Partnering with professional medical billing services like the C&C Medical Administration, Inc. can help you enhance revenue and cash flow. It can be a long-term contract, which will enhance the financial wellbeing of a healthcare facility. When you choose a medical billing company there are several things you expect from them besides their skills in coding, billing, and claim strategies.
Experience is also not sufficient because some other factors also play a huge role in determining the efficiency and success your practice will encounter partnering with a billing service provider. When you interview the potential service provider, ask them about the following things.
How do you maintain data security?
Safety of PHI [Protected Health Information] is extremely important, all the time. Discuss with the potential service provider how they store passwords, how they destroy the PHI details and what their email encryption policy is. It will help you get an idea of how securely the data gets handled.
If you sense from the discussion that PHI security is not a priority then consider it to be a red flag!
What is the frequency of detailed reports?
Analyzing and assessing the billing data of your patients every month is necessary for business success. The data reveal, which practice areas perform well and the ones that need to be modified on your side or the billing service team. Past performance data reviews help to set a realistic goal along with efficient ways of achieving them.
A good billing service provider allows you to analyze and access your reports, whenever necessary. Metrics can be calculated and compared against benchmarks regularly. It even allows you to know the accuracy of the data and determine the efficiency of your billing partner is as promised or not.
What kind of technology is offered?
As days pass technology changes, so ask if the billing partner upgrades the services. The latest tools help to resolve the consistent challenges emerging in the healthcare niche. For example, high deductible plans burden the patients but with the online payment portal, physicians can offer patient-friendly payment practices.
Do they offer ongoing training opportunities?
Medical billing companies inform your practice about the codes that can be used and even offers training resources to the staff regarding ways to enhance operational efficiency. During the initial stage, billing experts need to perform multiple training sessions. Nevertheless, an ongoing training program regarding documentation & coding, front-desk collection strategy, eligible best practice, etc. are also beneficial.
Do you have a certified coder?
If the potential billing service provider has no certified professional coder in their team then move to another billing company on your list. Certified coder enhances compliance performance, which decreases denials, which is a huge concern considering the current ICD-10 grace period.
Your goal is to offer excellent healthcare service as well as keep your business efficient. Billing is a complex process and the stress caused because of coding errors, manual mistakes, and delays cannot be ignored. Besides, the inability to collect fees indicates you will be handling an administrative nightmare. Partnering with a professional billing service allows you to tackle the patients’ health, whereas they will competently handle the administrative task.
