Are you considering outsourcing your medical billing? Due to the many rules, regulations and constant changes in medical billing, many medical administrators are faced with the challenge of keeping their billing in house or outsourcing it to a billing company.
Although there are many reputable Medical Billing services out there, there are also a number of “start -up” or inexperienced companies that will misrepresent themselves in order to gain a contract. Choosing the wrong company could mean financial disaster for your practice. Here are some very important questions to ask before making a decision:
1. Ask how many years the company has been in business. You need to make sure they tell you how many years they have been actually working accounts. Many companies, once started, will take a year or more to get an account, however, they will include such year in their response. You want to go with a company that has at least 3 solid years of billing experience.
2. Company structure. If the owner of the company is not and has never been a Medical Biller make sure he or she has in place a manager with several years experience actually managing a medical billing service or at least a multi-specialty or multi-provider practice. Ask also how long he or she has worked for the company. If the manager has not been with the company since it started, ask how many people have held this position since the company opened. Large turn over in this position should raise a red flag.
3. Ask for a list of the number of accounts the company handles by specialty along with number of employees per account and number of monthly charges for each account. Many companies will take on very small accounts to increase their volume, that way they can say they are billing for 10 providers, but what they don’t tell you is that each provider is seeing five patients per day. By asking for a list and the number of charges per provider and also the number of employees, you can get a better picture of what kind of experience they have. Many companies will also tell you that they have X number of employees, what they don’t tell you is that they are using school externs to handle many of the daily tasks. Make sure you ask how many of their employees are full time, how many part time and how many are externs.
4. Ask by what percentage they have been able to increase collections for their clients once they take over the account and ask for 3 references also. Make sure you do call their references and ask the contact person the same question. A good Medical Billing service should be able to increase your collections within the first 60 to 90 days.
There are other important factors to consider prior to making a decision. Many companies provide what they call “National Services”. It is not a good idea to contract a company that is not local. You need to make sure you have access to the facility and can stop by at any time if you have questions or something doesn’t seem right. At the very least, make sure the company is in your home state. Companies that provide services to multiple states usually do not keep on top of regulatory changes as well as in-state billing services. Also, do not enter into long term contracts with any billing company. You need to be able to terminate the contract if you are not happy with a 30 day notice. By asking the right questions you should be able to find a great billing service that will help your practice become more productive and successful.