Healthcare revenue cycle management is the most complicated aspect of any medical business and everything needs to be run smoothly. If you are diagnosing any disruption in the physician medical billing services then it can result in far less cash flow than you can expect from your business. Some of the most insignificant mistakes in the billing cycle can result in huge revenue loss. These common mistakes can derail payments and prevent your practice from being paid at all.
Therefore, physicians should be well aware of the fact that simple disorganization can also cause more delays in following up on every claim and even piling up too many tasks onto the medical billing specialists. Although, if physicians have outsourced their billing services to a well-experienced and professional medical billing company then they would not need to invest more time and money on sustaining financial productivity. As companies like that provide a reliable physician medical billing services without any financial chaos that can happen due to mistakes and issues caused by in-house billing practice.
In any situation, practitioners must keep a clinical audit and analytical reports that can help physicians to trace this kind of billing practice. Practitioners must make sure to avoid 5 following mistakes in the physician medical billing services to make their bottom line healthier.
1. Inconsistency In Following Up On Medical Claims:
Medical practitioners must monitor their outstanding claims as they won’t be resolved on their own. Whenever these claims get neglected, it leaves a significant amount of money on the table. Aging account receivables is the symptom of lingering claims that have been submitted to the payers and are still not reimbursed. Also, nobody followed up on these claims and they have surpassed the appealing deadline as well. In this way, the services provided by your healthcare center lose its value.
If you would not transmit claims properly and follow up with them afterward then it can miss payments and you will never come to know the actual monster that is damaging your financial health. Therefore, practitioners must have smart software solutions for physician medical billing services to monitor and analyze claim progress.
2. Accept Reports From Clearinghouse At The Face Value:
Those unread clearinghouse reports can add up fast, which piles a huge workload for the medical billing practitioner. Although, if this task is performed in a timely manner then it can be completed in just a few minutes while a huge pile of these reports can eat up the entire morning of the administrative staff.
Therefore, practitioners must make sure that they have dedicated resources that can timely accept, review and analyze clearinghouse reports. If you lag behind the deadline and often delay to check the reports then you also often harbor problematic claims and delayed payments. Robust commitment towards reports checking and identifying daily problems with medical claims immediately would prevent administrative chaos. It would also allow a physician to pay attention to the quality of patient care services to drive better results.
3. Maladjusted Medical Billing System:
Simple disorganization in the physician medical billing services can give rise to several problems that can influence the physician’s business lifecycle negatively. If there is a lot of chaos in the billing system then it will cause a huge number of claims being denied or rejected. Ideally, medical billers should file claims at the date of service. This move can help them improve cash flow and ensure that you don’t miss out on a single dollar on revenues.
4. Lack Of Training Sessions For Employees:
Physician medical billing and coding is a complex aspect of the healthcare business industry. Due to the ongoing changes in protocols, rules, and payer’s policies, employees can’t understand the components of an EOB that can cost you huge money.
Let’s say, you know exactly why you were not paid according to your expectations or even why your appeal request was denied by the insurer. Your medical billing staff is still unable to identify the actual problem with medical claims. Because your medical billing team requires consistent training of the ongoing changes in the billing and coding field in order to take steps and identify the right protocols. If your team has insufficient information about the right strategies to file accurate claims and resubmit the old ones for payment then your administration staff requires education and training about the current standards of physician medical billing services.
These training sessions would enable medical billing staff to create strategies by themselves in order to point out key problems with their physician medical billing services and take steps to remove such issues. If you have insufficient resources and time to train your team then you will leave them with an incomplete understanding of claims process, unwanted denials, or errors that cost you a huge amount of revenue being lost. The best option for such a business is to outsource medical billing services to the professional billing company. They have dedicated employees who are the subject-matter experts and sufficient resources to carry out all the difficult norms associated with medical billing services.
5. Expect Multi-tasking From Medical Billers:
In many practices, the person who is charged to handle the physician’s medical billing services also gets assigned to other administrative tasks such as handling work at reception, etc. If a medical biller has been thrust upon with the burden of excessive workload then it would his/her focus from the primary responsibilities. It may also force them to neglect the billing cycle and impact the backend system negatively.
Final verdict:
Physicians should not let their practice to suffer from financial instability due to medical billing mistakes. They should make sure that they file claims in a timely manner. They should ensure smooth cash flow by streamlining the procedures involved in revenue cycle management. Avoid disorganization and do not overburden their medical billing staff with excessive workload.
