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To ensure you receive future Minutes, click this link. To ensure you don't, click here to opt out. July 21, 2010 |
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Taking your practice into the digital age: Part II: Digital Medical Billing
Medical billing is easy. You just buy some off-the-shelf software, hire a couple of sharp kids just out of high school, give them enough training to pass a test and add a few letters after their name , and you're in business, right? Wrong. Going with the cheapest solution risks not only the financial success of your practice, but opens you up to civil and criminal liability from (even unintentionally) fraudulent claims. Competent medical billing combines human experience and understanding, digital technology, and the practice discipline of following clear, established processes to stay current (and thereby take best advantage of) the constantly changing coding and payment rules of Medicare, Medicaid, and a host of other private payors. Choosing anything less than the best of these means you're not getting paid what you should. And the dollar difference can be substantial (click the Billing tab here to see an example). Technology There are literally hundreds of off-the-shelf software programs designed to help you take your billing into the digital age. Everything from practice-specific packages for anesthesiologists to dentists, to billing software that claims, as the core of a larger suite of software, to be able to manage your entire practice. Most modern digital billing software provides a big step up over hand-coding and early software solutions for billing. But no matter how sophisticated the software becomes, it will never replace the need for the common sense and sophistication of an experienced medical coding specialist (see next paragraph). And without the flexibility of constant updates, off-the-shelf solutions are also challenged by the need for constant updates. Developing or employing a company with a customized system allows you the flexibility to make timely changes based on new payor requirements and to make custom strategic updates to codify internal billing strategies. Human Experience and Understanding Whether you decide to bill in-house or outsource, you will find that the key to increased revenue is the keen eyes and deep understanding of certified coders. To gain certification, coders must . . .
Practice Discipline To maintain certification (and stay current with codes and coding practice) certified coders have to renew annually, take the current exam and submit 36 CEUs every two years. So what does all of this mean for me? Billing is all about performance. If you are presented a way to reduce your billing expense, but lose more than the net savings as a result of poor performance . . . what’s the point?” If instead, you opt for the best (and highest cost) system, but it nets you an additional 25% in revenue, you're getting the best return on your investment. Incidentally . . . 100% of PBN coders are highly-trained, certified, have years of experience, and some have specialized knowledge in particular practice areas and disciplines. PBN uses a customized and flexible Comet system to provide the most technologically advanced system for its clients. PBN’s ISO certification and ongoing focus on quality means when you work with PBN, you get what you’ve worked for.
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Inside the
Why isn't this month's Minute about the recently-released "meaningful use" objectives? Yes, it's an important piece of legislation that will have a lasting effect on medical practice and presents a significant short term financial opportunity for every practicing doctor and clinician. Three reasons: 1) if you're involved in the medical community in any way, you've already heard about it (here's a summary by the DHHS doctors who authored the objectives) 2) implementing high quality medical billing practices can easily net your practice more financial gain, both short and long-term, than implementing or improving your EHR practices will - and at a lower cost of entry and faster return on your investment; and . . . 3) . . . you can gain a deeper understanding of EHR and the meaningful use objectives in future issues of the Minute.
Coming Next Month . . . EHR, "Meaningful Use," and incentives under HITECH Visit us online at the new PBNMed.com.
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Or, just give us a call to find out more. We can help.
