6 Reasons Practices Should Consider Medical Billing Services

One of the essential components of quickly receiving reimbursement is coding accuracy and completeness. Any errors here create downstream effects in claim submission. Another challenge is the sheer volume of coding required for even a small patient population. For practices without sufficient resources, medical billing services can create relief.

Should your practice consider this outsourcing model? Let’s review why you may want to partner with professional coding services.

Professional Coders Are Always Up-to-Date on Certifications

Medical coding involves complex tasks. Coders must translate provider notes and charge capture into appropriate codes.

Codes change at least annually, so those doing the work need up-to-date credentials. This may be a pain point in your organization. Medical coding services deliver these experts who have credentials and knowledge.

Leaner Staff Models Create Barriers to Timely Submissions

In many practices, staff are responsible for numerous tasks. The shortage of healthcare professionals impacts every area of your organization, especially the revenue cycle. When claims back up because you don’t have the capacity, it creates delays, which eventually affect cash flow.

Even if you can find experienced coders, the average salary is $64,495. It may not be feasible economically to hire. Instead of putting more strain on the folks you have and potentially magnifying burnout, you can outsource medical billing.

Your team can then focus on higher-level strategic work like growing your practice and patient engagement. Leave the numbers to the experts who can deliver timely claim submissions at a fair cost.

You Can’t Scale without a Well-Oiled Medical Coding Machine

Do you have strategic long-term plans for growth? Your practice may be seeing greater demand. Medical deserts impact 80% of counties in the U.S. Many people don't have easy access to physicians, especially specialists. If you're a lone provider in one of these deserts, you want to expand access to meet the demand.

Additionally, the increase in chronic diseases leads to more patient encounters each year.

How will you scale and grow if medical coding remains a challenge? Taking your practice to the next level has a more plausible path by working with a medical billing company. They can focus on the administrative and financial side while you work on programs to increase patient velocity.

Coding Errors Create Denials and Delay Payments

Another reason practices are choosing to outsource coding is quality and accuracy. Coders require a wealth of information on which codes to use, documentation to include, modifiers to add, and other requirements.

How common are coding mistakes? These occur far too often, with the industry stating it costs providers billions each year. Private insurers and Medicare and Medicaid will kick back claims with any error, leaving you to sort out the issue and manage the denial.

Coding errors include many blunders, many of which are avoidable with the proper oversight. Upcoding is a significant concern for specialties. Modifier appending hits snags when the appropriate ones don’t get used. Improper reporting causes challenges, too. Simply using the wrong code happens, as well, when there are major changes.

A medical billing provider can start by assessing your denials. They’ll uncover root causes that go back to coding issues. Their teams will then move forward to boost your clean claim rate.

Reporting and Analytics Can Support Your Projections

Medical coding services can also include analytics and reporting. You can achieve complete visibility and transparency around financial performance. This business intelligence can be a guide for forecasting and long-term planning. You may not be able to benefit from this currently if your only focus is on coding volume.

Improved Compliance Can Be a Medical Coding Outsource Outcome

As with any part of healthcare economics, there are regulations. You must protect confidential patient data and follow all applicable rules relating to claims submissions. It can be hard to manage all this with everything else necessary to keep your practice thriving.

By choosing medical coding services, you can free yourself from this burden. Feel confident in the compliance and security measures of a reputable provider. They are coding experts and follow every protocol.

Review Medical Coding Services and Find Your Ideal Partner

If you’re ready to align with a trusted resource for medical billing, there’s a perfect partner for you. With many solutions available, you can find a provider with experience in your specialty who uses advanced technology and delivers results cost-effectively.

Start your evaluation by reviewing medical coding companies.