Healthcare practices nowadays have more than their fair share of nuisances. Non-medical requirements, including compliance and reporting, are becoming increasingly burdensome, leading them to outsource non-core tasks like billing, coding, and collections. Offshore medical billing companies have become an important element of the industry. While they won’t be able to totally replace a US-based medical billing business or an in-house billing staff, they can be quite effective in boosting overall profits. So, what are the questions you should ask before hiring an offshore medical billing company to handle your practice? Here’s a quick rundown of what has to be addressed before you hire an offshore medical billing team –
What is Their Hourly Rate?
- Will they charge you for services in “FTE” increments or by the number of hours worked?
- If your workload or circumstances change, how readily can you add or eliminate hours or workers?
- What type of contractual commitment are they looking for? A 365-day notice period? Is the notice period termination a 30 days, 90 days or 365 days?
Are They HIPPAA Compliant?
Working with an ISO-certified medical billing company that complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is in your best interests. The Company’s HIPAA compliance assures all your patient records and other documents are kept safe with your billing partner. Furthermore, you will have peace of mind knowing that the personal patient records will not be misused or mismanaged.
What is Their Scope of Services?
This is one of the most crucial points that the service provider should address. There are also cases where billing companies cite an inaccessibility to medical records or other information as a reason for denials and ask practices to appeal. As a result, before entering a trade, be sure that all of the criteria for missing information are properly specified. It’s a good idea to know who’s in charge of payment posting, coding, claims filing, charge entry, patient demographic entry, and account receivable follow-up, among other things. Make it clear that they will compensate you for the use of any of your resources as a mediator between your practice and the billing business in any way.
Few things to check
- How will they maintain track of your billing processes and rules?
- How will they work with your in-house team and communicate with them?
- What procedures do they use to ensure HIPAA compliance?
- Email system with encryption
- File transfer encryption
- Remote terminal access through VPN
Do They Support Denial Management?
To provide you with easy handling of denied claims, an effective medical billing business must have a well-supported denial management team. To what extent will they assist with billing in the event of a claim denial? Before hiring a medical billing business in India, you should inquire about denial management and make sure you understand it.
Advantages of Choosing Offshore Medical Billing Company
There are plenty reasons why you should opt for an offshore billing company – reaping profits is one part however; enhanced patient care is the other side that is worth noting.
- Minimal Billing Errors – Offshore medical billing services give you access to domain-specific professionals with the skills you need to complete even the most complex claim submission processes with little to no errors. Due to the fact that medical billing is one of the key objectives, vendors guarantee that their workers receive extensive training and evaluations to ensure that they can complete this task without error. Their employees are dedicated to reducing the number of claims that are rejected by conducting a comprehensive assessment of claim papers before sending them to the payer.
- Increased Revenue – Healthcare organizations can save on salaries, benefits, and training that would otherwise be spent on operating an in-house medical coding and billing department. They wouldn’t have to invest in office space to house the department or the infrastructure, either. An offshoring vendor’s pricing structures are flexible, allowing clients to pick the optimal plan for their needs.
- Effective Workflow – Maintaining an in-house workforce to perform medical coding and billing duties can fall flat at times due to a drop in personnel strength, which has a direct impact on a healthcare organization’s revenue generating possibilities. Offshore companies assign teams to their clients who are available at all times to ensure that claims are processed accurately and quickly.
- Increased Security – A well-known offshore medical billing company has the ethics to provide complete openness in their invoicing process. These businesses adhere to HIPAA laws and provide entirely secure medical billing systems to protect clients from potential hacking threats. They must have a strong security architecture in place to ensure client data confidentiality and provide a secure environment for sensitive customer data.
Info Hub Consultancy Services, an offshore medical billing company assures complete transparency, and control over your account. Our professional team can assist in boosting your revenue with timely reimbursements and error-free claims submissions. Contact us today to know about how we can help your practice gain momentum and improve its financial health.