The Healthcare Landscaping is Changing – Billing Services are the Safe Bet

By Brice Voithofer, Senior Vice President 

Through continuous process improvement (CPI) successful companies constantly re-evaluate their business process to assure they are running their business in the most effective, efficient, and innovative manner. Medical practices are no different and must adapt to the ever-changing landscape to survive long-term. Companies that thrive are the ones that create the correct environment for success.

Is it time to re-evaluate your in-house billing operations’ effectiveness and associated costs?

Five thoughts as to why using a professional billing service are gaining momentum.

1. The cost of outsourced billing has dramatically declined over the past 5 to 10 years while the cost of in-house continues to increase (physical space, payroll, insurance, retirement plans, etc.) every year. In-house billing costs are fixed while outsourcing is variable based on practice volumes.
2. Opportunity Cost – Only so many hours exist in a day, where should a highly trained physician spend them (clinical, hospital committees, family life, managing billing operations) to create the best value for the organization? As practices become busier clinically, there is a lack of time for physicians to successfully oversee a billing operation and keep up with the increasing complexities of government and private payer reimbursement and compliance rules.
3. Owning and maintaining an in-house computer system is increasingly a security risk. A successful hack or ransomware attack could be financially devastating to a practice. A HIPAA security breach could result in government fines and expensive requirements to notify patients.
4. Attracting and retaining qualified employees gets more difficult every year. What do you do if a key billing individual retires or leaves for another job?
5. Mistakes are costly, outsourcing provides additional insurance-related protections.

Should your practice explore outsourcing and weigh the benefits of in-house versus outsourcing? Download our whitepaper on In-house Billing or a Billing Service at https://hubs.ly/H0kBF070 to learn more or contact me at bvoithofer@ahsrcmstg.wpengine.com to run an analysis of in-house verse a billing service costs.