Doctors Are Concentrating on Medicine, Not Billing
The hospital or doctor records all the diagnosis and procedures for each patient. They submit this information to the medical billing compnay. The company takes the procedures and diagnosis and creates a bill for the insurance company and consumer. The company acts as a mediator between the insurance company and doctor. Their job is to make sure that everything the doctor did for the patient is accurately represented to the insurance company.
It is vital that each diagnosis and procedure is accurately coded to ensure proper payment. It is this coding that communicates to the insurance company exactly what the doctor has done for the patient. The coding also indicates the reason why a procedure was performed. If a diagnosis or procedure is entered incorrectly, the insurance company will not pay the claim. The medical billing companies must then review the file to find if there is a mistake in coding. If the coding is accurate, they must then confer with the doctor to ensure that the diagnosis and procedures given are correct for that patient. This leads to an increase in the time it takes for the physician to be paid and for the patient to receive a final bill. In addition, the patient may receive an incorrect bill if the claim is erroneously denied. This can lead to frustration for the patient and doctor.
Medical billing is so much more than just sending out bills for services rendered. They actually look at the whole bill submitted by the doctor and will send in all the forms necessary. Next, they will look at each patient’s insurance to see what will be covered by insurance and what requires to be covered by the patient. Then the medical billing companies will make sure the insurance companies will reimburse the doctors for services rendered. .
When a medical billing company works well for a clinic, it frees the doctors and staff to better treat patients and focus on practising medicine. It helps clinics decrease financial stress and keep operating costs down. A healthy bottom line pulls better doctors and staff to the clinic. That helps the clinic better serve the community in which it is located. A well run clinic with good debt recovery is more likely to survive over the long run, serving more patients and saving more lives as time goes on. Doctors are better at practising medicine than filling out forms and billing patients.
