ROI Analysis for an ASP Practice Management System for the Medical Industry
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Trish_J_Jones]Trish J Jones
Billing errors can cost your organization thousands of dollars. This section analyzes manual billing pitfalls, costs to your organization, and proven ways to recover lost revenue.
Most billing errors can be eliminated prior to the submission of your claim. Managing these errors with little labor (i.e. people) intervention increases your overall profit. Relying on simple billing/claims software and/or personnel to remember specific billing requirements will result in an increase of denials and delayed cash. Instead, invest in billing software that has the capability of building your specific billing rules into the system. The system should allow for multiple claim forms. Your users should be able to view claim forms online, and reformat the claim online if necessary. The system should have the ability to automatically submit clean claims to the Payer, without human intervention. And most importantly, the system should contain your Payer specific rules for billing.
For example, some Payers have different billing requirements for the same procedure code. Your system should have the ability to generate a claim specific to the applicable Payer.. If your system does not have the capability of managing these types of rules, you are relying on personnel to catch the requirement up front and edit the claim prior to submission. Or, the claim will be submitted to the Payer and then denied for missing information.
Let’s examine the cost of both processes (manual versus system built rules). If you are relying on a manual or simple billing/claims system, your process will typically be as follows. A claim is generated and reviewed by your office staff. The Payer requirement states the specific procedure code must be submitted with a letter of medical necessity. Your office staff must remember this requirement (in addition to the other multitudes of billing requirements Payers create). The charge is $500. The claim is mailed to the Payer without the LMN. Twenty days later a denial is received from the Payer, stating the claim is not eligible for payment due to missing information. At this point, your staff will either remember what the missing information is, or more than likely contact the Payer for explanation. Your staff will then retrieve the LMN and resubmit the claim to the Payer with the LMN attached.
How does this cost your organization? Let’s assume the initial charge is $500. Begin subtracting the personnel cost to review the claim up front, review the denial, contact the Payer, correct the claim, resubmit to the Payer, and then follow-up with the Payer regarding payment. On average, this would entail approximately 2 hours of personnel costs. Plus, the $500 receivable has been delayed at least thirty days, resulting in a lower margin to your organization.
Investing in billing software that allows you to build in Payer specific rules will increase your margin almost immediately.
The software should provide flexible billing cycles, the capability to build in rules for Payer specific billing requirements, flexible claim formatting, missing element tracking, online reformatting, and a multitude of other user friendly functions to assist your personnel in billing.
How will this benefit your organization? In the above example, your $500 profit is reduced by 8-10% for personnel costs. That is then reduced by another 5% due to the delay in collection of the receivable. Conservatively, your margin is reduced by 15%. Multiply that by the number of instances this is currently occurring in your practice. You can see how quickly your margin erodes, and cash flow is delayed.
The cost of a Medical Billing System is usually dependent on the size of your practice and number of concurrent users. For a small practice, the cost could be less than $2,500 to install. Taking the above example into our analysis, your return on investment would be seen very quickly. Investing in a solution will be paramount in increasing your margin and cash flow.
In addition to the features mentioned above, your medical billing software should provide your organization with Revenue Management reporting, an on-line patient financial folder, automatic charge posting, and much more! http://www.pdmsoftware.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trish_J_Jones http://EzineArticles.com/?ROI-Analysis-for-an-ASP-Practice-Management-System-for-the-Medical-Industry&id=746660
Related News:
CollaborateMD Surpasses $1 Billion in Claims Annually
CollaborateMD (formerly ClaimGear), a leading provider of Internet-based medical billing and practice management solutions for physician offices and medical billing services, announced today that it now provides medical billing software ...more
DMN Newswire, CA
Electronic Medical Records Software Provider Offers EMR Software For All Health Care Professions
Over their many years in business, the software designers have taken input from physicians, office managers, billing consultants, and many other medical ...more
PRLog.Org, Romania
CMA-backed Clinical Management System (CMS) one of two new Application Service Provider (ASP) Offerings selected by OntarioMD for use by doctors
About Practice Solutions Software Practice Solutions Software was established in 1982 and acquired in 2004 by the Canadian Medical Association through CMA ...more
Canada NewsWire (press release), Canada
Medical Billing Training - What You Should Know Before You Commit
Before you commit to any medical billing training program, it's a good idea for you to find out what to expect. First of all you want to eliminate any programs that are not reputable. You will want to thoroughly check out any program before you commit or sign any contract. You can do this by typing in the specific name of the program on your search engine along with the words 'bad' or 'problems' or something similar and see what you can find. There may be some people unhappy with any program but multiple complaints should raise a red flag.
Windows PDA Medical Software Benefits
PDA Medical BenefitsIf you are concerned about your medical history, the Internet has some great windows medical pda software that is available for free. Freeware is all the rage, and finding good quality freeware that is medically related is easy and fun.
How To Collect Medical Billing Claims From Insurance Companies
Physicians have always had to juggle the tasks of their office Often, small practices could not afford to hire an office staff and the physician would have to do it all; see patients, make appointment, and fill out and submit medical claims to insurance companies
Meeting Medicaid Billing Needs with Sensitive Medical Billing Software
Medicaid BillingMedicaid billing (similar to medicare billing)requires medical billing software that is versatile and sensitive enough to work with Medicaid. Medicaid is state subsidization of medical expenses paid on behalf of qualified low-income individuals or families.
Medical Billing Specialist
As Pres. Bush was touring the Midwest, shortly before he was re-elected as President, and even after, he spoke of medical reform centering on liability costs.
Online Medical Billing Degree
Because the field of medical insurance is rapidly expanding so, the requirement for qualified and experienced medical billing administrators is also growing as well. In this article, we will be taking a close look at the benefits to be gained from taking an online medical billing degree in order to get on the first step of the ladder in this up and coming career.
De-Mystifying the Medical Billing Maze
Medical billing can follow a very complex and strange process. For those who don?t or haven?t actually worked as doctors, or for insurance companies, the procedures can be quite opaque, but fundamentally it is quite simple.
What You Should Know About A Medical Billing Specialist
Whether you are a person who is thinking about becoming a medical billing specialist or a company looking for a medical billing specialist, then this article is for you. There are several things that you should be aware of in the medical billing industry and I will walk you through them so that you will have the background information that you need to help you make a decision that will best suit your needs.
AdvancedMD Surpasses $3 Billion in Claims Annually:
-- Award Winning Online Medical Billing Software Provider Serving
7000+
AdvancedMD, the leading provider of Web-based practice management solutions for physician offices and medical billing services, announced today that it now provides Medical billing software to over 7000 providers nationwide who collectively process more than $3 billion in claims annually, after just five years since the service launched. AdvancedMD's rapid growth now extends across all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and portions of Canada, England, New Zealand and Australia.
Physicians Accounting, Ltd Selects Orion Health's Rhapsody Integration Engine to Maximize Accurate, Effective Medical Billing
Billing services company Physician's Accounting, Ltd. will be able to process more claims and ensure a higher rate of accuracy and reliability using Orion Health's Rhapsody Integration Engine.
ZipClaims.com and InstaMed® Enhance Medical Billing for Millions of Practitioners : ABC Coding Solutions Selects InstaMed for ZipClaims.com, a Uniqu
ABC Coding Solutions, developer of ZipClaims.com, has selected the InstaMed healthcare payments network and platform for its ZipClaims.com medical billing solutions designed to serve a population of 2.5 million non-physician healthcare providers. ZipClaims.com gives these healthcare providers a unique way to get paid quickly while avoiding fraud. ZipClaims.com is an online insurance claims filing system specifically designed to address the billing challenges that affect millions of non-physician health professionals.
Medical Billing From Home ? A Legitimate Business Opportunity?
Are you looking for a home-based business opportunity in which you can not only earn a living but also make a different in the process? If so, consider medical billing.
The Top 5 Ways To Market A Medical Billing Company
Medical billing services are becoming more and more popular because these services save doctors a substantial amount of the time filling out forms, dealing with insurance companies and chasing payments By outsourcing medical billing, doctors can see far more patients and generate more income for their medical practice
Healthcare Software Vendor Unveils New Intelligent Medical Software Product
MediPro, Inc. unveils Meditab's Intelligent Medical Software (IMS) as the latest addition to its list of award-winning healthcare solutions.
Franchise Opportunities Now Available via Synergy, a Medical Billing, Software Company
Synergy proudly announces the launch of a new franchise opportunities program, Synergy Healthcare Resources. Long known as a leader and innovator in medical billing software development, hands on support & training and creative marketing initiatives for independent billing centers, the company is now ready to help others start up and manage their own franchise.