The significance of medical billing and coding cannot be emphasized enough. We live in an era where health reforms are evolving the healthcare industry in the USA. Medical billing ensures the accuracy of payments and makes the process of reimbursements much simpler for physicians.
The Medical Billing department takes care of countless tasks other than billing and coding, which include communicating with payers, managing revenue, looking into denied claims, and ensuring the security and privacy of the patients.
When these tasks are investigated in great detail, physicians benefit immensely. Let’s have a glimpse at some outstanding factors that could be advantageous to a provider’s practice.
- Accuracy
Medical billers and coders are trained thoroughly to eliminate errors that could potentially cost physicians a significant amount of revenue and result in disorganized Revenue Cycle Management. Mistakes can impact them with a negative reputation, because of which they can be denied participation in government affiliate programs such as Medicaid or Medicare. This occurs as the physician falls under the False Claims Act due to consistent errors in medical billing. As a result, the medical billing and coding department bears a considerable amount of responsibility for ensuring accuracy.
- Medical Billing Post Reforms
The healthcare sector and its medical coding have gotten more complex because of the shift from ICD-9 to ICD-10 codes. They are vaster and more intricate than the ICD-9, which increases the likelihood of errors. With insurance companies denying 19% of claims, it is becoming increasingly important to have a billing specialist on board who is up to date on changes. When the medical billing department knows its medical codes, it can share information with physicians to eliminate errors on the front end.
- Revenue Cycle Managing
Another task of the medical billing department that benefits the physician is managing the revenue cycle. Proper paperwork, coding and reviewing, billing, charge capture, collections, denied claim handling, and analysis are all part of the job. On top of these, some regular pre-visit tasks are part of the revenue cycle. They include administrative tasks like patient scheduling, medical eligibility, registration, and service collections.
Conclusion
Medical billing and coding play a huge role in increasing the revenue of a physician’s practice. They ensure reimbursements after the reforms. By training the medical staff, keeping up with all the updates in medical coding, and communicating with the physicians, the healthcare facility can look towards steady profits.
