Finding a Medical Billing and Coding Company – Some Helpful Tips

If you are planning to hire a medical billing and coding company for your facility, it is very important that the firm you choose acts as an extension to your healthcare practice. You need to consider a number of factors in order to choose the best service provider. Here are some helpful tips that will help you find an established medical billing company that has excellent experience in offering end-to-end medical billing services.

Always look for a service provider that has years of experience including a history of dealing with your specific kind of practice. Only a professional and experienced service provider can deliver medical coding services and medical billing solutions that ideally meet the requirements of your medical practice. An experienced medical billing company will have professional billing staff knowledgeable about all relevant medical codes, procedures, and protocols.

Before hiring a firm, it is necessary to carry out a reference check to confirm whether the provider will suit your practice or not. With the help of references you can find out more about the quality of service offered, turnaround time and customer support services. Also, evaluate the medical coding company on the basis of factors such as billing software used, expertise of the staff, type of training received, and their ability to provide accurate and thorough feedback in a timely manner.

Check whether the provider follows the HIPAA regulations and ensures strict confidentiality of data, since patients’ medical records are highly sensitive. Ensure that the company you choose provides you with the option of easy access to information such as outstanding claims, charge data, user notes, follow-up information, and payments.

Choosing a medical coding company having a number of reputable clients is an intelligent decision. The company with more customers can provide you with comprehensive and versatile medical billing services.

Other things to consider include:

•    Find out whether the medical billing solutions provided meet your customer service standards
•    Check whether they have outstanding security features 
•    Ensure whether custom medical billing services are available
•    Ask your billing partner for samples: ask for sample projects of the required services before finalizing a service provider
•    Confirm that file transfer is done securely
•    Whether support is provided for 128-bit encrypted form of FTP or e-mail
•    Ensure that there are no hidden charges
•    Check the billing turnaround time the provider guarantees

Follow the above tips to make the right choice of a medical billing and coding firm.  
 

Article Source: http://www.articleshub.org/article/211538/Finding-a-Medical-Billing-and-Coding-Company---Some-Helpful-Tips.html

Benefits of Outsourcing Radiology Medical Billing

As an experienced practitioner in the field of radiology, you may have come to realize that carrying out medical billing in-house is expensive and associated with a lot of stress and anxiety. To keep up with the present day medical billing requirements you need sophisticated software and proficient management personnel. Instead of investing heavily in these, consider outsourcing radiology medical billing to a company you trust. Primarily, you stand to benefit from cost-efficiency, excellent management of your practice and greater control.

With the support of dependable medical billing outsourcing firms, you can submit flawless medical bills and obtain maximum reimbursement, thus maintaining a steady revenue system for your practice.

Multifarious Benefits with a Reliable Provider

Several established medical billing and coding firms offer radiology billing services at competitive prices. Entrusting radiology billing jobs to these firms allows radiology practices to meet their regular medical billing needs efficiently.

Outsourcing medical billing and coding ensure the following benefits:

One of the main benefits of outsourcing radiology medical billing is that medical professionals can obtain considerable relief from their administrative tasks. They can therefore concentrate more on providing better healthcare services for their patients. There are several small to large individual physicians, hospitals, clinics and other healthcare entities that have gained largely from outsourced radiology billing services.

Further, medical billing outsourcing helps physicians to competently reorganize the entire billing system. Outsourcing also results in higher efficiency in the operational process of the healthcare facility and higher revenue. Listed here are the benefits offered by radiology medical billing services.  

•    Accelerate cash flow 
•    Reduce management time for physicians
•    A minimum of 30% outstanding A/R will be collected
•    Increase reimbursements by a minimum of 30%
•    No maintenance of hardware/software/technical issues or dealing with backups
•    No hidden costs
•    Better data accuracy that is very essential to get maximum reimbursement from insurance companies
•    Eliminates backlog
•    Save cost on employee benefits such as health insurance, payroll taxes, and paid vacation time
•    Increased patient satisfaction 
•    Easy to understand invoices means response rate goes up tremendously
•    No upfront fees to start

Organized medical billing outsourcing services help radiology medical practices, individual practitioners and group practices to enhance their efficiency and revenue at the same time. If you plan to outsource your radiology medical billing tasks, it is important to locate an established medical billing company offering consistent solutions at affordable charges.

Article Source: http://www.articleblast.com/Business_and_Management/Customer_Service/How_Will_My_Practice_Benefit_from_a_Medical_Transcription_Company?/

Why Is It Necessary to Utilize Outsourced Insurance Verification Services

Needless to say, healthcare practitioners comprise a group for which sitting at a desk and doing routine paperwork is a virtual impossibility. They are constantly on call. For many outside the medical profession it is unconceivable how these professionals manage to be on their feet throughout their working hours. Physicians rarely find time to attend to processes such as medical billing and insurance verification services that are important to maintain their practice. Caught between the responsibility of patient care and the more mundane administrative workload, medical professionals are often distraught. Outsourcing is a real lifesaver for them.

Medical Insurance Verification – an Important Component of Medical Billing

Medical insurance verification is of prime importance in medical billing as it is the only way to confirm whether a patient is covered under a particular health insurance plan. The entire verification process has to be done with precision, as any sort of data mismatch can lead to denial of claims and non-payment of reimbursement benefits. Moreover, eligibility verification has to be completed before the patient’s appointment date. This is what makes outsourced insurance verification services from third-party service providers a necessity in most medical practices.

Outsourcing Ensures Maximum Cash Inflow

Most often claim rejection issues arise when the information provided by the patient to the insurance carrier is wrong or when his / her policy has expired, been terminated or modified. Moreover, insurance agencies sometimes make crucial revisions and updates in their health plans and policies.  To get the due reimbursement for your services, it is necessary to confirm that the patient is covered under the new and updated insurance plan before starting the treatment procedures.  When the eligibility verification process is not completed carefully, it may be impossible to identify such important factors as well as correct crucial flaws in data, which can lead to issues such as:

•    Increased errors
•    Patient dissatisfaction
•    Need for rework
•    Delayed payments
•    Non-payment of claims

Utilizing insurance verification services provided by an established medical billing company will help you manage routine insurance verification tasks efficiently. You will also be ensured speedy and accurate reimbursement. Additional benefits you stand to gain include:

•    Reduce claim denials and rejections
•    Improve patient satisfaction
•    Increased number of clean claims
•    Enhanced staff productivity
•    Reduced costs
•    30% to 40% cost savings
•    Increased upfront collections
•    Improved cash inflow and profits
•    Eliminate eligibility verification backlogs
•    Enhance practice efficiency

Insurance benefit verification services cover procedures such as:

•    Receiving patient schedule from the hospital via EDI, email or fax
•    Contacting patients, if necessary
•    Checking patients’ insurance coverage with primary and secondary payers
•    Updating the billing system with eligibility and verification details, and much more

Reliable Services from Knowledgeable Professionals

Companies that offer health insurance verification services are equipped with excellent infrastructure, advanced technology and innovative software packages. Insurance verification experts in these firms are experienced and knowledgeable about the latest insurance norms and federal government policies. These professionals ensure that all medical claims are processed and submitted in a timely manner. The following are the important details verified:

•    Claims mailing address
•    Patient policy status
•    Patient details
•    Co-insurance details
•    Co-pays
•    Payable benefits
•    Pre-authorization number
•    Deductibles
•    Type of plan and coverage details
•    Effective date
•    Plan exclusions, and so on

Look for Affordable and Quality Services

Outsourcing insurance verification tasks to professional companies enables you to manage your healthcare facility with enhanced efficiency. Organized insurance verification services ensure the smooth functioning of your medical practice with enhanced cash inflow and a steady revenue cycle. However, to benefit from quality services, outsource your insurance benefit verification tasks only to an experienced company. Such a firm can meet your specific eligibility verification requirements effortlessly, at affordable service charges, within minimum turnaround time.

Article Source: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/290296