Medical practitioners looking for external support for their billing often wonder whether outsourcing is really cost-efficient. This concern as well as concern regarding the security of their patient data makes them hesitate to go for the outsourcing option that is in fact beneficial in many respects. The ideal procedure would be to make a cost comparison of in-house vs. outsourced billing services in some detail and understand the financial gain involved.
Outsourcing Ensures Considerable Cost Savings
Billing and claim processing are core tasks that directly affect the reimbursement and cash inflow of a medical practice. Owing to periodic changes in federal government policies, and insurance as well as HIPAA norms, claims and bill processing tasks have turned out to be more complex. Frequent advancements in technology have also made it difficult to maintain a comprehensive and cost-effective in-house billing system in healthcare practices. Moreover, the remuneration for knowledgeable experts is presently on the rise whereas the reimbursement rates are not growing proportionally. So many healthcare entities are finding it difficult to perform medical billing tasks within the facility. Outsourcing your billing tasks to an experienced medical billing company would help resolve your billing and claim processing requirements quite efficiently in a budget-friendly manner within the specified time-frame.
Billing services from reliable outsourcing companies would significantly contribute towards improving the revenue and cash-inflow of your practice. When comparing the expenses, specialized billing outsourcing services enable you to save up to 30% to 40% of your operational costs. These services help avoid the following expenses involved in in-house billing:
- Recruitment and training of additional billing personnel
- Providing periodic training to staff
- Maintaining innovative structure and advanced technology
- Purchase of hardware and the latest billing software
- Payment of employee benefits, including additional allowances and bonuses, vacation pay, sick pay, and so on
- Implementation of retirement benefit schemes
- Purchase of office supplies required for claim processing and medical billing
- Patient statement expenses ( includes cost of paper, toner, postage, envelopes, and more)
- Maintenance costs
- Payroll taxes
- Direct claims processing costs
- Collection costs
Regular Follow-ups for Optimal Reimbursement
Along with ensuring considerable cost savings, billing services also enable you submit accurate bills and claims. This would minimize claim rejections, delayed payments, and ensure that you obtain optimal reimbursement benefits.
Professional billing staff at your outsourcing firm performs regular follow-ups and ensures that the payments are made on time. In in-house billing, as the office staff may be busy with other core activities, they may inadvertently neglect the follow-up processes. In a recent analysis it was proven that many healthcare practices have lost 25%-30% of their income as a result of inaccurate billing procedures and irregular follow-up actions.
Dependable Firm for Your Outsourcing Needs
Outsourced medical billing services provided by well-known outsourcing companies are really beneficial for healthcare facilities. When comparing the costs, these services are much more affordable and feasible than maintaining an in-house medical billing system and billing experts. In the present day industry, many outsourcing companies are delivering claim processing solutions, therefore when planning to outsource, select a dependable medical billing company. With such a company you can benefit from client-focused services at competitive prices, within customized turnaround time.