We see so many ads for Medical Billing information. Earn lots of money! Work
from home! No experience needed! The ads say anyone can make lots of money
doing medical billing, but is it really true? Medical insurance billing has
become much more complicated in recent years. If a doctor is to be paid well for his services, the
insurance billing is a very large part of his practice.
There is a lot more to
medical billing than just sending a claim in to an insurance company and
sitting back to wait for the payment. Each company has its own rules and
in order to get paid, we must know them and follow them. How do you learn
these rules and where do you turn for medical billing information?
Because it has become so complicated, it has become
increasingly difficult to find employees who can handle this time
consuming job. A doctors office is a busy place and his employee may not
have half an hour to wait on hold while checking on a claim,for a customer
service representative to tell her that her claim is “not on file”.
The medical
billing service is going to concentrate their efforts on getting every claim paid
when the service is paid according to their results while a billing person
in the office is more likely on a busy day to say “Forget it. This
claim isn't worth another phone call!!” Unfortunately in most offices this
claim will be written off and the doctor will never know. There is so much involved
with billing that most people, including the doctors, don't
even realize. The claims have to
be submitted properly, with required information, timely, on the correct forms.
If claims are being submitted
electronically, reports need to be read and acted upon. When payments are
received, they need to be analyzed to make sure they were processed
correctly, and then posted.
If there is a patient responsibility after
payment is made, then a patient statement needs to be sent. If the claim
is denied, or not paid properly, it needs to be handled, and handled
quickly. If the denial or incorrect payment is not acted upon right away,
you may not be able to correct it.
Some companies only allow a certain amount
of time to request a reversal. Aging reports need to be run regularly to
make sure nothing else is slipping thru the cracks. Most offices lose
thousands of dollars a year due to claims slipping thru the cracks; either
processed/denied incorrectly, or not processed at all. If you are not
working your aging reports - you are losing money!
But the Medical Billing
Services aren’t getting rich like the ads portray. There is no simple easy
way to do medical billing that the doctors office doesn't know about.
There is still plenty of work
to do to file the medical claims and get them paid. Don't expect that you
can start this business without some background or education. There is
much medical billing information you need to know to successfully run a
billing business.
Medical billing is not a get rich quick
scheme. If you are considering starting such a business, you should have a
great interest in the field and a willingness to learn much more.
As with any other business you would
consider starting, do your homework. Research the field, read as much
medical billing information as you can and make sure you know what you are
getting into. After all, it takes a lot more than a computer and a kitchen
table to do a good job and run a successful business. Make sure you
understand what is going to be required of you.
Here are the books and
ebooks we offer on the subject of medical billing.
