Things to Consider Before Upgrading Medical Billing Software

August 11th, 2022 - Find-A-Code
Categories:   Practice Management  

Things to consider before upgrading medical billing software

Your practice has utilized the same medical billing software for years. The medical billing staff says it is time for a change. You don't necessarily disagree, but you also don't know where to begin your search for new software. There are so many vendors offering so many products that making sense of it all can be challenging.

First off, know that you can keep using Find-A-Code medical billing look-up no matter what direction you decide to take. You will still find everything from ICT to CPT codes here. Second, do not obsess over features to the extent that you don't take the time to consider how well a new software package will fit your practice.

Here are some things to consider before upgrading:

1. Practice Alignment

You can choose from a number of off-the-shelf billing software packages or select one that is specifically aligned to the type of practice you operate. Off-the-shelf packages are often cheaper because they are more generic in nature. Still, it might be worth investing in a more expensive package that is better aligned with what you do.

2. Local or Cloud Environment

Next, consider whether a new software package is locally hosted or cloud based. Years ago, local software was the only choice. It ran on a central server located in the practice itself. All the computers in the office were connected to that central server. These days, more and more practices are transitioning to cloud environments.

The cloud brings a lot of advantages to medical billing software. Cloud-based platforms tend to offer more useful features because clouds offer power and resources that local networks lack. With cloud-based software, you also get built-in backups and redundancy. Best of all, medical billing located in the cloud is accessible with nearly any device. It is device and OS agnostic.

3. Purchase or Subscription

Assuming you ultimately decide to go with a cloud-based product, you will also have to decide whether to purchase or utilize a subscription. A subscription is essentially software-as-a-service (SaaS). The SaaS model has a number of advantages including lower upfront costs and not having to worry about updates and upgrades. On the other hand, your practice could end up spending more in the long run. When you purchase software, it is a one-time expense until upgrade time rolls around again.

4. Privacy and Security

It goes without saying that any new medical billing software you invest in should protect patient privacy and be up to date with all the latest security procedures and protocols. There is simply no reason to utilize a software platform that isn't both private and secure. Doing so opens your practice to liability.

Software vendors should be able to prove compliance with privacy and security standards. If you come across one that either cannot or will not, walk away. Do not take any chances with patient privacy and practice security.

5. Ease-of-Use

A final thing to consider is ease-of-use. In other words, can your medical billing team jump right in and start using the software right away? If not, how steep is the learning curve? While some amount of learning is always necessary with new software, your billing team shouldn't still be struggling with the software a month into it.

Upgrading medical billing software is part of running a medical facility. Choosing the right software is as important as accurate medical billing codes. So here's one last tip: put as much effort into finding the right software as you do ensuring that your medical billing team knows what it's doing. That kind of effort will pay off in the long run.

###

Questions, comments?

If you have questions or comments about this article please contact us.  Comments that provide additional related information may be added here by our Editors.


Latest articles:  (any category)

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Medical Coder's Perspective
December 26th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox
We constantly hear how AI is creeping into every aspect of healthcare but what does that mean for medical coders and how can we better understand the language used in the codeset? Will AI take my place or will I learn with it and become an integral part of the process that uses AI to enhance my abilities? 
Specialization: Your Advantage as a Medical Coding Contractor
December 22nd, 2023 - Find-A-Code
Medical coding contractors offer a valuable service to healthcare providers who would rather outsource coding and billing rather than handling things in-house. Some contractors are better than others, but there is one thing they all have in common: the need to present some sort of value proposition in order to land new clients. As a contractor, your value proposition is the advantage you offer. And that advantage is specialization.
ICD-10-CM Coding of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
December 19th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox
Chronic respiratory disease is on the top 10 chronic disease list published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Although it is a chronic condition, it may be stable for some time and then suddenly become exacerbated and even impacted by another acute respiratory illness, such as bronchitis, RSV, or COVID-19. Understanding the nuances associated with the condition and how to properly assign ICD-10-CM codes is beneficial.
Changes to COVID-19 Vaccines Strike Again
December 12th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox
According to the FDA, CDC, and other alphabet soup entities, the old COVID-19 vaccines are no longer able to treat the variants experienced today so new vaccines have been given the emergency use authorization to take the place of the old vaccines. No sooner was the updated 2024 CPT codebook published when 50 of the codes in it were deleted, some of which were being newly added for 2024.
Updated ICD-10-CM Codes for Appendicitis
November 14th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox
With approximately 250,000 cases of acute appendicitis diagnosed annually in the United States, coding updates were made to ensure high-specificity coding could be achieved when reporting these diagnoses. While appendicitis almost equally affects both men and women, the type of appendicitis varies, as dose the risk of infection, sepsis, and perforation.
COVID Vaccine Coding Changes as of November 1, 2023
October 26th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli
COVID vaccine changes due to the end of the PHE as of November 1, 2023 are addressed in this article.
Medicare Guidance Changes for E/M Services
October 11th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli
2023 brought quite a few changes to Evaluation and management (E/M) services. The significant revisions as noted in the CPT codebook were welcome changes to bring other E/M services more in line with the changes that took place with Office or Other Outpatient Services a few years ago. As part of CMS’ Medicare Learning Network, the “Evaluation and Management Services Guide” publication was finally updated as of August 2023 to include the changes that took place in 2023. If you take a look at the new publication (see references below),....



Home About Terms Privacy

innoviHealth® - 62 E 300 North, Spanish Fork, UT 84660 - Phone 801-770-4203 (9-5 Mountain)

Copyright © 2000-2024 innoviHealth Systems®, Inc. - CPT® copyright American Medical Association