When you are looking for a medical billing service provider, you want to make sure that they can deliver the best services. To do this, you need to evaluate their expertise first and then look at their track record. If you choose the right one, then your practice will have a much better chance of succeeding.
Before evaluating a medical billing service, you first need to know what a medical billing company is all about and see if your medical practice needs will be adequately catered to by the solutions they offer. Medical billing service providers partner with small, medium, or large medical facilities to provide professional ICD/CPT coding, billing, payment claim submission, follow-up, audit, and reporting software solution services.
Medical billing companies can help improve your medical facility's productivity and foster more effective communication between physicians and patients. This post discusses how to evaluate a medical billing service provider before hiring their services.
What to Look Out for Before Hiring a Medical Billing Service Provider?
Once you are certain that your medical billing process requires improved efficiency and revenue optimization, you can start researching the medical billing company’s services; you can search for them based on the following criteria:
#1. Industry Experience
It is always a good idea to work with a medical billing company that has experience because they are more likely to have a team of highly trained, professional staff that are skilled in the medical billing field and can provide quick support when needed.
You want to make sure your provider has experience working with your type of practice and industry. For example, if you're a small dental practice, be sure they have worked with other dental practices and can provide references.
A medical billing company with a team of staff that are American Medical Billing Association-certified is desired, as it means that the team is conversant in HCPCS, CPT, and ICD-10 coding. Experience in both Medicare and Medicaid should also be an essential prerequisite for any medical billing company you intend to hire.
#2. Compliance with HIPAA
To protect the privacy of your patients, it is important to choose a medical billing company that complies with the Health Insurance Accountability and Portability Act (HIPAA). The medical billing service provider also has to maintain a very high-quality standard of operation. You must ensure that the provider follows up on unpaid medical bills and rejected payment claims and take timely corrective action.
Communication is crucial when dealing with a billing company to ensure that the provider offers reliable client support channels, including 24/7 live chat, phone calls, and email support. The service provider team should be available to sit in-house to deal with ongoing medical billing issues if your medical practice requires it.
#3. Proven Service Delivery
You need to be sure that the medical billing company has a proven track record of performance. You can check the number, type, and quality of medical facilities that the medical billing provider is currently servicing to get a good idea of whether or not they will be a good fit for your practice.
Check for:
- What kind of track record does the provider have?
- How do they deliver on their promises?
- Do they provide value for money?
- Are clients happy with the service they receive from this provider, and are they willing to recommend them to others?
Checking third-party review sites and reading through the feedback from genuine clients is an excellent way to evaluate a medical billing company. Numerous negative feedback and comments should naturally be enough to raise a red flag and avoid the medical billing company at all costs.
#4. Consider Proposals Carefully
Finding a medical billing company and immediately subscribing to their services is not enough, as you must request a proposal and presentation. It does not commit you to any provider but ensures you get a real feel for what they offer.
The provider needs to prove to you that their software is capable of enhancing the overall productivity of your practice with invaluable tools like linking EHR to patient bills, analysis, auditing, and reporting tools. You must be 100% convinced about the features of the medical billing company helping your practice before you choose them.
#5. Service Pricing
Ultimately, your bottom line comes into play at some point. You need to get the best possible medical billing solutions for the best possible price. Services like patient appointment reminders, credit card processing, data conversion, and advanced reporting come at an added cost, so you should evaluate if your medical practice needs them.
Therefore, it is vital to check and compare the costs of the various solutions, per-provider or per-encounter, that prospective medical billing companies offer. The provider and solution you choose to adopt should fall within your budgetary allocation. In addition, make sure that the provider can satisfactorily meet the scheduling demands of your billing expectations while you consider pricing their service solutions.
Why is OmniMD Worth Checking Out?
Now that you are aware of the things to consider whenever evaluating a medical billing service provider, it may interest you to know that OmniMD is one medical billing company that meets all the highlighted criteria and offers affordable solutions.
OmniMD has 20 years of experience in customer service excellence with a 99% customer retention rate. In just two decades, we have acquired over 1,500 healthcare professionals using OmniMD medical billing tools and are currently partners with more than 600 health facilities.
OmniMD also has a 99.95% uptime and caters to over 4 million patient records. We are the leading provider of all-inclusive electronic health record (EHR), practice management (PM), and revenue cycle management (RCM) services and solutions for all types of medical practices. We are partners with small and large medical billing companies, medical management organizations, and medical practices to enhance patient and physician experience and boost operations to optimize the financial health of your medical establishment.
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