The age-old practice of medical billing in the United States health system refers to a healthcare provider following up on claims with insurance companies for services rendered. Bills that accrue as a result of testing, treatments, and other procedures fall under this category. These claims represent the invoices for services provided to the patients. Procedure for claim resolution is a tricky one since it can take some time, from a few days to even months.
A healthcare provider needs to get paid for its services to maintain its cash flows. This helps it to pay for utilities and personnel. Software and tech companies have risen to the challenge of claim resolution via electronic means. Gone are the days of cumbersome paper trails and procedures.
According to a survey, more and more healthcare providers are shifting towards outsourced medical billing. A survey by the Black Book reports that up to 60% of health care practices are considering outsourcing medical billing to third-party vendors.
The human mind can perform many calculations at a time, but it still falls handsomely behind the processing speeds of computers. Software companies have started providing solutions to these healthcare providers. Moreover, with the increasing requirements of the insurance companies and compliance with the new and stricter governmental regulations; it has become impossible to keep track of these huge numbers of claims and how to manage them.
Patients Demand up to date Medical Billing
With the advent of information technology and the world becoming an interconnected space of connections, the need for information has increased drastically. Most patients as with other functions, look to regularly updated medical billing information. This information helps users plan their checkups, treatments, and finances.
For this reason, the healthcare providers, as well as the patients, prefer outsourced medical billing companies such as Sybrid MD or MD Syhealth. These companies use custom made software to keep track of all your appointments, procedures, records, treatments, medical history, and invoices. The medical billing software provides easy to understand billing records. It also keeps the patients up to date on the claim progress.
Compliance with New Regulations
New and increased regulations that are updated continuously are confusing and difficult to comply with. These new regulations put the medical staff and their offices under a lot of stress to comply with such regulations. In-house, billing systems are archaic and react to changes in a lethargic manner.
The billers and coders of these billing systems must be experts in their fields. This expertise is ensured when outsourced billers such as SybridMD or MD Syhealth are hired who use software programs and dedicated coders to help smooth the wrinkles in medical billing. The software also works as an intuitive guide for the medical staff who are kept abreast of the new regulations and how they affect billing.
Flipping ICD-9 to ICD-10
The ICD-10 is a code that represents the tenth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. It is a way by which different codes are assigned to diagnoses and various treatments meted out to patients. These codes, later on, become the backbone of measuring remunerations and claims for medical billing purposes.
Switching to the modern ICD-10 code meant a lot of new changes for the in-house billing teams to cater to. New medical billing solutions such as software help healthcare providers save on time and money. These outsourced billing companies prevent errors, increase compliance with news codes that ultimately saves patient frustrations.
Increase in Insured Patients
Health insurance in the United States is a big industry. The onus has shifted in the United States towards private insurance companies as only people aged 65 and above are covered by the Social Security Administration. These amount to 59 million out of the total population of 330 million. The rest of the population either rely on employer-based (159 million) or non-employer based (84 million) sources.
This makes it a big challenge for Healthcare providers to cater to this burgeoning population. As more and more people avail insurance, the implementation of medical billing becomes ever so tedious. Outsourcing and using newer medical billing solutions will save the time of the staff as they can tend to patients instead of being overwhelmed by paperwork.
Acceptance of Newer Methods Benefits Everyone With the ICD-10 now firmly in play, it is of importance that the medical community embraces these changes and learn from them. This is possible by dealing with the new changes in a scientific manner. With the help of new medical billing solutions, the statistical data can be used to prevent disease spread as well as charting course for future disease control policies.