Impact of Choosing the Wrong Medical Billing Partner

From the initial appointment stage to the collection of the claims after the services are rendered, a healthcare facility goes through a lengthy process that includes several organizations and people. The result is of having a scenario of too many cooks in the kitchen, which can open the medical billing process to mistakes. In medical practice, errors in billing coding are thus most common and occur often. It eventually affects the facility's income, exposing it to scrutiny by the authorities. Many healthcare providers hence prefer to work with medical billing partner. It decreased the in-house burden of medical billing and training the staff while increasing the revenue with proper claims.

However, the impact can be tremendous when the wrong medical billing partner is chosen. Some of the effects are:

1. Coding & Billing Errors

In medical practice, one of the most complex but vital steps is to do correct coding, documentation, and billing to ensure the facility gets paid for the services rendered to a patient. Any wrong input, failure to adhere to the latest coding and billing regulations, and inability to justify the claims would mean refusal from the insurer to get paid.

2. Burden of Scrutiny

The outsource medical billing company must comply with the ISO and HIPAA certifications while complying with other industry regulations and norms to ensure that patient health information and data are safe. A medical billing and coding partner that fails to uphold these regulations would mean your practice can come under scrutiny by the authorities while jeopardizing the patient information.

3. Impeding Cost Governance

Monitoring the costs of any healthcare services is essential when you wish to create a structured process for financial health. It starts with implementing an effective cost management strategy to ensure no budget overruns. But if a medical billing and coding has an inexperienced team and a faulty coding and billing management process, it will blindside you completely when it comes to budget allocation. Cost governance can give an edge to the facility over the others, but it requires outsourcing to an efficient medical billing partner. 

4. Lack of Focus on Patient Care

If you choose the wrong medical coding services, you must work continuously to manage the mistakes they make with the documentation and billing. This will ultimately burden you and your staff to focus on these hurdles instead of the patients and services to be rendered. The result will be a churning of patients as they fail to get the much-needed attention and care they want. Eventually, it will lead to a loss of revenue, your facility's reputation, and the hospital's pulverization.

How To Choose the Right Medical Billing & Coding Partner?

At all costs, you want to avoid the troubles that a wrong medical billing and coding partner can create. The bonus of choosing the right partner, however, is on you. You can select the right medical billing partner by implementing the following points:

1. Comprehensive Billing Solution

Look for a medical billing partner that offers comprehensive billing solutions. It will allow you to have every aspect of your medical billing and coding in one place while maintaining transparency.

2. On-Trend Strategies

When it comes to selecting a medical billing and coding partner, look for companies that are up-to-date with the latest medical billing and coding software and use the latest on-trend strategies in their work. It will ensure that your medical practice complies with the latest healthcare coding and billing regulations and decrease claim denials and rejections.

3. Experienced Partner 

Find a medical billing partner who will also plan your facility's growth strategically. An expert medical billing company with their experience can often help you identify and close the gaps that cause your practice to bleed.

4. Credentialing Service

As a healthcare service provider, you must undergo credentialing/re-credentialing to work effectively and gain patient trust. You must find medical billing services who can take care of the credentialing and re-credentialing services.

5. Market Review

Before hiring a medical billing partner, review their reviews and understand the services they offer and their approval rating. Ask for detailed reports on claim management, claim settlements, and analysis on how they can help recover pending A/R collections.

6. Specialization

A generic medical billing company might fail to do the job if you offer a specialized service to the patient. Look for a company specializing in your medical field's billing and coding to ensure your claims are submitted successfully with minimum denials and rejections.

Where To Find the Right Medical Billing & Coding Partner?

Whether you are looking for a highly specialized medical billing and coding partner with experienced staff, HIPPA complaints, or a company that can take care of all medical billing issues when you have a multi-facility establishment, 24/7 Medical Billing Services can do it all for you. They will provide you with experts in medical billing and help you grow your healthcare facility by putting an enhanced revenue management system in place.

Read more: 10 Reasons To Outsource Your Medical Billing