Can Outsource Medical Billing Help Physicians?

Once upon a time, outsource medical billing was a novelty. While many physicians believed it was a way to waste money and was profitable only for hospitals, clinics, and group clinical practices. However, it is becoming a mainstream procedure over the last few years, and many independent solo practicing physicians have been outsourcing medical billing and coding.

If you are an independent practitioner and find healthcare billing and coding a challenging aspect, you are not the only one. Unfortunately, there are many in this field who failed to generate the required revenue with complex coding and billing practices.

It is essential to note since the healthcare market is an evolving sector, the medical billing and coding regulations and rules are changing too. Hence having a successful medical billing and coding system in place offers a strategic advantage to the physician.

Outsource medical billing is no longer a mere cost-cutting saviour but rather a tool that helps sustain the business and offers broader benefits to the practicing physician.

Reasons How Outsourcing Medical Billing Can Help Physicians

It has been proven that those physicians who decide to outsource the medical billing practice have better and improved ROI and scalability of the practice than those who haven’t. Here are the top ways that outsource medical billing helps a physicians.

1. Improve physician’s focus on the patients

Often an independent practice finds it hard to afford significant money on medical office staff. In such a scenario, it becomes difficult for physicians to offer the required service to their patients when they have to take care of the financial aspect of the practice. It can be pretty overwhelming and often lead to the physician failing to maintain both.

On the other hand, outsource medical billing can take care of all the billing, coding, and revenue management system. At the same time, the physicians can focus on providing quality service to the patients.

2. Patient satisfaction is better

The main objective of any physician is to treat a patient with an entire focus on recovering well. When a practice is burdened with medical billing rules and regulations, it is quite natural that the efficiency of the staff and the physician taking care of the patient is compromised. This will decrease the patient’s satisfaction with the physician and the practice and likely move to another service provider.

In addition, the failure to provide good service and a hassle-free billing experience can cause patient churn, which means a loss of revenue. With medical billing being outsourced, the physician and the staff will face no such issues since the medical billing company will take care of the billing and the coding process, thus allowing the facility to work with the patient better and improve the patient’s satisfaction with the physician.

3. Reduce billing errors

Billing error means claim rejection which leads to loss of revenue. Outsourced billing services ensure no billing errors and that the claims are submitted on time. In addition, the outsourced billing company ensures that the billers they hire are well-trained and have knowledge of the updated regulations so that medical claims can be submitted correctly.

The entire process, thus, helps in reducing the number of claims denied and rejected due to billing errors and provides the analytics and feedback that can maximize reimbursement for the future.

4. Compliance with the billing

The medical billing and coding system is constantly changing. Hence every physician who takes care of the billing must be up to date with all the Medicaid, Medicare, and third-party payers’ changes. It becomes a full-time job to ensure all the changes and the protocols are being followed for each payer to get the reimbursement successfully. Any failure to comply with the changes will fail to get the money for the services rendered.

Also, at times, getting scrutinized and audited by the authorities. In the worst-case scenario, the physician can get penalized for compliance failure, resulting in the practice getting barred. However, with medical billing companies, no such worries are there because they stay up-to-date with the changing regulations and maintain compliance to warrant clean submission for the claims.

5. Enhanced cash flow

When there are claim denials or the medical billing staff are out for some reason, you either have to take care of the billing or wait until the staffs is back. It is quite possible that the deadline for the claims is over by the time you follow up on the claim denial. Hence you fail to get the money for the service rendered. However, all of these will be an issue of the past when you have a third party taking care of the medical billing.

The simple reason is they have dedicated staff, not one but a team who can handle the claims and follow up any claim denials on time to ensure there is little to no rejection. It eventually results in better cash flow for the practice.

6. Saves money

When hiring medical office staff, you have to think about overhead costs like annual salaries and benefits, purchasing a bigger office space, furniture, office supplies, computer, accessories, equipment, medical billing software, and charges for upgrading them. However, when you outsource the medical billing process, the companies charge a percentage for every claim or a flat rate for every claim. As a result, you do not have to think about any of the above supplies and benefits for the staff.

So, in the long run, you will save thousands of dollars while getting an exceptional service without any headache of keeping up to date with the software and employment benefits and regulation changes.

How to Get the Best Service from Outsourced Medical Billing?

When you decide to avail these benefits of an outsource medical billing facility as a physicians, you should find a partner such as 24/7 Medical Billing Services who will help you to scale better. A team of trusted expert medical billers and a company that provides an end-to-end solution with the RCM and caters to your need, and can customize the process accordingly should be the one.

Better submission claims, no extra cost for staff training, no overhead costs, and increased reimbursement means higher profit. So, the physician is in the best condition to offer practical and holistic service to the patient, thus improving the overall ROI of the practice. At 24/7 Medical Billing Services, we do all these and more. If you’re looking to work with a medical billing partner, contact us as taking advice from our experts doesn’t cost money.

Read more: Choosing The Best Outsourcing Medical Billing Companies In 2022