How to Choose Medical Billing Services

Updated on August 19, 2019
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Every year, business owners throughout the U.S. outsource more than 300,000 jobs.

Most of these are tech- and IT-related jobs. There’s also been a growing push to outsource other types of work, though, including medical billing and coding tasks.

There are lots of reasons why you might want to outsource medical billing. But, before you do, you ought to make sure you’re outsourcing to the right company.

Read on for some tips that will make it easier for you to find the right medical billing services for your practice.

Why Outsource Medical Billing?

Many healthcare practices have chosen to outsource medical billing, and more are likely to follow suit in the future. Here are some of the greatest benefits that come from outsourcing this work:

Save Time

When you and your employees don’t have to worry about handling time-consuming billing-related tasks, you have more time to focus on other things.

Outsourcing your billing will free you up to focus on the most important parts of your job. It’ll also give you more time to come up with new ways to better provide for your patients.

Save Money

Since you’re saving time by outsourcing billing, you’re also saving money.

You don’t have to deal with all the expenses associated with this work, and you don’t have to pay a full-time salary and benefits package to an employee or group of employees. You just have to pay a flat fee to the medical billing company, which often ends up being significantly less.

Reduce Human Error

Medical billing professionals are trained to handle all medical billing issues. They specialize in these matters, and they don’t have to worry about juggling their work alongside the other responsibilities associated with working in healthcare practices.

As a result, they’re more focused and less likely to make mistakes that could cost your practice and your patients a lot of money.

Choosing the Right Medical Billing Services

At this point, you’re probably convinced that outsourcing to a medical billing service is the right move for your practice. However, you might also be wondering how you can ensure you’re choosing the right service.

The following tips will help you vet each candidate and find the one that’s the best fit for you:

Ask About Their Rates

When you’re looking to hire any kind of service to help with your practice, one of the first things you have to consider is what they charge for those services.

Most medical billing services will have a clear pricing chart available on their website or will be able to give you a quote based on the size of your practice and the number of patients you see on a regular basis.

As the owner of a practice, you have to think about your budget and what kind of expenses fit into it. Don’t get so hung up on price that you pass on a good thing, though.

Often, when you invest in a higher-priced company, you get to enjoy a higher quality of service. Over time, you may also find that you save more than you realized by outsourcing. It might be better to spend more upfront in order to see more significant savings later.

Consider Their Staff

Ask some questions to learn more about the people who work for the billing company.

What kind of training have they received? How long does the average employee work for them? Will the same person or group of people handle all of your billing, or will it be spread out across the entire team?

Ideally, your billing will only be handled by trained professionals who have plenty of experience handling work similar to yours. 

Talk About Technology

Find out what kind of technology the company uses to handle your billing.

Do they use the latest equipment and programs to keep everything organized? When was the last time they updated their technology?

You may also want to find out if they have a way to synchronize their programs with the programs you use in your office. That way, you can get real-time updates on the status of your work.

Ask About Their Processing Rate

Be sure to ask about their average processing rate and turnaround time as well.

In most cases, you can get work turned around much faster when you outsource it to a third party company. Some companies don’t give very clear answers when you ask them how long it’ll take for things to get done, though.

Generally speaking, it’s best if they can process claims in about 30 days, give or take a few days. They might not be able to guarantee that turnaround time with every claim, but their average ought to land somewhere in that ballpark.

Consider Customer Support

Pay attention to the treatment you receive when you’re inquiring about a specific medical billing company, too. You can learn a lot about what it’ll be like to work with a company when you call them or use their online chat system to request more info.

For example, do you receive a prompt response when you ask a question? Is the person responding to your question polite and professional? Does it seem like you’re, in fact, communicating with a real person?

Don’t settle for subpar customer service.

At some point, you’re going to need to contact them with a question or for help solving a problem. It’ll be much better if you hire someone who is able to give you the help you need in as fast and professional a manner as possible.

Work with a Medical Billing Service Today

Do you need to hire medical billing services to help you and your employees save time, avoid errors, and get more work done on a day-to-day basis?

If so, be sure to keep these tips in mind. They’ll help you find the best services for the job and enjoy all the benefits of outsourcing this work.

Don’t forget to check out our other articles on running a successful medical practice today. They’ll teach you everything you need to know about managing your practice.

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