How Practices Can Increase Medical Billing Efficiency

November 2nd, 2022 - Find-A-Code

Categories: Claims Practice Management

Billing is part of running a medical practice. Whether a practice operates independently or as part of a larger group, no one gets paid if billing doesn't occur. How a practice goes about billing depends on everything from practice size to budget and available staffing. The key to doing it right is efficiency.

Note that efficient in-house billing is possible with the right policies, procedures, and tools. Unfortunately, a lack of efficiency is a problem for many practices due to medical billing's complexity. Recognizing an inefficient system is nothing to be ashamed of. But once recognized, making changes should not even be a question.

Audit Software Technologies

One of the first changes a practice should look at involves upgrading software. However, a software audit should precede any investments in new software. A practice's current software might be more than capable of efficient medical billing but be underutilized due to a lack of training. New software will require training anyway, so if investing in training on the current software will do the trick, this may be the way to go.

Embrace Automation and AI

Modern technology solutions in the medical billing space are beginning to feature built-in automation and artificial intelligence (AI). Both can do wonders for increasing medical billing efficiency. This suggests that any decision to upgrade software includes taking a serious look at automation and AI options.

Automation reduces the need for human coders to constantly perform redundant tasks that computers are capable of handling. Likewise, AI makes medical billing more efficient by increasing accuracy and reducing errors. Note that AI doesn't mitigate the need to review coding results. Always ensure accurate coding by double checking.

Emphasize Accurate Records

Some of the inefficiencies of medical billing are directly traceable to inaccurate patient information. Establishing office policies that emphasize accurate records can go a long way toward reducing those inefficiencies. For example, your practice could adopt a policy of verifying patient information on every visit. It only takes a few seconds and can be done as patients check in.

Similarly, encouraging patients to create their own online accounts on your practice portal gives them the opportunity to update personal information on their own. Online accounts are proving immensely helpful to practices of all sizes.

Upgrade Collection Procedures

Most patients are subject to a copay, even with health insurance. There are also those patients who pay the entire bill out of pocket. Whether your practice is having trouble with copays or self-pay, it is a good idea to upgrade collection procedures to account for modern billing. Just as an example, many practices now require that all fees be paid at check-in. Doing so eliminates having to follow up on collections after the fact.

Outsource Medical Billing

This final suggestion pertains mainly to smaller practices and those independent practices that operate outside of the medical group setting. In such cases, a practice may simply not have the resources to handle medical billing as efficiently as possible. What is the solution? Outsourcing to a company that specializes in medical billing.

Outsourcing does cost a fair amount. But the amount of money saved by not handling it in-house would be comparable. Practices outsource HR functions like payroll and benefits, so outsourcing medical billing isn't such a radical idea. A lot of smaller practices do it. Even larger clinics and rural hospitals are known to outsource medical billing.

Medical billing does not have to be an exercise in inefficiency. It doesn't have to be sluggish and burdensome. Increasing efficiency is a matter of bringing software, training, and procedures into the modern era. We have the tools to make medical billing more efficient. Practices just need to take advantage of those tools.

###

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),....