Physician burnout is a work-related syndrome involving emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a sense of reduced personal accomplishment. Many physicians are overwhelmed by mandates and initiatives consuming substantive resources and taking time away from patient care. Recently Medscape conducted a survey to explore how physicians are coping with burnout. More than 12,000 physicians in over 29 specialties participated in the survey.
As per the survey, 42 percent of physicians reported that they are burned out. As per the survey, major contributors for burnout are spending too many hours at work (37 percent); inefficient reimbursement (37 percent); increased computerization of practice (28 percent); lack of control (28 percent); and government regulations (14 percent). Most of these burnout contributors can be eliminated by outsourcing medical billing services.
Outsourcing will ensure physicians are spending most of their time only on patient care; compliance to payer (private and government) policies and guidelines; accurate reimbursement collection; reduced billing errors; and many others.
Physicians are running as fast as they can, trying to see a large volume of patients in order to be reimbursed, yet that reimbursement keeps diminishing. With an estimated 25 million previously uninsured patients climbing aboard the fee-for-service model through healthcare reform, the demand for physicians to see more patients in less time is only going to grow. This means now, more than ever, physicians need to take a proactive stance against fading out. Perhaps the easiest way to expand practice capacity, avoid physician burnout is to outsource medical billing services.
It is always a challenge to be a medical service provider and an administrative manager at the same time. By redirecting resources from managing complicated billing questions to serving the patients, physicians can free up their time and ensure greater returns. These high-value activities not only generate more revenue but also help in creating and sustaining a more successful practice with a loyal patient base. By outsourcing, physicians can concentrate on what they do the best: practicing medicine and treating patients.
By outsourcing medical billing, physicians can save on salaries, training, and benefit costs. By outsourcing medical billing, physicians can save a lot of time and money in terms of salaries, office infrastructure, purchasing, upgrading, and maintaining billing software. Many outsourcing companies offer flexible pricing models like transaction, percentile, FTE as per practice’s billing requirements.
Medical billing outsourcing services allow physicians to maintain a consistent cash flow and quicker collection.
The rules and regulations of medical billing are constantly changing. Keeping up with all the changes can be time-consuming and cumbersome for any practice. By outsourcing medical billing requirements, the changes in rules and regulations will be managed by the outsourcing company, as they would make it a point to stay up-to-date with the latest changes.
With outsourced services, physicians can afford to exclusively focus on patient care as the billing companies’ main focus lies in maximizing revenue. Medical billing services make sure that each code gets correct reimbursement quickly, errors are identified, and denials are followed up rapidly. Physicians, on the other hand, are able to offer excellent customer service to their patients. Physicians can be more humane and empathetic.
It is a common misconception that by outsourcing medical billing services physicians can lose control over business processes. In fact, many physicians feel that they have better control over their medical billing processes due to a trained and dedicated outsourced billing staff.
As mentioned earlier, outsourcing can take care of some of the main contributors to physician burnout. Outsourcing your medical billing services is no longer a novel approach. Outsourcing is now as mainstream as it can get. In today’s complex and evolving healthcare marketplace, successful management of medical billing and coding is proving to be a strategic advantageous point for healthcare practitioners.
Still not sure about how outsourcing medical billing services could help to reduce physician burnout? To know more, just call us at 888-357-3226 or write to us at info@medicalbillersandcoders.com
