4 Most Effective Ways to Boost the Efficiency of Medical Billing Services

Posted by poulmoran on April 9th, 2021

With every passing year, healthcare providers witness constant changes in the medical industry. Due to all the evolving factors, managing medical billing services is no longer a  part-time job. That can be delegated to the existing healthcare staff with little to no knowledge about financial management. 

In this modern era, medical billing and coding have become extremely complicated and time-consuming. Which require a unique set of skills and extensive experience to solve complicated financial, legal, and other issues. That can impact the healthcare revenue cycle management negatively. 

Moreover, US healthcare providers lost approximately 5 billion annually just because of the inefficient billing system. So, in order to keep your healthcare practice financially stable, you should implement smart medical billing solutions. 

Modern RCM solutions help healthcare providers to collect their hard-earned revenue, which ultimately leads to economic stability. Whether medical practitioners employ their in-house billing team or rely upon a reliable medical billing company. They should take proactive steps to ensure the efficient management of medical claims. 

Here are a few tips that can help you to run your medical billing services smoothly.

1. Improve Front-end Process

It has been estimated that approximately 90 percent of claim denials are preventable. Healthcare providers just need to uncover the areas of improvement and adopt proactive strategies. 

Industry experts have observed that mostly root causes of claim denials occur during the front end processes of healthcare facilities. For instance, missing/inaccurate information, such as: patients’ name, date of birth, gender, and insurance information, is one of the major reasons why insurance companies reject medical claims. 

So, by improving the registration process, medical practitioners can prevent such common errors that result in underpayments and claims denials. For this purpose, they should stop using manual methods of information collection, prior authorizations and other front desk tasks. They should automate front-end workflows to enhance the efficiency of medical billing services. Because, automating prior authorizations, patients’ scheduling, and other frontend tasks can significantly improve revenue cycle management. 

The technology ensures registration staff is collecting accurate information for the backend tasks. Using technology to verify patients insurance eligibility, and information collection increases the accuracy and eventually decreases the chances of errors. Which can result in the submission of clean claims and maximum reimbursements. 

2. Code It Right 

Verifying the correct codes for a patient's diagnosis, treatments and medical services is the essence of optimized medical billing services. Because medical claims containing wrong codes not only get denied for payments. But also they can lead to healthcare fraud and abuse. 

For instance, upcoding is a coding error that occurs when coders use the medical codes for more expensive healthcare services than actually performed. Having a history of such errors can land healthcare providers in legal troubles i.e. heavy fines, federal penalties, imprisonment. 

So, in order to save your medical practice from such issues,  you must have well-trained and certified medical coders in place. More importantly, make sure that your coding and billing staff receive continuous education regarding alteration in medical codes or billing guidelines. 

3. Ensure Timely Submission of Claims 

Time is considered as the most important factor of revenue cycle management. Because insurance companies usually reject the claims that are submitted after the due date. Therefore, you should make sure that medical billers are filing error-free medical claims in a given time frame. 

4. Outsource Billing And Coding Services 

Due to the ongoing pandemic, medical practitioners have to stay engaged in patients’ care. As their work schedules have been changed. They don’t get enough time to manage their back-end tasks i.e. medical billing and coding efficiency. Which can result in a high rate of claims denials and revenue loss. 

So, in such circumstances, hiring a medical billing company is the best solution for your struggling practice. Outsourced billing experts allow you to spend a considerable amount of time enhancing patients’ satisfaction. 

Meanwhile, they ensure the maximum reimbursements by submitting error-free claims. For this purpose, they implement electronic billing solutions. That increases the efficiency of medical claims. Hence outsourcing medical billing services help you to achieve your financial goals easily.