The industry of medical billing and coding is an ever-evolving and developing industry. New advancements and techniques have totally changed the way medical billing professionals perform their daily activities. As of late, optometry practices have been compelled to change the way they bill and code for their procedures to comply with certain medical billing trends.
Here are three critical trends that have impacted the way medical billers provide optometry billing solutions:
1. ICD-10
On October 1st, 2015 the tenth update of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, otherwise called ICD-10 became effective under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA. It supplanted ICD-9 and contains 71,924 procedure codes and also 69,823 diagnosis codes. Optometry facilities with in-house billing departments had to learn these new codes, which in turn hindered the productivity of many facilities.
But, what this change in ICD-10 has done is it has openly disclosed the inefficiencies of in-house optometry billers. This observation has led many practices to outsource their billing and coding undertaking to offshore agencies, which possess the know-how and expertise.
Outsourcing optometry billing administrations has made it easier for Optometrists to put more focus on patient care and less on the implementation and adaptation of ICD-10.
2. ACOs
An Accountable Care Organization or ACO is a voluntary group of healthcare service providers that cooperate to facilitate care to their Medicare patients. The primary objective of an ACO is to guarantee that patients get the right kind of care at the ideal time while evading service duplication and preventing coding and billing errors.
Optometrists required in an ACO must guarantee that they are meeting consistence principles and have along these lines, exploited outsourcing optometry charging administrations.
3. EHR
Although most of the Optometry facilities have embraced an Electronic Health Record software or EHR, some are still lacking in billing and coding integration. EHRs that have the features of billing integration makes it possible for optometrists to streamline the way they get paid.
They wipe out the requirement for optometrists to invest a lot of energy to fill out forms keeping in mind the end goal of payment collection. For leverage them with administrative burden, optometrists have turned to offshore companies dealing in optometry billing services.
As new innovations and regulations continue to transform the world of medical billing, more and more optometrists will invest in optometry billing solutions from a dependable medical billing company. If your optometry practice has found it challenging to keep up with the latest medical billing trends, contact us today!!
FAQs
1. What is the significance of ICD-10 in optometry billing?
ICD-10 introduced a comprehensive set of diagnosis and procedure codes, requiring optometry practices to adapt their billing processes, often leading to outsourcing for efficiency.
2. How do Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) affect optometry practices?
ACOs aim to improve patient care coordination and reduce duplication, prompting optometrists to ensure compliance and often outsource billing to meet these standards.
3. Why are Electronic Health Records (EHRs) important for billing?
EHRs with billing integration streamline the payment process, reducing administrative burdens for optometrists and enhancing overall efficiency in practice operations.
4. How has outsourcing billing services benefited optometry practices?
Outsourcing allows optometrists to focus more on patient care while leveraging the expertise of specialized agencies to handle complex billing and coding tasks.
5. What trends are shaping the future of medical billing in optometry?
New technologies and regulations are driving optometry practices to invest in advanced billing solutions, ensuring compliance and improving financial performance.