Medical billing is an essential part of healthcare operations. It involves submitting claims to insurance companies for the reimbursement of healthcare services provided to patients. It’s certainly a fussy part of the care process, what with it being so complex and prone to errors. In fact, in 2020, it’s been found that 80% of medical bills contain errors. Much of these inaccuracies result in denied or delayed claims, reduced revenue, and compliance issues — all of which can impact your medical firm greatly.
A lot of these errors have to do with not having enough help in your firm, or having your staff wear too many hats that they lose focus and occasionally make mistakes.
So how do you minimize these things from happening? Well, hiring an outsourced team of professionals can help minimize common medical billing errors and streamline the process. Here are some common medical billing errors and how outsourcing can help prevent them:
Incorrect patient information: Accurate patient information is crucial for successful medical billing. Errors in patient demographics, insurance coverage, or medical history can lead to claim denials or delayed payments. Outsourcing to a professional medical billing team ensures that patient information is accurately collected and entered into the billing system. This helps to minimize errors and prevent claim denials.
Coding errors: Complying with the medical coding process involves assigning specific codes to medical procedures and diagnoses. Incorrect tagging of these codes can result in denied claims or overpayments. Shockingly, the average hospital bill contains $1,300 to $10,000 in error! Outsourcing to a professional medical billing team can help prevent these coding errors. With an expert team handling the coding for you, they can ensure that the codes used are up-to-date and accurately reflect the services provided.
Failure to verify insurance coverage: Verifying insurance coverage is critical to the medical billing process. Failure to verify insurance coverage can result in denied claims and lost revenue. Outsourcing to a professional medical billing team can help ensure that insurance coverage is verified before services are provided, reducing the risk of claim denials.
Lack of follow-up on unpaid claims: Following up on unpaid claims is essential to the medical billing process. Failure to follow up on unpaid claims can result in lost revenue. Keep in mind that each year, doctors stand to lose $125 billion dollars collectively due to poor billing practices. Outsourcing to a professional medical billing team can help prevent this by ensuring that claims are regularly followed up and resolved in a timely manner.
Lack of compliance with regulatory requirements: Medical billing is subject to numerous regulatory requirements, including HIPAA, HITECH, and ACA. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in hefty fines and legal penalties. Outsourcing to a professional medical billing team can help ensure that all regulatory requirements are met, reducing the risk of compliance issues.
In conclusion…
Medical billing errors can have serious consequences for healthcare providers, including lost revenue, compliance issues, and legal penalties. Hiring an outsourced team of professionals can help minimize these errors and streamline the billing process. By ensuring accurate patient information, preventing coding errors, verifying insurance coverage, following up on unpaid claims, and complying with regulatory requirements, outsourced medical billing teams can help healthcare providers focus on providing quality care to their patients.
So how do you minimize errors while taking care of your staff? You’d need to hire a team of people that possess specific knowledge on the codes, standards, and procedures of the U.S. healthcare system. You can’t just delegate the job of medical billing to just anyone, however. With that in mind, let FGC+ be the one to put together an adept team of professionals to handle your medical billing needs. Learn more about us through our website at www.fgcplus.com.