Should you outsource your medical billing?
by Dr. Scharmaine Lawson NP, FAANP, FAAN
Medical Billing services can be quite a handful for a medical office to carry-out. In some cases, a medical office might decide to engage the services of qualified medical billers who are willing to work full time in the office, while others might decide to outsource their medical billing and management practice services.Some might decide to combine both methods, but outsourcing medical billing services seems to be the more preferred option. In this article, we would be looking at the benefits of outsourcing medical billing services for a medical office. Let’s check out some of them below;
Reduction In Cost Of Labor
Reduction in the cost of labor has always been an important factor for most small businesses, and we all know how expensive maintaining a medical billing department can be. The standard practice entails that an office should have 1.5 workers for every two doctors in practice. This is in line with the average salary package for a qualified and experienced medical billing expert which is placed at $35,000 annually, including benefits such as; Dental Insurance, Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Unemployment Insurance and many more. So, engaging the services of 1.5 workers will cost over $50,000 per year.In addition to these costs, there are other miscellaneous expenses associated with adequately providing those medical billers with the right set of equipment and supplies to enable them to carry out their job effectively. Now, we can all see how expensive it is to operate an in-house medical billing department. This is where outsourcing comes in; it helps your business save some extra cash and reduce your total overhead cost.
Reduces Billing Errors
Outsourcing your medical billing services to professional medical billers ensures that your claims are submitted accurately and quickly. The primary purpose of a medical billing company is to provide quality medical billing services, and they are solely responsible for making sure that their staffs are well trained and equipped with the know-how needed to submit medical claims properly. This helps to ensure that the number of rejected and denied medical claims due to billing errors is reduced.
Billing Compliance
The healthcare sector changes constantly, and insurance companies are partly responsible for this. One thing which makes medical billing very tasking is having to stay updated with the changes in Medicare, Medicaid, and third-party payers. Medical billing services are best seen as a full-time job, to ensure that the medical office is kept in line with the appropriate formalities required by each payer. Medical billing firms are required to stay up to date with the recent changes in protocol to enable them to maintain billing compliance.Its now very clear why outsourcing medical billing services can be of tremendous benefits to a physician, this is because medical billing services are one of the most important functions of a medical office, and a huge percentage of your income can be derived as a direct benefit of having a functional medical billing services firm to work with.
As seen on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, Dr. Scharmaine Lawson is a nationally recognized and award-winning nurse practitioner in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP), winner of the 2013 Healthcare Hero award (New Orleans City Business magazine), and 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year award (ADVANCE for Nurse Practitioner magazine) where she was featured on the magazine cover.A highly sought after keynote speaker and media personality, Dr. Lawson is available for speaking engagements related to Advanced Practice Nursing, Business Concepts, and Entrepreneurship.
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For billing questions and fiscal needs, contact: LWilliams@NolaMedicalBilling.com