Five Ways Technology is Changing the Medical Billing Landscape
Technology has expanded what’s possible for nearly every industry, including the healthcare sector. Along with providing critical functionality to medical professionals as well as patients, medical billing professionals have taken advantage of tools and solutions that are positively impacting the revenue cycle management cycle in order to improve their clients’ bottom line.
As more and more hospitals, practices, and medical facilities are putting dollars behind modernizing their infrastructure, here are five ways technology is changing the medical billing landscape.
1. Shifting Public Perception on Emerging Technology
Anything new, especially technology-related, can be scary to pursue given the unknown, and difficult to implement since it isn’t common practice yet. When artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning were first introduced into the mainstream, like most other industries, it was largely ignored in the medical field. However, in recent years, due to marketing, advertising, and technologists/ambassadors, public perception has become more accepting of its utilization.
Organizations and facilities are exploring how these technologies can benefit them, and are proactively searching it out. For example, the pandemic caused working from home policies to become more accepted, but before then business leaders were less likely to provide that. Now, as it’s more accepted throughout the world, a larger percentage of companies are offering this to its employees. Similar to the adoption of AI. Expect to see these types of services explode for medical professionals over the next few years.
2. The Pursuit to Automate (Almost) Everything
There is a lot of information and backend support that goes into medical claims and other workflows and processes that directly impact reimbursement for medical professionals. Medical billing companies are integrating AI and other next-gen solutions to automate as much of this process as possible in order to streamline activities and responsibilities. With automation in place, medical billing companies can provide efficiency, accuracy, and a competitive edge.
Consider the amount of data associated with medical billing. Through this AI evolution – taking tech cues from companies like Amazon, Google, Tesla – medical billing companies will be able to continue to apply transformative technology to the RCM cycle. Not only bringing actionable insights based on data, but keeping it uniform will accelerate much of what is still being manually performed. You can learn more about how AI can enable medical billing companies by reading our “Why AI Technologies Are Essential for Your Medical Billing Company” white paper.
3. Labor Shortage: Who’s Working on Claims?!
The Great Resignation is still alive and well, with the healthcare industry being one of the top 3 industries most affected. While the data doesn’t indicate the type of jobs people are quitting in this field, medical professionals are certainly feeling the strain on the administrative side with processing, finalizing, and collecting claims. This offers a unique opportunity for medical billing companies to step in and carry the load for facilities that traditionally have an in-house operation.
As physicians and other medical practices continue to serve its patients, all while dealing with legislation and regulations such as the No Surprises Act and Medicare cuts, it’s critical that they have a dedicated team that is handling the financial elements of the business. Medical professionals need constant efforts to increase their revenue stream.
4. The Patient Journey and the Trickle-down Effect
Automation is not only beneficial for medical professionals; it has trickled down to patients as well. With automation being able to streamline processes, documents, forms, etc., patients have a much more pleasant experience leading up to and following their appointments. With more access to the provider through integrated websites/applications and portals, patients can have all information completed and provided to their provider ahead of time.
Along with being able to handle their billing responsibilities, they can view previous lab results, schedule/reschedule appointments, and even communicate directly with their doctor. Technology continues to tear down the veil of separation that has been traditionally common between provider and patient. With technology, we’ll continue to see a more collaborative environment within healthcare.
5. The Freedom of Proprietary Software
The software that hospitals and professional medical facilities use is very important, especially within the medical billing world. It’s common for companies to use third-party software, but as these firms are requiring more specialized focus and treatment, enlisting the services of a company with proprietary software will continue to become commonplace.
For example, if a hospital is in need of customized systems or to interface with certain files, a proprietary solution would expedite that process because the medical billing company software has more flexibility, and customer service agents can work with backend support to make time-sensitive updates for the client. Given that software has become a critical element for helping business move forward, this will continue to be a more attractive solution for healthcare organizations.
Read our blog 5 Technology Questions for Medical Billing Companies to learn more about which tech questions can medical professionals make when evaluating medical billing companies.
Think about how your practice interacted with technology no more than five years ago, and how that has evolved to today. Technology in the medical billing space will evolve and iterate, helping billing and administrative professionals streamline their processes not only to capitalize on reimbursements, but to effect change for medical professionals and patients.
Do you have any thoughts on five ways technology is changing the medical billing landscape? Want to learn more about AdvantEdge, and how its innovative technology is pushing what’s possible for clients? Connect with us on our LinkedIn page or contact us to speak with an AdvantEdge expert about your needs.
