Rehabs Should Think About Outsourcing Their Medical Billing

By Burt Longerfield


Let's face it. Nobody likes to do medical billing unless you have to. It is time consuming and tedious. Many treatment centers outsource their billing to established companies that handle ICD-10 coding. They are professional at what they do and often get you a higher return on your investment. Outsourced medical billing companies often charge anywhere from 4% to 10% on average. Is it worth it to pay them that kind of money or to have an in house person work for you? In reality, it is better to choose this for yourself.

For starters, ask someone what you need to do in order to get your business to the next level. Ask a coding company how much money they charge to do the work. Often it is a 4% to a 10% service fee. No matter what happens, you need to take your business to the next level. A certified medical billing company can often get you a higher return on your investment. They work for you. An in house medical biller may not have the necessary skills for your business to succeed.

If you own a drug and alcohol treatment center, you are busy. It is clear that you have little time to worry about the bills. Many insurance companies today are auditing treatment centers for various reasons. They often want to know why you are sending them requests for payment. Did the client really need to stay at your facility for 45 days? Why didn't they leave after 30? Why did they require 2 blood tests a week instead of 1? These are questions that insurance companies want to know. Under ICD-10, insurance companies have gotten smarter. They are less likely to write you a check without a good explanation of why they should be paying you in the first place.

Medical billing companies are not hard to find these days. If you search in Google, there are over 30,000,000 searches that come up. That is a lot of information and so few people know which one to choose. If you are not having any luck with you in house biller, it is important to outsource the work. Most coders are not prepared for ICD-10. It is mainly because nobody really knew that the changes would be so significant. Many coders now are asking themselves if they should go back to school or get certified. It is coming to a point where everyone is going to have to get certified eventually. Those certifications mean that you know what you are doing.

Outsourcing your billing works for many treatment centers these days. The main reason is that these coding companies have been training for ICD-10 for over 2 years. You're in house staff may not be trained or equipped to handle these longer codes and therefore it will keep you from getting paid. You may have to wait longer than 90 days to see a check from an insurance company today if you don't know what you are doing. Having a staff around you that knows what they are doing makes complete sense.




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