The Cost of Medical Billing Mistakes
Medical billing errors are costing you money. Period. As a healthcare provider, you know the high cost of care and the competitive nature of the market. You can’t afford to lose an extra penny — especially due to a billing mistake that could easily be corrected. Sad thing is, you may not even realize how much your current medical billing system could be costing you. Some studies put the error rate for medical bills at a conservative 30 to 40 percent, with others put it closer to 80 or 90 percent, says The Huffington Post. Another study shows that medical billing errors cost about $20 billion, a number that has increased right alongside the increase in U.S. population.
A Look at the Numbers
Most of the costs associated with such billing errors involve expenses due to unnecessary inpatient and outpatient care, ancillary services and prescription drug services. But a surprisingly large portion of the mistakes is linked to the mortality rate and missed days from work. If you widen the lens and look at the costs as they pertain to quality of life and fatalities due to medical errors, the total costs jump to between $187 billion and $250 billion. Widen that lens even further to account for loss of productivity in patients who have experienced a decrease in quality of life and you’re looking at costs even into the trillions. Human error is one of the most common causes of medical billing mistakes, such as when a wrong billing code is entered.
Bottom line: medical billing errors are expensive. While you may be able to afford malpractice insurance (and let’s face it, this cost alone is probably eating into a lot of your profits), you certainly can’t take the blow to your reputation in event a major medical billing error costs someone their health or their life. So, ask yourself: do you have the in-house manpower necessary to make sure you are responsible for as few billing errors as possible? If the answer is no, you should probably think about outsourcing your medical billing.
Protecting Your Business and Your Patients
To protect your business and bottom line, it’s wise to examine your records for the past couple of years. What’s the total cost of your errors? How could they have been avoided? Remember, you’re in the healthcare business, caring for your patients from the time they step in your door until they walk out. You have a certain duty of care to uphold for them. It’s critical to ensure your patients don’t fall victim to easily-avoided medical billing errors. In the process, you’ll save your business’ budget and reputation.
Contact Medical Healthcare Solutions
If you are ready to improve your office processes, cut administrative overhead and boost patient satisfaction within your practice, rely on the seamless medical billing provided by Medical Healthcare Solutions. We can help you put an end to those costly mistakes that are leeching your profits and taxing your resources. Call us today to learn more at 800-762-9800.
