Medical billers are unsung heroes of health services and hospitals across the globe, spending their days (and nights) calculating and handling payments for medical services, products and procedures. Whether preparing invoices, establishing payment plans or ensuring patient details are up to date, they play a vital back-end role that allows doctors and nurses on the frontline to do what they do best.
Employing an in-house medical billing specialist or team has a habit of cutting into the very revenue they are collecting. In addition to salary and wages, there are numerous expenses that need to be outlayed including onboarding and training, employee benefits, office space, equipment, and technology infrastructure. Despite their best intentions, internal employees are not immune of making billing errors that can prove costly.
There is a rapidly growing sector that is providing much-needed relief for hospital and health services. Outsourcing has been associated with contact centers and IT support, but has evolved to boast providers that are experts in the field of medical billing and offer tailor-made services for clients of all shapes and sizes. The global medical billing outsourcing market – already estimated to be worth $10.2 billion in 2020 - is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.66% from 2021 to 2028.
Benefits of Outsourcing
Cost Savings: By outsourcing, companies can save up to 70% on employment costs alone by hiring an offshore medical billing specialist or team to support local staff with repetitive and time-consuming tasks.
Less Billing Errors: Outsourcing to professional medical billers puts your paperwork in the hands of experts who are renowned for committing far fewer errors, identifying potential issues and, ultimately, increasing potential returns
Productivity Boost: Outsourcing providers have a vested interest in implementing systems and processes that enhance productivity. In turn they use the data more effectively and identify ways for their medical billers to deliver more with less. This includes studying historical trends, pinpointing obstacles and highlighting potential adjustments to patient.
Greater Morale: This is often the case in smaller health services or medical practices that results in staff being overburdened by an activity that deserves a dedicated focus. Medical billing outsourcing puts the responsibility in the hands of experts and allows in-house staff to dedicate their energy to their own fields of expertise.
Better Compliance: The quality outsourcing partners reduce that pressure by accepting responsibility for remaining up to date with the latest iterations. That is much better scenario than putting one’s faith in an inexperienced or not fully committed in-house team member.
Happier Patients: By outsourcing the time-consuming and exhaustive aspects of medical billing, clinicians and the administrators who support them can increasingly concentrate on patients. This is particularly for smaller practices that cannot afford additional staff and find themselves focusing too much on the medical billing.
Getting Started
If you believe outsourcing may be the remedy for your medical billing migraines, there is no time like the present to take the next step. A wealth of providers will welcome your enquiry but take the time to do your research before reaching out. Study their websites and online material, paying particular attention to whether they have the knowledge of your systems and software to provide the best level of support for your team.
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