Seven benefits of working with a revenue cycle management vendor
Your medical practice’s survival relies on accurate and timely medical billing and claim submission. Unfortunately, many of today’s practices struggle with healthcare employee turnover—specifically hiring and retaining qualified medical coders. The result? Revenue bottlenecks, compliance vulnerabilities, and cashflow challenges. Outsource revenue cycle management services can help. Although it may seem daunting to consider revenue cycle management outsourcing, it could be an alternative that enhances efficiency, reduces medical coding backlogs, and improves revenue integrity for your practice. Here are seven benefits of working with an outsourced revenue cycle management vendor.
1. Weather healthcare staffing fluctuations with ease. Revenue cycle management outsource companies can flex up and down as your needs change—whether it’s due to healthcare staffing shortages, seasonal patient volume fluctuations, transitioning to a new electronic health record, acquiring a new medical practice, or a whole host of other reasons. Medical billing and coding outsourcing prevents you from having to scramble when vacancies occur, and it also saves you time and money on recruitment costs. In addition, attracting and holding onto qualified medical billers is extremely challenging, making outsource revenue cycle management services paramount.
2. Up-to-date certifications. Revenue Cycle Management is a dynamic profession that requires ongoing training and professional development, both of which cost money. However, when you outsource your medical billing and collections, your revenue cycle management outsource vendor handles all of this. The vendor monitors new trends and developments in the industry (e.g., new medical codes and regulations) and provides education when needed. This prevents you from incurring training costs and having to mitigate productivity loss.
3. Cost savings. In many cases, outsource revenue cycle management companies can actually save your medical practice money. According to the AAPC, the average salary for a medical biller and coder is $54,797. About 30% of this amount is benefits. The direct savings is obvious. With outsource revenue cycle management services, you don’t incur overhead costs, and you also aren’t paying for employer-paid taxes, vacation time, health insurance, and paid time off. However, there are indirect savings as well. For example, having access to highly skilled medical billing means you’ll likely see fewer denials and recoupments. Consistent quality and accuracy promote a huge savings—and one that keeps your medical practice under the radar for payer audits.
4. More time for patient care. Medical billing and coding outsourcing helps steer physicians away from performing their own medical coding so they can focus on their patients. This is critical during a time when physician burnout is at an all-time high.
5. Security and compliance. Hackers increasingly target healthcare providers, particularly small medical practices, because they want access to medical records that include both health and financial information. It’s critical to ensure your data is protected and that you have security and disaster recovery measures in place. Revenue cycle management outsource vendors know the ins and outs of HIPAA requirements and can help you keep your patients’ information safe and secure.
6. Data insights. Outsource revenue cycle management companies can provide you with detailed records and performance reports about your medical billing trends. This includes denial reports for proactive denial management, real-time metrics and benchmarks, unpaid and underpaid claims, and more. These data insights can help you analyze cost and profitability and investigate new revenue opportunities. Many outsource revenue cycle management vendors can also provide best practice coding and billing strategies based on their big picture view of the industry. They know what works—and what doesn’t—for medical practices similar to yours.
7. Improved patient satisfaction. Some outsource revenue cycle management companies offer coding services as well as other solutions such as online patient bill pay, mobile patient check-in, and patient-centered resources that improve patient engagement. In addition, the improved quality and accuracy of medical claims that’s inherent with outsource medical coding also promotes improved patient collections and an overall better patient experience.
Conclusion
Revenue cycle management outsourcing has many advantages, especially for today’s medical practices that are struggling to address healthcare turnover, contain costs, and improve patient care. Outsource medical billing and collection services accomplishes all three. With open lines of communication, your vendor becomes a partner that helps improve practice efficiency and revenue. Taking the time to explore what outsource revenue cycle management companies can offer you is time well spent. Then choose the outsourcing partner that will be the best fit. Learn more about edgeMED and what we offer and be sure to visit the Healthy Snacks Blog for more expert insights, best practices and industry trends.
