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Should a physician outsource medical billing services?

Bond In Investing Savings This is a very difficult decision for any physician and partially boils down to this or her own personal ideology and comfort level. Hospital-based physicians will almost always be better off outsourcing because of the office related expenses that they would not otherwise incur. As the owner of medical billing service you may think I'm naturally biased towards outsourcing. I can assure you that this is not the case. Physicians who are overly controlling, uncomfortable or mis-trusting toward billing services are nearly impossible to administer. I don't want anything to do with those types of physicians but I completely respect and understand their point of view. Setting all ideology aside I would like to delve into the pros and cons of this difficult and complicated decision.

"Due to monumental family problems, our medical bills were in arrear for almost a year. It was not due to a lack of money, or insurance. We had just gotten to the point where we couldn't make heads or tails of the mess. I don't like just paying bills, I like to know exactly what I'm paying for, and its balance due. In the past I accidentally found a dentist over billing me and my insurance company who paid twice for the same service. After using Quicken Medical Expense Manager v1 and entering my medical expenses for 2004 and 2005 I was able to recover $385.00 from medical over payments on my part. I was also able to point out to our insurance company $285.00 in over payments by them. While medical providers are not necessarily dishonest, their billing methods are not without flaws. In just one month, Medical Expense Manager has paid for itself 10 times."

Bond Investment Toledo Toledo 1. I am a physician who is very interested in the business aspect of medicine and I do not mind spending my valuable time managing the medical billing aspect of my practice.

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James Bond Trading Card Clearly, the best way to do your billing is to do it personally. Obviously, doing it yourself is probably not an option but if you're willing to spend the time and have the interest I would recommend that you do your own billing. Keep in mind that most billing service owners and certainly our employees have limited medical backgrounds. Physicians who study CPT, regularly attend billing seminars and keep up to date on industry changes are the ultimate medical billing gurus in my view.

Bond In Investing Stock 2. I am a physician who has absolutely no time or interest in the medical billing aspect of my practice. I am completely reliant upon my office manager and billing staff.

Municipal Bonds Investment Unfortunately, most physicians are in this position. Even if they were interested in keeping up with all the changes and elements of medical billing the practical reality is that there is absolutely no time. Let's face it; time is your most valuable asset. It's sort of like mowing your own lawn. You'd be way better off financially seeing patients for three hours on Saturday morning. I believe the following information will dramatically help with your decision to outsource your billing or continue to do it yourself and with future decisions in the ever-changing business aspect of medicine.

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Bond Terms Trading The pros and cons of outsourcing your medical billing services.

Bond Debt High In Inside I would like to preface this article with a couple of obvious but important points. If you have a system of controls, keep an open mind about the competence of your office manager, you've got an excellent computer system, proper information systems and your office is doing a superb job at collecting your money, then by all means do not make any changes. Conversely if you're planning to outsource your billing make sure you hire quality firm. I'll spend some time at the end of this article discussing this further.

Bond Greenville Greenville Most leading experts agree that it costs about 4.5% of net collections to perform the billing function within a physician's office. Incidentally, this is close to my actual cost as well.

Trading Stock And Bonds Theoretically, a billing service should be able collect more money than a physician's office because it is our core competency. The question is how much more? This is why I focus on how to choose a billing service at the end of this article.

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Bond Houston Houston The numbers

Stock Bonds Day Trading A. Lets just do the math in a theoretical model.

Bond Corporate Investing We'll base our numbers on a practice whose total gross receivables are $100,000 per month. Obviously, this is an overly simplistic model designed to quantify the aggregate cost and or opportunity cost of the medical billing component only.

Investment Bond Uk Current Aggregate Billing Expenses

Bond Trading Strategy In-house expense

Bond Fixed In Income Investing Total gross revenue $100,000

Bond Dayton Dayton Investment Current billing expense $4,500

Bond Management Market Risk (4.5%) ---------------

Bond In Investing Municipal Net Revenue $95,500

Bond Investment Las Las North Outsourced Billing Expense

Future Bond Trading System Total gross revenue $100.000

Bond In Investing Junk Current billing service exp. $7,000

Bond Investment Orlando (7.0% net collections) ---------------

Bond Free Trading Net Revenue $93,000

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Bond Gainesville Gainesville Net cost increase with outsourcing = $2,500.00

Bond David David Guide Guide As you can see in this," all things being equal" theoretical model your practice would incur a $2,500 decrease in net revenue with the implementation of a billing outsource strategy. Keep in mind that this model does not address other less tangible issues such as your reduced payroll, computer expenses, ect. In reality the net cost could be substantially less than $2,500. Many physicians will perceive this as a small price to pay while others will consider it to be cost prohibitive.

Bond Investment Pensacola 5% theoretical increase in gross revenue with outsourced billing

Bond Introduction Trading Total gross revenue $105,000 (5% increase)

Bond In Investing Involved Billing service expense $7,350

Bond Columbia Columbia (7% net collections) ----------------

Becoming Bond Building By Net revenue $97,650

Bond Investment Springfield $95,500 - $97,650 = $2,150.00 increase in net revenue.

Bond Com In Investing As you can see from this model with a 5% increase in collections your net revenue will increase $2,150.00 with the added expense of the billing service. Keep in mind that a 5% increase in gross collections is actually quite conservative and should easily be obtainable by quality billing service.

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Bond Finance Fixed In Income B. A billing service should be able to provide you with a substantial reduction in your day-to-day aggravations such as practice management software issues, fewer employees, hassle of hiring competent employees, less health insurance, less training, ECT..ect. Conversely you will however lose some control over your practice. If the billing service does not collect more money your expenses will increase. It's up to you to determine whether or not the increased expense is offset by decreased aggravation.

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Bond Exchange Investing Stock C. A billing service should be able to increase your security levels by creating a system of checks and balances. As a former police officer I can assure you that crime statistics indicate most embezzlement/fraud/theft occurs from within. During an investigation a store manager for Sears and Roebuck Co. once told me," our customers take it out piecemeal but our employees take it out in wheel barrels" This logic also applies to a doctor's office. A billing service can provide an extra layer of protection because there is a system of independent checks and balances. Typically billing services are fairly large businesses with strict internal controls. My organization Medi-Bill Inc. Operates internally similar to a banking institution with the way we handle funds. It is highly unlikely that the ownership of a reputable medical billing firm would risk the consequences of committing fraud against a client.

Bond Fort Investment Wayne Conversely, the issue once again boils down to control. Many physicians are understandably quite unsettled at having their checks and correspondence mailed directly to the billing service. Further compounding this dilemma is," what will happen to the checks and correspondence after the billing service agreement is terminated?"(Again, we will discuss alternatives to this at the end of the article)

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Bond Cape Coral Coral Cape D. State-of-the-art practice management software is an extremely expensive investment. If you've already invested in a high quality computer system I do not believe outsourcing your billing would make much sense financially unless your computer vendor is charging outrageous support fees. If you're considering purchasing a computer system or a medical record management system my favorite vendor who we've been working with for over 15 years is Office Management Solutions (OMS) based in Tampa Florida. The owner's name is John Peake and he is by far the most honest and reputable computer vendor I have ever worked with. OMS can be reached at 813-963-5582 or www.oms-online.com.

Bond Chicago Chicago If you need to update your system, purchase a new system or your support fees are getting out of hand this may be an opportune time to consider outsourcing your medical billing services.

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Bond Investment Salem Salem F. Many physicians, for obvious reasons do not want their office managers/staffers to have any in-depth knowledge of how much money the practice is making. A reputable and properly run billing service can create this level of financial security. The best case scenario is for your staffers to only see your expenses and have only a limited understanding of the revenue being generated. This can also be accomplished internally by making and recording your own deposits. If you're going to do your own billing I must emphasize the importance of financial security. You must create a system of financial security. If you don't have the time to personally open your mail and make the deposits you are definitely a candidate for outsourcing. Many banks offer a "lockbox" where you can direct your checks and correspondence. Bank lockbox services are generally quite pricey. They usually charge about .25 per copy. You may also opt to take out your own P.O. Box located adjacent to your billing company. This way you still maintain control of your checks and correspondence.

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Bond Discounted Investment G. Many billing services own or have affiliate relationships with collection agencies. You'll most definitely want to avoid this situation. Make sure your billing service provides you with a monthly report containing proper information on delinquent accounts enabling your office manager to properly send the information to a collection agency of your choice. In my opinion billing services that own collection agencies or establish close affiliate relationships with them are unethical and should be avoided at all cost. Even though it is nearly impossible to find a collection agency that does not have relationships with medical billing services the point I'm trying to make is to be sure that your billing service is independent and you have the freedom to select a collection agency of your choice. This relationship presents a scenario whereby the billing service can simply go after the easy to collect accounts and allow the more difficult but still collectible ones to slip into the hands of a collection agency who obviously charge a much higher percentage of collections. Again, it's easy to see how a billing service can facilitate or erode your sense of control. The most reputable collection agency I've dealt with is a company called Collection Information Bureau (CIB). I've been doing business with them for years and they have never attempted to establish an affiliate relationship with my company. CIB can be reached at 1-800-231-3514, contact sandy Lopez.

Bond Imperial Investment Different types of billing services

Bond Henderson Henderson There are three different types of billing services.

Bond Investment Lancaster Fee per claim
50/50
Full service

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Fee per claim billing services charge a flat rate per claim. The fees generally range between $1.25 to $5.00 per claim depending upon the services provided.

Bond Investment Naperville Advantages:

Bond Investment Strategy · May be helpful to a brand-new practice who is not fully implemented a computer system or is still trying to decide whether to outsource.

Bond City City Kansas · Practices with old or outdated computer systems

Investment Grade Corporate · Relatively inexpensive cost per claim

Bond Trading System · Excellent for practices who have a problem with only one particular payer group such as Medicare or payers that require electronic claims submission

Bond In Investing Savings · Physicians planning to retire within one year

Bond Investment Toledo Toledo · Highly flexible

James Bond Trading Card · Low-volume practices

Bond In Investing Stock · less employees

Municipal Bonds Investment Disadvantages:

Bond Terms Trading Expensive for high-volume practices
Poor integrity of accounts receivable
Lack of information systems
Lack of control

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50/50

Bond Greenville Greenville 50/50 billing services install computer terminal/terminals in your office. The billing service performs part of the billing process while your office performs the other. As you can probably tell from my list of disadvantages this is in my opinion the least desirable type of billing service.

Trading Stock And Bonds Advantages:

Bond Investing Municipal · Less expensive than full-service billing services

Basis Bond Finance Hill · Avoid the purchase of practice management software

Bond Explained Terms Trading · Creates a system of checks and balances

Bond Business Investing Stock · less employees

Bond Houston Houston Disadvantages:

Stock Bonds Day Trading High set up fees
Low accountability from the billing service
Lack of control
Communication Problems(all collection problems will be blamed upon your office)
Your staff will still probably wind up doing most of the work
Completely reliant upon the Internet
Loss of data
HIPPA issues

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Full-service

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Bond Trading Strategy · completely remove the billing process from your office

Bond Fixed In Income Investing · symbiotic relationship

Bond Dayton Dayton Investment · avoid expensive computer system

Bond Management Market Risk · system of checks and balances

Bond In Investing Municipal · less employees

Bond Investment Las Las North Disadvantages:

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Bond In Investing Junk · loss of control

Bond Investment Orlando · patient relations

Bond Free Trading · collection agency relationships

Bond Free Guide Investing Should I outsource my billing checklist: If you answer yes to most of the following questions then you should probably consider outsourcing?

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Bond David David Guide Guide · Is your overall collection rate declining?

Bond Investment Pensacola · Is your accounts receivable too high?

Bond Introduction Trading · Are you experiencing an increased number of denied claims?

Bond In Investing Involved · Is your overall frustration level regarding your billing/business office very high?

Bond Columbia Columbia · Are you facing a major capital investment in new hardware or software?

Becoming Bond Building By · Are your computer support fees to high?

Bond Investment Springfield · Are you having a difficult time keeping or hiring experienced billing staff?

Bond Com In Investing · Are you spending too much time on the business aspect of medicine?

Bond Investment Temple Temple · Are you concerned that your staff or office manager has knowledge of your income?

Bond David Guide In Investing · Are you completely reliant upon your office manager?

Bond Greensboro Greensboro · Are you planning to expand your practice?

Bond Fastread Fastread Funds · Do you believe that your practices cost structure is too high?

Bond Fayetteville Fayetteville · Do you have several employees performing tasks that could be handled by a single more experienced manager?

Bond Clause Estate In · Is your computer system obsolete?

Beach Beach Daytona Bond · Are hardware, software, and information technology disrupting the operation of your practice?

Bond Finance Fixed In Income How do I select a billing service?

Guaranteed Investment Bond The service should fit or complement the size of your actual practice. Try to get a basic idea of the size of the firm. A solo practice will most likely have greater success with a small to medium-sized billing firm. Obviously, a solo family practitioner would probably not be very well served by a publicly traded firm.
Avoid long-term binding contracts. You should be free to terminate your agreement any time within 30 days written notice. The agreement should clearly specify what each side will do for the other. Make sure the agreement assures that upon termination you'll receive a highly detailed account receivable report [listed by individual patient] .
Ask for references and call the other providers!
Inquire/investigate the actual owner of the company. Ask to speak with the owner directly.
Avoid firms who offer too many different types of service. Medical billing is a very highly specialized field. Companies who offer, collection agency services, payroll, financial consulting, tax consulting, malpractice insurance, marketing services etc. etc. are not in my view focused enough on what they're there to do. Collect your money!
Ask other physicians. Keep open mind about this one because physicians who are happy with their billing company do not necessarily want them to grow and generally like to keep a low profile on this issue.
Is the billing service for sale? Try to ascertain whether or not the firm has recently been sold. In your contract/agreement you should request to be notified within 30 days of the pending sale. In my experience billing services are constantly being bought and sold. Sometimes the acquisition is a positive thing but quite often the merger/acquisition can be very detrimental. You should at least be notified and given ample time to make a proper decision on whether you'll stay with the new firm or select another.
Where will your checks and correspondence be mailed? This delicate and important issue need not be as complicated as it appears. Many physicians for obvious reasons are reluctant to allow checks and correspondence to be forwarded directly to their billing service. Some reputable, high-quality billing services will not even provide services to clients who insist upon having the checks and correspondence mailed to them directly. I'd like to spend a few moments on this important issue and explain the ramifications of exactly where your checks and correspondence will be mailed. Maintaining the integrity of your accounts receivable is crucial! If your office routinely fails to properly mail copies of checks and correspondence to your billing company your practice could be in grave danger of losing control of the accounts receivable. If your account receivable is to maintain any semblance of financial integrity it is crucial that billing service employees do not spend valuable time and effort following up on claims that have already paid and not properly forwarded to them. Understandably, your service may even look upon this as an intentional effort to reduce their commissions. Again, bank lock boxes provide a sound alternative to this dilemma. Some practices solve this problem by directing all checks and correspondence to a P.O. Box keeping EOB's separate from other corporate mail. The checks and correspondence are mailed to the billing service," unopened" biweekly. This is an excellent compromise and creates a system of control. There are many other possible options but the important point to remember is that ONE entity must be completely responsible for the validity and integrity of your EOB's.
Make sure all checks and correspondence are issued under your tax identification number and made payable to you! Make sure your contract/agreement specifies that the billing service will not countersign or attempt to countersign your checks and correspondence.

Bond Exchange Investing Stock If you have any questions or comments regarding this article please do not hesitate to contact me at david@usemedibill.com.

Bond Fort Investment Wayne This article was written by David Duncan, president and founder of Medi-Bill Inc.

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