Outsourcing Orthopedic Billing: Top Factors to Consider for Your Medical Billing Practice

When contemplating orthopedic billing outsourcing, you must ensure that it is the best option for your practice. While orthopedic billing outsourcing isn't right for every practice, it does provide a far more confined and sustainable solution to revenue cycle management. The true value of outsourcing for prospering or expanding practices is its long-term viability.

An outsourced orthopedic billing and coding company can maintain greater consistency (and control) of a medical practice's cash flow than an overloaded internal team as staffing levels, patient load, and other dynamics evolve. Indeed, the advantages of outsourcing orthopedic billing are numerous and apply to all aspects of your practice.

But do you think outsourcing orthopedic billing is an easy decision?

It seems so, but in actuality, it is not. So, let’s consider the top factors to consider for your practice while outsourcing orthopedic billing and coding by asking the following questions:

Who will Handle the Current Accounts Receivable (A/R)?

Before services begin, it is critical to determine who will handle the current accounts receivable in medical billing. It is best to start from scratch to significantly reduce the likelihood of old, unpaid claims falling through the cracks if you change practice management software.

Some orthopedic billing companies will take on the current A/R and continue to process the old claims. This is also something that the practice can choose to keep in-house and manage. In any case, two different orthopedic billing processes will run concurrently for about 90 days, based on the total amount of A/R.

What Orthopedic Medical Billing Services do they Provide?

Revenue cycle management is an intricate procedure that entails several critical tasks. Each of these tasks must be identified and assigned to either the in-house of practice or the orthopedic billing company. Every orthopedic billing contract is unique that needs to consider for outsourcing medical accounts receivable.

For example, your practice may prefer to enter charges on-site. In contrast, another practice may choose to have the billing company join not only the charges but also finalize the encounter coding. All steps must be talked about, and clear expectations must be established.

Will Monthly Financial Reports be Provided?

Professional orthopedic billing services will not only allow you to gain access to your monthly financial reports but will additionally digitalize and interpret them for you. The reports will include monthly financial summaries of the practice, emphasize trends, and advise on the practice's results.

Financial dashboards should be accessible for 24/7 monitoring, providing instant affirmation that essential performance indicators are being met. An excellent orthopedic billing company should develop key performance indicators (KPIs) while monitoring standards.

How Rapidly will the Team begin Processing Insurance Claims?

In most cases, 30-60 days are sufficient for an outsourced medical billing company to begin providing services. This is an inexact science, and many factors influence this timeline. For example, the transition could be rapid if you do not need to change your practice management software and they are familiar with the practice's software. In this case, the primary focus would be creating user credentials and providing the orthopedic billing company with software access.

If this isn't the case, and the practice management software isn't on the same system, the timing will be influenced by whether data is exported, imported, or manually entered. Furthermore, adequate time will be required to establish electronic connections with the various payers, potentially leading to a longer implementation timeline.

The orthopedic billing company you're considering should be able to provide references for practices with similar implementation plans to yours. Contact those references; if they had a positive experience, it would demonstrate that your partner has prior experience with this type of implementation.

Which is the Best Outsourced Orthopedic Billing Company?

A reputable orthopedic billing company should additionally be willing and able to respond quickly to these questions and have processes in place to support these critical activities. A strong orthopedic medical billing services partner is a team player eager to become an extension of your practice, such as the 24/7 Medical Billing Services team.

24/7 Medical Billing Services boosts revenue cycle management solutions for medical practices and position you to solve billing challenges by providing visibility into revenue cycles and handling the heavy lifting of billing processes for you. The team can help you practice to improve its financial performance by using practice management technology to manage its billing cycles from start to finish. So, what are you waiting for? Reach the RCM team right now for outsourcing accounts receivable.

See also: Orthopedic Billing – All You Wanted To Know!