Most physicians find outsourcing medical billing much easier than taking on the practice in-house, especially in the wake of more stringent insurance regulations. Proper outsourcing allows an office to hire a complete division for the same price that it would cost for one in-house employee. Specialty medical billing companies also have a greater expertise in dealing with the nuances of billing, allowing the in-house staff of an office to focus on what it does best – attending to patients.
Many medical practices, however, overlook the added value that outsourcing to a local billing company may provide. This is especially true in a scaled business environment such as Atlanta, Georgia. A billing company with the wherewithal to do business in an international city will be more likely to have the chops to handle the unexpected emergencies of a local office. There are some additional advantages to keeping your outsourcing local, although you may have remote choices across the country. We will take a look at a few of those advantages here.
Medical Billing Costs
As mentioned before, outsourcing in general will reduce the costs for many medical offices. Outsourcing locally gives an office the opportunity to save even more. A shorter round-trip means less of an expense to send and receive billing requests, leading to a much less expensive billing process.
Local Groupings
Local billing agencies are often able to group the requests of many local physicians into a single batch process. This lowers the direct claim processing costs or billing percentage that a billing company needs to charge in order to make a profit. Because the fixed costs remain the same for smaller or larger batches, a billing company that is local has more incentive to deal with local practices.
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Rejected Claims
One of the most important aspects of outsourcing to a billing service is the ability to easily follow up on rejected claims and delinquent accounts. Local billing companies are much more efficient at sending invoices to local patients and pursuing any payments that are delinquent. Because these patients are much easier to find when they are physically closer, a higher percentage of these efforts will be successful if they are outsourced to a local company. This is especially true in a large city like Atlanta, where a claim might easily fall through the cracks under the auspices of a mistyped address or an unexpected move.
Staff Turnover
Outsourcing medical billing to a local company also keeps a practice from having to rewire itself every time it experiences turnover in its staff. Processing claims is the lifeblood of a medical office. If the billing provider is remote or otherwise difficult to reach during a transition period, it can spell serious consequences for a practice. This is especially true if there is no one in the office who is tech savvy. Coordinating with a local medical billing company is much easier, so less training is required in order to bring a new billing staffer or coordination expert up to speed.
General Practitioners
Primary care physicians are already facing a squeeze. The majority of experts agree that primary care practices are one of primary targets for national management services organizations. Because there is so little wiggle room in terms of margin, many primary care physicians are forced to outsource collections, human resources, technology, and of course, billing.
Dealing with a local billing servicer keeps the primary care physician from having to explain local regulations. A local billing agency also has a better idea of the margins that are prevalent in the local area.
These are just a few of the reasons that outsourcing locally can be advantageous to a medical practice in Atlanta. Feel free to compare results, but always be sure to base your chosen approach on bottom-line results! If you have any questions about how to maximize your reimbursement, please contact me at 770-666-0470 or email me at patrick.dougherty@m-scribe.com.
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