Showing posts with label Physician. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Physician. Show all posts

Monday, 8 August 2011

Types of Physician Answering Services


Physician Answering Services - So what are your options:


Business Answering Services - As a specialist your hours are most likely erratic and seldom fall between the hours of nine to five, Monday through Friday. You undoubtedly have patients recovering both in hospital and at home. Regular medically trained receptionists generally work a typical week. Many patients as well as their general practitioners will often try to contact you during off hours. While not all calls can wait until Monday or until you are out of the operating room, many can.
 


Medical Answering Services - No one can be "on-call" 24 hours a day, 7days a week and still function indefinitely at the high professional level one is accustomed to providing. Although a noble and passionate career, running your own medical practice is after all a business. All business owners want their customers to be happy and have that business flourish. Making sure that your clients can speak to a professional whenever they need to is an important way to ensure the successful growth of your business.
 


Telephone Answering Services - Having the right answering service will also enable you to take time from your practice to be with your family. There is no need to worry about taking a weekend off when you feel confident that you will not be out-of-touch with your clients. You know that they will be taken care of and that you will be immediately notified of any issues that require your attention.

So why look into Physician Answering Services

When you partner with a company providing Physician Answering Services you prevent any future complications arising from a missing receptionist. Your callers will always hear a professional and articulate operator. Local Physician Answering Services , particularly in major metropolitan areas, are well aware that first impressions count and the voice callers hear first, is vitally important to maintaining your company's professional image.

When companies engage with a Physician Answering Services for their answering service needs, there are a number of things they should consider before signing on. These include looking at a number of things, like the contract being offered by the Physician Answering Services , and checking out the references that they provide. However, doing so does not ensure that the Physician Answering Services is reliable because the reliability is measured using a different set of criteria, which involve looking at the actual operations. The good news is that there are a number ways companies can assess reliability, including asking the right questions with regard to the operations.

What are the benefits to Physician Answering Services

The answering services benefit almost all the businesses but it benefits people like those who are running home inspection services or construction services or even people like doctors who have just compelted their Online Doctoral Program running their clinic or other home cleaning service owners. Their nature of business is such that they do not sit in the office and are out in the field handling operations but they also need more business to grow. This means that they cannot ignore field operations nor can they ignore calls and the solution for this to hire answering services .These answering services can respond to simple queries or can redirect calls as desired.

It is also important to note that your customers talk to their friends, family, neighbours, and coworkers. This communication most often occurs under negative circumstances. If you do not subscribe to a Physician Answering Services , your clients may be unable to reach you when they need to. As stated above, this often creates an unhappy customer. It has been said that an unhappy customer often leads to more unhappy customers, through communication. That is why it is advised that you, at least, think about subscribing to a business answering service, especially if you are unable to be available all of the time.

Business Answering Services

You have devoted your life to a very specialized field in medicine and your time is in high demand. If it is becoming increasingly difficult to juggle your time between the operating room and the obvious and legitimate demands of your patients, it may be time you gave serious thought to a business answering services.

As a specialist your hours are most likely erratic and seldom fall between the hours of nine to five, Monday through Friday. You undoubtedly have patients recovering both in hospital and at home. Regular medically trained receptionists generally work a typical week. Many patients as well as their general practitioners will often try to contact you during off hours. While not all calls can wait until Monday or until you are out of the operating room, many can. Let a professional physicians answering services screen those calls for you. You can be assured that you will be notified of the calls that need to be dealt with right away. Calls that are not of an urgent nature will be forwarded to you at a time that you have pre-selected or when you call into your online business answering services office.

In many cases your patients have traveled to you from another town or city for their care which is common for medical specialists. With an 800 number that is provided by most business answering services, you can be assured that there will be no problems receiving calls from your patients or their general practitioners whatever the time of day or night.

With your time being in high demand, juggling personal time with family time is more than likely a difficult task. If you can take just a few minutes while having your morning coffee or relaxing after dinner to research physicians' answering services online there would be one less stress in your hectic day. Perhaps you have a few minutes in between patients to check your computer for the answering service that best suites your individual needs.

No longer will there be a need to worry about those days when a receptionist must call in sick and no replacement can be found on short notice. Physician answering medical receptionists are highly trained and capable of screening all your calls. They will understand which calls are urgent and must be relayed immediately and which calls can wait until you call in. You can be reassured that all your patients calls will be answered promptly and professionally.

Your time as a medical specialist is as valuable as your personal time spent with family and friends. A good balance between the two is essential if you are to continue providing the best possible care to all your patients. The best online physicians answering service will go a long way in helping you achieve that much needed and deserved balance.

It only takes a few minutes on your laptop to research physicians' answering services and the rewards will be indispensable.

Physician answering Services in Medicine

Research shows that there are many companies that provide highly efficient and professional answering services for a variety of businesses. However if you run a medical practice it is important that you narrow your search to ones that provide physician answering services in medicine. In a medical practice, it is not enough to have your calls dealt with by generally trained receptionists. It is vital for your patients to be able to speak with a professional who has specialized training in your field. You want to ensure that the person answering your patients calls will be able to discern the difference between a situation that can wait and one that requires your immediate attention.

You have worked hard and many long hours to build your practice to what it is today and want your patients to feel secure that when they call with a concern they will be dealt with in a professional and caring manner. If you operate as a specialist in a specific area of medicine, your hours are most likely erratic and seldom fall between regular business hours. Many of your patients may have serious occurrences at times that you may not be close to your office phone. Most physician answering services in medicine provide their clients with an 800 number allowing you to receive calls from your patients or other general practitioners no matter what time of day or night it may be. This type of service also allows you to receive only the calls of the most urgent matters, that you can pre-determine, allowing you manage your time more efficiently.

Even during regular business hours, it is often impossible for your staff to field all the calls as they come in. Utilizing physician answering services in medicine at such times will allow your staff to eliminate the precious time wasted each day listening to messages on a machine and then having to take the time to screen, prioritize and then make the return calls all the while accumulating even more messages that will have to be dealt with later.

As a physician, your time is limited and in demand. It is important that you and your staff are proficient in time management. Doing a little research now into physician answering services in medicine will ensure that your office is running in peak efficiency and that your patients concerns are being dealt with in a professional and caring manner. The quality of care you provide your patients with, depends a great deal on the balance you are able to maintain between your professional and personal life. Take the important step of looking into the physician answering services in medicine that will best suit your needs and help you maintain that all important balance. Enjoy your precious leisure time more and stress free knowing that your patients are being taken care of in the same manner as you would care for them. Your office will run more efficiently and your patients will feel secure knowing that their calls will be received by a caring and knowledgeable professional no matter what time of day or night they may need to call.

Medical Answering Services

You've worked hard to build your medical practice to what it is today. You've probably given up countless weekends to ensure your patients are well cared for and their needs met. But isn't it true that many of the calls you've received over the years could have been taken care of by a professional medical receptionist. This is exactly what the right physicians answering service could be providing you with.

You are a dedicated professional and have acquired a reputation for being there for your patients when they need you. What has this cost you in your personal life? Could you have provided the same level of service and still maintained a better balance between your career and your family? The answer is most definitely! If you can spare a few minutes before you retire for the evening and simply research some medical answering services online you will be able to find some of that much-deserved balance.

If your evenings are just to busy then a few minutes while sipping your morning coffee and browsing online to find just the right medical answering services could free up much of your valuable time in the long run. Time that could be spent relaxing with your family or visiting with friends.

No one can be "on-call" 24 hours a day, 7days a week and still function indefinitely at the high professional level one is accustomed to providing. Although a noble and passionate career, running your own medical practice is after all a business. All business owners want their customers to be happy and have that business flourish. Making sure that your clients can speak to a professional whenever they need to is an important way to ensure the successful growth of your business. The best way to do this is by taking a few minutes to find the best physicians answering services available.

By taking just a little bit of your time now you can maintain the highest level of service that your patients have been used to while affording yourself the opportunity to pursue other interests. medical answering services employ high caliber staff trained specifically in medical reception. You will have the satisfaction of knowing that a qualified staff person and not a machine will answer all your patients' calls no matter what time of the day or night it may be. Rest assured in the knowledge that you will be contacted immediately when a situation arises that requires your personal attention.

It is certainly in the best interest of your business to employ the best and most qualified employees, as they are the first person your patients come in contact with. Taking care of your clients' medical well being is what you as a professional have been trained to do. It makes good business sense to leave the administration of your office to the professionals who have been trained in this field. The right physicians answering service will do just that.

So, you have built a successful medical practice delivering babies! We all know that babies, even before they are born do not adhere to a pre-defined schedule. Your time is spent between your regular office appointments and delivering babies either at the local hospital or perhaps in your patient's home. This leaves you out of touch with a patient that you may need to deal with right away. A physician's answering service can easily take care of these situations for you. All their staff is highly trained in your field of practice and knows when you must be contacted right away. In just a few clicks on your computer you can find the right specialized answering service your practice requires.

What about those days when your own receptionist has had to call in sick, who will answer your phones while you are busy tending to your patients? You need the peace of mind that a professionally trained medical receptionist will answer all your calls Your patients often don't have the time to wait through a long message explaining that you are not available and a list of after-hours numbers for them to call. They need to speak to someone who is trained in your field. This is where a medical answering services comes in. All it takes is a few minutes of your time to go online to choose the answering service that is best suited for your particular practice.

Take some time to find the right physicians answering service to provide your patients with this essential product. medical answering services receptionists are highly trained and can handle any medical situation. They have sensitivity for all your patient's concerns and understand the difference between a patient who needs a prescription refill and a woman who is well into labour.

Wouldn't it do both you and your secretary a world of good if both of you could just get out of the office to grab a salad and a coffee without having to worry about missing important phone calls. Once you are back at the office refreshed and ready to work, is your secretary wasting time listening to messages that could have been handled by a medical answering services ?

Let your clients know that you care enough about their individual questions or concerns by allowing them to speak to a medical professional anytime of day or night. Your time is precious with not much left over for your personal interests or to just sit back and relax once in a while. Just a few minutes with your laptop sitting in front of the fire will be enough to find the perfect online medical answering services.

You've worked hard and taken care of all the other details needed to run your office, let the medically trained staff of a physician's answering service do the rest. You deserve the peace of mind it will afford you. Both you and your patients will surely reap the benefits.

Physician Answering Services for Your Medical Practice

You have been operating your own medical practice long enough to understand the heavy demands that are constantly being placed on your time. There have no doubt been nights and weekends given up to care for your patients and countless, non-urgent calls, that could probably have waited a day or two when there would have been more time to deal with them more efficiently. Proper time management is essential to running a successful business of any kind. It is well worth the little time it would take to research medical answering services for your medical practice.

Even during regular business hours, it is not always possible for your staff to answer all the calls that come in each day. Specialized answering receptionists are highly trained in the medical field and are able to deal with any questions or concerns that your patients may have. They are professional and understand which calls can wait and which ones require immediate attention. There will be times when your regular staff will need to call in sick and if this happens, it may not be necessary to cancel all your appointments for the day if you know that the calls coming in will be dealt with in a professional and proficient manner. Many doctorsâEUR(TM) offices also feel that it is best for all staff to take a lunch break at the same time and simply turn on a recorded answering machine instructing their patients to call back, leave a message or options of other phone numbers for medical emergencies. The time wasted by the staff having to listen, screen, prioritize and return calls becomes very inefficient.

By choosing the right medical answering services for your medical practice you and your staff will be free to spend more time on the important tasks of running the office. It will also provide your patients with the understanding that you truly care for their well being by having a trained medical professional who can deal with their concerns whether or not they are able to speak with you directly. You will have peace of mind knowing that a qualified medical receptionist, not a machine, will be able to handle your patients calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By utilizing the services of these highly trained professionals you can feel confident that you will be contacted immediately in the event that a situation arises that requires your personal attention.

Caring for the well being of your patients is what you have been trained to do. It just makes sense that the first person they come in contact with when they call your office is a trained professional who understands their concerns and can deal with them as you would. Researching medical answering services for your medical practice will ensure that highly trained and caring professionals are handling the important job of listening to your patients. Knowing that all your calls are being dealt with properly will also provide you with some very important and stress-free leisure time.

Telephone Answering Services

You're almost done your internship and are making plans to open up your own medical practice. Your most important assets of course will be your patients. It's vital that they feel you are there for them 24 hours a day. The best way to ensure that they can get through to you is by providing them with a number they can call at any time from anywhere. Taking a little extra time to research answering services specifically geared toward the medical field will do just that.

All it takes is few minutes during a much deserved break from your hectic day to open up your laptop and browse the many telephone answering services available online. They understand how important your patients are to you. Their staff is trained in the field of medical reception.

There is so much to think about and organize while setting up a brand new practice. You cannot afford to lose patients just because they don't feel they can contact you after hours. You've worked hard to achieve the level of confidence it takes to care for clients.

Now that they have put their trust in you as their Physician Answering Services you can keep that level of trust by ensuring they feel you are committed to caring for them. It's easy to stay in touch with your patients by simply choosing the best telephone answering services available.

It is well worth your time to spend a few minutes in the comfort of your own home to find the telephone answering services that is right for your practice. You deserve the peace of mind knowing that wherever you are, your patients' calls will be dealt with professionally.

Having the right answering service will also enable you to take time from your practice to be with your family. There is no need to worry about taking a weekend off when you feel confident that you will not be out-of-touch with your clients. You know that they will be taken care of and that you will be immediately notified of any issues that require your attention.

Finding the right staff that is reliable is never easy. What do you do when your receptionist has a family emergency of his/her own? Who will answer your phones when he/she needs to call in sick? By doing a little research online and choosing a telephone answering services that suits your practice you will have one less stress in your hectic life.

No one likes to have their call answered by a machine especially if they are calling about their child who is sick. Make sure your patients can speak to a live professional medical receptionist anytime of day or night. It's so easy to get started; all you need is a few minutes in the privacy of your own home and your home computer or a laptop. Put your patients first by ensuring they can speak to someone who knows how to handle their call. Find out about the telephone answering services available to help your business grow.

Physician Answering Services for Your New Business

When starting up a business of any type that will be dealing with the public, it is vital that your clients are able to reach you when it is convenient for them. This of course may not always be at a time when you or your staff are available to take calls and often times these calls are well after regular business hours. If your new business happens to be a doctorâEUR(TM)s office it is even more important that all your clients are able to connect to a live person who will be able to handle their questions in a professional and helpful manner. For this reason, it is essential that you have in place specialized Telephone Answering Services for your new business.

Whether you will be operating a general practice or offering services as a specialist it is important that your clients be able to speak to a highly trained professional that can deal with their call. Medical answering receptionists are trained to deal with any concerns and are able to determine whether the call can wait until your return or it is a call that requires immediate attention. Making use of specialized Telephone Answering Services for your new business will ensure that all your patients feel confident that your office is there for them any time of day or night and are able to deal with whatever their concerns are.

As a physician, your time will be in high demand and the success of your practice will depend a great deal on how you are able to manage that time most efficiently. Another area that will contribute to the growth of your business will be how confident your patients feel in you when they understand that they can speak with a knowledgeable professional 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They need to understand that the person they are speaking with truly cares about their concerns as much as you do and feel confident in the knowledge that you will in fact receive their message quickly and accurately.

It takes a great deal of planning to set up a medical office and there are many important factors to consider. When planning your staff, make sure you include research into Telephone Answering Services for your new business. Even during regular business hours it may be necessary to have the physician answering service for your new business take calls for a period of time. There will no doubt be days where your staff need to call in sick or times when you will be called away for emergencies. In these unforeseen instances you can rest assured that your regular patients will be looked after by professionals that have an understanding of their needs.

You have much to be proud of by achieving your dreams of becoming a doctor and caring for the people who look to you for help. There will be much to plan when opening your new practice. It is important that you do not lose touch with your clients simply because you or your staff are not available to take their call at a particular point in time.




Matthew Bowes - http://www.physicianansweringservice.net/





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Outsource Medical Billing Services - Should a Physician Outsource Medical Billing Services


This is a very difficult decision for any physician and partially boils down to this or her own personal ideology and comfort level.

Hospital-based physicians will almost always be better off outsourcing because of the office related expenses that they would not otherwise incur. As the owner of medical billing service you may think I'm naturally biased towards outsourcing. I can assure you that this is not the case.

Physicians who are overly controlling, uncomfortable or mis-trusting toward billing services are nearly impossible to administer. I don't want anything to do with those types of physicians but I completely respect and understand their point of view. Setting all ideology aside I would like to delve into the pros and cons of this difficult and complicated decision.

I am a physician who is very interested in the business aspect of medicine and I do not mind spending my valuable time managing the medical billing aspect of my practice.

Clearly, the best way to do your billing is to do it personally. Obviously, doing it yourself is probably not an option but if you're willing to spend the time and have the interest I would recommend that you do your own billing. Keep in mind that most billing service owners and certainly our employees have limited medical backgrounds. Physicians who study CPT, regularly attend billing seminars and keep up to date on industry changes are the ultimate medical billing gurus in my view.

I am a physician who has absolutely no time or interest in the medical billing aspect of my practice. I am completely reliant upon my office manager and billing staff.

Unfortunately, most physicians are in this position. Even if they were interested in keeping up with all the changes and elements of medical billing the practical reality is that there is absolutely no time. Let's face it; time is your most valuable asset. It's sort of like mowing your own lawn. You'd be way better off financially seeing patients for three hours on Saturday morning. I believe the following information will dramatically help with your decision to outsource your billing or continue to do it yourself and with future decisions in the ever-changing business aspect of medicine.

The pros and cons of outsourcing your medical billing services.

I would like to preface this article with a couple of obvious but important points. If you have a system of controls, keep an open mind about the competence of your office manager, you've got an excellent computer system, proper information systems and your office is doing a superb job at collecting your money, then by all means do not make any changes. Conversely if you're planning to outsource your billing make sure you hire quality firm. I'll spend some time at the end of this article discussing this further.

Most leading experts agree that it costs about 4.5% of net collections to perform the billing function within a physician's office. Incidentally, this is close to my actual cost as well.

Theoretically, a billing service should be able collect more money than a physician's office because it is our core competency. The question is how much more? This is why I focus on how to choose a billing service at the end of this article.

The numbers

A. Lets just do the math in a theoretical model.

We'll base our numbers on a practice whose total gross receivables are $100,000 per month. Obviously, this is an overly simplistic model designed to quantify the aggregate cost and or opportunity cost of the medical billing component only.

Current Aggregate Billing Expenses

In-house expense

Total gross revenue $100,000

Current billing expense $4,500

(4.5%) ---------------

Net Revenue $95,500

Outsourced Billing Expense

Total gross revenue $100.000

Current billing service exp. $7,000

(7.0% net collections) ---------------

Net Revenue $93,000

Net cost increase with outsourcing = $2,500.00

As you can see in this," all things being equal" theoretical model your practice would incur a $2,500 decrease in net revenue with the implementation of a billing outsource strategy. Keep in mind that this model does not address other less tangible issues such as your reduced payroll, computer expenses, ect. In reality the net cost could be substantially less than $2,500. Many physicians will perceive this as a small price to pay while others will consider it to be cost prohibitive.

5% theoretical increase in gross revenue with outsourced billing

Total gross revenue $105,000 (5% increase)

Billing service expense $7,350

(7% net collections) ----------------

Net revenue $97,650

$95,500 - $97,650 = $2,150.00 increase in net revenue.

As you can see from this model with a 5% increase in collections your net revenue will increase $2,150.00 with the added expense of the billing service. Keep in mind that a 5% increase in gross collections is actually quite conservative and should easily be obtainable by quality billing service.

Intangibles

B. A billing service should be able to provide you with a substantial reduction in your day-to-day aggravations such as practice management software issues, fewer employees, hassle of hiring competent employees, less health insurance, less training, ECT..ect. Conversely you will however lose some control over your practice. If the billing service does not collect more money your expenses will increase. It's up to you to determine whether or not the increased expense is offset by decreased aggravation.

security

C. A billing service should be able to increase your security levels by creating a system of checks and balances. As a former police officer I can assure you that crime statistics indicate most embezzlement/fraud/theft occurs from within. During an investigation a store manager for Sears and Roebuck Co. once told me," our customers take it out piecemeal but our employees take it out in wheel barrels" This logic also applies to a doctor's office. A billing service can provide an extra layer of protection because there is a system of independent checks and balances. Typically billing services are fairly large businesses with strict internal controls. My organization Medi-Bill Inc. Operates internally similar to a banking institution with the way we handle funds. It is highly unlikely that the ownership of a reputable medical billing firm would risk the consequences of committing fraud against a client.

Conversely, the issue once again boils down to control. Many physicians are understandably quite unsettled at having their checks and correspondence mailed directly to the billing service. Further compounding this dilemma is," what will happen to the checks and correspondence after the billing service agreement is terminated?"(Again, we will discuss alternatives to this at the end of the article)

Technology

D. State-of-the-art practice management software is an extremely expensive investment. If you've already invested in a high quality computer system I do not believe outsourcing your billing would make much sense financially unless your computer vendor is charging outrageous support fees. If you're considering purchasing a computer system or a medical record management system my favorite vendor who we've been working with for over 15 years is Office Management Solutions (OMS) based in Tampa Florida. The owner's name is John Peake and he is by far the most honest and reputable computer vendor I have ever worked with. OMS can be reached at 813-963-5582 or http://www.oms-online.com.

If you need to update your system, purchase a new system or your support fees are getting out of hand this may be an opportune time to consider outsourcing your medical billing services.

Financial security

F. Many physicians, for obvious reasons do not want their office managers/staffers to have any in-depth knowledge of how much money the practice is making. A reputable and properly run billing service can create this level of financial security. The best case scenario is for your staffers to only see your expenses and have only a limited understanding of the revenue being generated. This can also be accomplished internally by making and recording your own deposits. If you're going to do your own billing I must emphasize the importance of financial security. You must create a system of financial security. If you don't have the time to personally open your mail and make the deposits you are definitely a candidate for outsourcing. Many banks offer a "lockbox" where you can direct your checks and correspondence. Bank lockbox services are generally quite pricey. They usually charge about .25 per copy. You may also opt to take out your own P.O. Box located adjacent to your billing company. This way you still maintain control of your checks and correspondence.

Collection agencies

G. Many billing services own or have affiliate relationships with collection agencies. You'll most definitely want to avoid this situation. Make sure your billing service provides you with a monthly report containing proper information on delinquent accounts enabling your office manager to properly send the information to a collection agency of your choice. In my opinion billing services that own collection agencies or establish close affiliate relationships with them are unethical and should be avoided at all cost. Even though it is nearly impossible to find a collection agency that does not have relationships with medical billing services the point I'm trying to make is to be sure that your billing service is independent and you have the freedom to select a collection agency of your choice. This relationship presents a scenario whereby the billing service can simply go after the easy to collect accounts and allow the more difficult but still collectible ones to slip into the hands of a collection agency who obviously charge a much higher percentage of collections. Again, it's easy to see how a billing service can facilitate or erode your sense of control. The most reputable collection agency I've dealt with is a company called Collection Information Bureau (CIB). I've been doing business with them for years and they have never attempted to establish an affiliate relationship with my company. CIB can be reached at 1-800-231-3514, contact sandy Lopez.

Different types of billing services

There are three different types of billing services.

* Fee per claim

* 50/50

* Full service

Fee per claim billing services charge a flat rate per claim. The fees generally range between $1.25 to $5.00 per claim depending upon the services provided.

Advantages:

· May be helpful to a brand-new practice who is not fully implemented a computer system or is still trying to decide whether to outsource.

· Practices with old or outdated computer systems

· Relatively inexpensive cost per claim

· Excellent for practices who have a problem with only one particular payer group such as Medicare or payers that require electronic claims submission

· Physicians planning to retire within one year

· Highly flexible

· Low-volume practices

· less employees

Disadvantages:

* Expensive for high-volume practices

* Poor integrity of accounts receivable

* Lack of information systems

* Lack of control

50/50

50/50 billing services install computer terminal/terminals in your office. The billing service performs part of the billing process while your office performs the other. As you can probably tell from my list of disadvantages this is in my opinion the least desirable type of billing service.

Advantages:

· Less expensive than full-service billing services

· Avoid the purchase of practice management software

· Creates a system of checks and balances

· less employees

Disadvantages:

* High set up fees

* Low accountability from the billing service

* Lack of control

* Communication Problems(all collection problems will be blamed upon your office)

* Your staff will still probably wind up doing most of the work

* Completely reliant upon the Internet

* Loss of data

* HIPPA issues

Full-service

Advantages:

· completely remove the billing process from your office

· symbiotic relationship

· avoid expensive computer system

· system of checks and balances

· less employees

Disadvantages:

· expensive

· loss of control

· patient relations

· collection agency relationships

Should I outsource my billing checklist: If you answer yes to most of the following questions then you should probably consider outsourcing?

· Is your overall collection rate declining?

· Is your accounts receivable too high?

· Are you experiencing an increased number of denied claims?

· Is your overall frustration level regarding your billing/business office very high?

· Are you facing a major capital investment in new hardware or software?

· Are your computer support fees to high?

· Are you having a difficult time keeping or hiring experienced billing staff?

· Are you spending too much time on the business aspect of medicine?

· Are you concerned that your staff or office manager has knowledge of your income?

· Are you completely reliant upon your office manager?

· Are you planning to expand your practice?

· Do you believe that your practices cost structure is too high?

· Do you have several employees performing tasks that could be handled by a single more experienced manager?

· Is your computer system obsolete?

· Are hardware, software, and information technology disrupting the operation of your practice?

How do I select a billing service?

1. The service should fit or complement the size of your actual practice. Try to get a basic idea of the size of the firm. A solo practice will most likely have greater success with a small to medium-sized billing firm. Obviously, a solo family practitioner would probably not be very well served by a publicly traded firm.

2. Avoid long-term binding contracts. You should be free to terminate your agreement any time within 30 days written notice. The agreement should clearly specify what each side will do for the other. Make sure the agreement assures that upon termination you'll receive a highly detailed account receivable report [listed by individual patient] .

3. Ask for references and call the other providers!

4. Inquire/investigate the actual owner of the company. Ask to speak with the owner directly.

5. Avoid firms who offer too many different types of service. Medical billing is a very highly specialized field. Companies who offer, collection agency services, payroll, financial consulting, tax consulting, malpractice insurance, marketing services etc. etc. are not in my view focused enough on what they're there to do. Collect your money!

6. Ask other physicians. Keep open mind about this one because physicians who are happy with their billing company do not necessarily want them to grow and generally like to keep a low profile on this issue.

7. Is the billing service for sale? Try to ascertain whether or not the firm has recently been sold. In your contract/agreement you should request to be notified within 30 days of the pending sale. In my experience billing services are constantly being bought and sold. Sometimes the acquisition is a positive thing but quite often the merger/acquisition can be very detrimental. You should at least be notified and given ample time to make a proper decision on whether you'll stay with the new firm or select another.

8. Where will your checks and correspondence be mailed? This delicate and important issue need not be as complicated as it appears. Many physicians for obvious reasons are reluctant to allow checks and correspondence to be forwarded directly to their billing service. Some reputable, high-quality billing services will not even provide services to clients who insist upon having the checks and correspondence mailed to them directly. I'd like to spend a few moments on this important issue and explain the ramifications of exactly where your checks and correspondence will be mailed. Maintaining the integrity of your accounts receivable is crucial! If your office routinely fails to properly mail copies of checks and correspondence to your billing company your practice could be in grave danger of losing control of the accounts receivable. If your account receivable is to maintain any semblance of financial integrity it is crucial that billing service employees do not spend valuable time and effort following up on claims that have already paid and not properly forwarded to them. Understandably, your service may even look upon this as an intentional effort to reduce their commissions. Again, bank lock boxes provide a sound alternative to this dilemma. Some practices solve this problem by directing all checks and correspondence to a P.O. Box keeping EOB's separate from other corporate mail. The checks and correspondence are mailed to the billing service," unopened" biweekly. This is an excellent compromise and creates a system of control. There are many other possible options but the important point to remember is that ONE entity must be completely responsible for the validity and integrity of your EOB's.

9. Make sure all checks and correspondence are issued under your tax identification number and made payable to you! Make sure your contract/agreement specifies that the billing service will not countersign or attempt to countersign your checks and correspondence.




David J. Duncan
President and CEO
www.usemedibill.com

Mr. Duncan is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University with a B.A in Finance and is the original founder of Medi-Bill Inc. He also has an extensive law enforcement background and is a former police officer with the City of Fort Lauderdale. Mr. Duncan's reputation for honesty and integrity is well known throughout the medical community. During his career, Mr. Duncan has provided billing, financial and practice management services to physicians and medical practices in a variety of specialties throughout the country. He has extensive experience with, managed-care, hospital contract negotiations, data integration and practice management.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at david@usemedibill.com





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