Let’s set this straight: medical billing and coding is not necessarily glamorous work. It can be a hassle even to the most seasoned orthopedic surgeon. From thousands of ever-changing medical codes to limited time and resources to follow up on difficult collections, it may seem impossible to maintain the same level of patient care as you deal with the late claims and billing.
Thankfully, you can outsource orthopedic medical billing solutions to streamline your cash flow and focus on your primary objectives. If you are still unsure if you need to bring a medical billing company on board, here are five warning signs to watch out for.
1. High Staff Turnaround in the Billing Department
Maintaining an in-house billing department can be difficult. Staff turnarounds are often high. Hiring and training new employees can be time-consuming and costly. Worse, it can cause vital details to seep through the cracks during the handovers. If you expect a retirement or receive a resignation from the in-house billing team, it may be time to consider medical billing companies.
2. Administrative Strain
Are you distributing the billing and claim filing duties with other staff, including clinical specialists? Does your administrative staff have to work over the weekends to try to catch up with the overwhelming claims on deck? Your staff may be overstretched, requiring some help from medical billing solutions. Tucson orthopedic medical billing services allow your staff to focus on patient care and have a better work-life balance.
3. Tired of Delayed Payments
Nothing is as frustrating as following up on delayed or defaulted payments. An increase in reliance on patient payments necessitates an increased budget towards collection. You can streamline your medical bill collection and claims filing by hiring a medical billing company. The experts can chase down the delayed payments, allowing in-house staff to focus on other tasks. They can also help patients understand billing given that approximately 54% of insured patients reported either sometimes or always being confused by medical bills.
4. A Drop in Quality of Patient Care
The primary focus for most orthopedic practices is patient care and satisfaction. Overworked and overstretched staff can see your operations stay away from this noble cause. If you notice that your practice is constantly chasing after patients over offering better healthcare, it may be time to bring in medical billing experts. Focus on giving the best care to your patients as they find medical billing solutions to boost your revenue collection.
5. Lower Revenues Than the Industry Median
Shoddy medical billing can be costly over a long-term period. If you notice your revenues falling below your industry’s median, it may be time to call medical billing service companies. The costs of maintaining an in-house billing and collections unit can be costlier than outsourcing the services. You have to hire, train, retain and provide employee benefits to the department. With medical billing solutions, you can enjoy sophisticated technology, expert professionals, streamline the process, and better economies of scale at a fraction of the cost. You can also reduce billing and coding mistakes that could be bleeding you money. A McKesson report shows that a rejected claim can cost you an additional $25 to correct and resubmit.
Medical billing professionals have up-to-date technology and expert staff on deck to help streamline your collections. If you have noticed one or more red flags in your orthopedic practice, feel free to contact Sentinel billing solutions.
