Most of the ophthalmologists have come to realize that outsourcing makes better sense because there are experts who know how to process the claims without any errors. Although there may be some drawbacks, the benefits far outweigh them, hence outsourcing is certainly profitable and here are 5 reasons why.
Cost advantage
The primary reason why outsourcing is favored by most Ophthalmologists is because of the cost advantage. There is no denying the fact that when compare to in-house billing, outsourced billing is by far cheaper, not just in terms of cost but quality as well. While in-house costs can go as high as $70,000 to $80,000 considering the pay and benefits for 2 trained medical billing personnel, the same gets scaled down to $15 per hour, with a minimum of 8 hours per day, and a 5-day week adds up to a lot less. There is considerable savings in State and Federal taxes, as well as training costs and office overhead costs.
Saving on hardware and software costs
While Ophthalmologists may have to bear the steep cost of practice management software that could exceed $200 per doctor per month, the hardware costs cannot be less than $500, not taking into account the exorbitant cost of software systems that need trained specialists to design and maintain. Whereas, these costs are conveniently shifted on the company that undertakes the outsourced work, though you may still need a basic PC and printer at the office for billing and printing out documents.
High claim processing costs
When the billing is done in-house, the stiff clearing house fees that need to be borne by the provider may be unaffordable for many. Whereas, when the service is outsourced, the company charges just a small percentage of the sum collected, which is charged as a standard fee. The percentage can be as low as 7 percent, leading to substantial savings in the long run.
Inefficient in-house billing
One cannot rule out the possibility of having to contend with a high level of inefficiency while the billing is done in-house. This is obvious from the steep drop in collections faced by many Ophthalmologists who have faced several issues with in-house billing. However, once the Ophthalmology billing process is outsourced, it is the responsibility of the third-party that undertakes the process to ensure error-free billing, leading to a reduction in rejected claims and faster realization of payments as well.
Doing business is not the aim
While Ophthalmologists may be great at their practice, they are quite poor when it comes to business practices. Their primary goal is to provide healthcare and take care of their patients, and are often left with little time to deal with the nitty-gritty of running a business that involves several administrative and clerical tasks that they are wont to understand. Outsourcing does away with these hassles and allows them to focus on their patients and offer them quality care.
