner, but geography shouldn’t be the primary consideration when selecting an outsourced medical billing company. Instead, education, experience, and technology are the most important criteria to look for in a qualified billing service. Out of state billing companies can offer a variety of services that may not be available in your local area, so outsourcing out of state should be a real consideration in those instances. There are even practices that outsource overseas with satisfactory results, although many practices are bringing their billing back to the states for a variety of reasons—language barriers being only one of them. Here at Medical Billing Resources we have clients across the country.
Why doesn’t geography matter? Good billing services can receive your billing and transmit claims electronically. Claims sent electronically will be processed regardless of billing location, and billing services can interface with a variety of Electronic Medical Records programs. MBR can extract your billing and process the claims from anywhere. If an EMR is not available, a scanner can be installed and billing can once again be sent and processed electronically. Cell phones and computers have done amazing things for our ability to communicate and transmit intelligence. So instead of worrying about finding a billing company that’s in the neighborhood, consider the aspects of a partner that really matter when it comes to your bottom line: education, experience and technology.
It is crucial that your billing company have advanced coding education. This area separates the better billing services from the rest. Coding isn't just about reading documentation and selecting codes based on certain words. It's about processing information and assessing whether the codes reported accurately depict the clinical picture and medical necessity. Our coders are well versed in assigning a principal diagnosis and determining which conditions actually justify the services performed with respect to medical necessity. Good Certified Professional Coders (CPC’s) are able to read operative notes and understand which series of codes and modifiers are needed for proper billing and reimbursement.
Additionally, the service you choose should have certified specialty coders for your specialty. Cardiology practices should insist on Certified Cardiology Coders (CCC’s), and surgical practices should insist on Certified General Surgery Coders (CGSC’s), because the intuitive aspect of billing and coding for cardiology and surgery (any specialty) can make or break your practice’s bottom line. A prospective billing company should also have extensive experience within your specialty. The learning curve involved in taking on a new specialty can cause delays in your cash flow.
Technology is another necessary aspect of the billing industry. The use of technology reduces the cost of collections and accelerates cash flow. The days of adding additional bodies to work the billing are gone. Effective use of technology saves you both time and money. Technology performs routine functions faster and more accurately than ever before. Our systems have been designed based on a workflow that drives productivity.
Our billing services have advanced IT systems, and we spread the costs associated with that IT investment over a large group of clients. Utilizing an economy of scale in this way can benefit the individual practice without incurring the formidable costs associated with adding advanced IT systems.
We all know how it works: Providers generate revenue by seeing patients, but billers and coders collect your reimbursements. The billing and coding industry has become highly specialized, and finding a local service with the bells and whistles your practice needs is not always possible. In these cases, widen the search area to find a company that is exemplary in those critical components, and worry about location second. As they say, “it’s a small world.”
