The healthcare landscape has changed considerably over the last couple of years thanks to COVID-19. Whether your practice lost revenue due to a reduction of in-person visits, you are struggling with the Great Resignation situation or both. Your goal at this point is to figure out how to lessen expenses, increase staff, and maintain a positive cash flow.

But how do you decrease your expenses and add important staff to your team, all while increasing your revenue? Hiring an experienced medical billing company could be the answer you are looking for. But you don’t want to just hire anyone. You need to be sure that the medical billing company you hire has the knowledge and expertise that can not only help you manage your medical billing but also help grow your practice.

To ensure you are hiring the right medical billing company there are several questions that you should ask when making this critical decision:

1. How long has the company been in business? You need to understand how long the company has been handling medical billing. As part of this line of inquiry, also ask what their customer retention rate is and the average length of time they have had their clients?
2. What will it cost? This of course is top of everyone’s mind when looking to outsource. Standard in the industry is a percentage of net revenue collected, normally under 8%. Also ask about any start-up fees, data conversion fees, termination fees, and any other surprise or hidden additional costs.
3. Have they worked with practices of similar size, scope, and/or specialty as yours? Verifying that the company understands your specific needs is important. You could even ask if they have testimonials or references you could speak to.
4. What exactly are the services they offer? Do they only do medical billing or are they a true revenue cycle management company that does everything from eligibility verification through collecting on account receivables? Are there services they don’t provide in their rate? Some companies charge extra for patient collection follow-up and other services. Also, do they work in your EHR or will you have to change software?
5. Will you have access to all the billing information? Your billing information is just that, yours, and you should be able to access it at any time, for any reason.
6. Are they HIPAA compliant? Protecting patient data is a top priority. Do they ensure compliance with stringent software and encryption practices that minimize the risk of patient data loss?
7. Do they provide transparency into their performance? Do they provide reports? If so, what are they and how often will you receive them? Can they customize reports based on your needs? How will they communicate with you through the process? What will your responsibilities in the medical billing process be?
8. What kind of training do their employees receive? Are their coders certified? What kind of training do they get to continually keep up with rules and guidelines? Are they utilizing the most recent guidebooks and resources, for example, CPT, ICD-10, HCPCS?
9. How are denied claims handled? Although hiring a medical billing company should lessen the number of denied claims due to their expertise, denials will happen. How do they handle them?
10. What happens when the people on my account get sick or go on vacation? You need to make sure that you will receive the same level of service every day, even if the people who usually work on your account are out. Do they have a team that is cross-trained and can ensure a consistent service level?

With the answers to these questions in hand, you will be more prepared to choose the best medical billing company for your healthcare practice.

Who is Billed Right and How Can They Help with Your Medical Billing?

Founded in 2006, Billed Right is a Florida-based company providing leading and innovative expertise in revenue cycle management solutions while building meaningful partnerships with our clients. Guided by our mission, we empower doctors to focus on delivering the best patient care. Driven by our vision, we focus on leading in revenue cycle and operational management for healthcare organizations of all specialties. As a company, we take pride in delivering experience and unsurpassed business solutions to meet and enhance the needs of our healthcare providers.

Contact Billed Right to schedule a consultation and learn more about how becoming a strategic partner with us can benefit your practice.