As a healthcare provider, you know you need solid medical billing practices in order to keep things organized and get paid for the services you render, but have you ever stopped to think why it’s so important to your bottom line and indeed survival in this industry? You know full well most people don’t pay for their services with a wad of cash. That means they need to be billed. Yes, many people are responsible for co-pays but that money is a mere fraction of the full amount owed to your practice. The balance must be billed to the insurance company for reimbursement.
As a healthcare provider, you may depend heavily on revenue cycle management, submission of claims on a timely basis, payment from insurance companies, and balances paid by patients for their portion of the bill. While this is how things work in an ideal world, you’re often left waiting weeks, months and even longer to get what you deserve.
Why Are You Struggling With Billing?
You may ask yourself this question every once in awhile. Why can’t you just get paid for the services you have rendered? The main reason why so many practices, especially small ones, struggle with this task is because they are trying to save money by handling it in-house. You may have a receptionist who handles medical billing in her spare time, in between checking in patients, taking down contact and insurance information, and handling any number of administrative tasks.
So what ends up happening? Billing mistakes happen. Oversights are made. Timely follow-up on critical issues falls by the wayside. As a result, you don’t get paid — or at least you don’t get paid when you should.
Why Efficient Medical Billing is Essential
Bottom line is, you need to bill out as quickly and efficiently as you possibly can. In order to stay in practice, you need constant streams of revenue coming in to meet payroll and other expenses. Just like a lawyer, contractor or consultant, you depend on timely payment in order to make a living. You’re not being greedy or unreasonable. You provided the service; you earned the money. But too many physicians are waiting far too long to receive payment.
An efficient, outsourced medical billing service is imperative if you’re going to get claims submitted in a timely manner and make sure that the billing contains all the information needed for processing, such as correct codes for services, treatment, procedures, and surgeries.
Enjoying a healthy revenue cycle management process means you need to hire the right people with the right skills. Often times, that means hiring an outsourced medical biller who has the experience, qualifications, and skills to tackle coding and billing head on, every single day — not just on a lunch break, after-hours or in between checking patients in.
Streamlining your medical billing starts with an efficient billing service. Everything will fall into place from there. It’s time you got your house in order. Call Medical Healthcare Solutions today!
