Recently Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) conducted a survey on day-to-day challenges faced by small practice owners. This survey revealed that frontline healthcare workers are not the only ones facing staffing shortages. Registrars, billing specialists, and patient follow-up staff were the most in-demand revenue cycle management positions.
The survey gathered responses from more than 400 healthcare leaders from December 1, 2021, to December 21, 2021, to understand which revenue cycle roles have the most significant demand to fill vacancies. This survey also confirmed that hospitals and health systems are also struggling to maintain a complete, stable staff for revenue cycle management operations.
Almost 55 percent of leaders said billing specialists were in demand, while 42 percent needed patient follow-up staff members. This amount is 35.2 percent and 34.4 percent for claims specialists and collection experts. Overall practices are seeing staffing gaps at every stage of the revenue cycle process. The survey results revealed that healthcare leaders find recruiting revenue cycle management staff challenging.
Organizations are also struggling to retain current staff due to the time and resources needed to train revenue cycle specialists. Bigger practices may have experienced staff already, the increased workload may make it impossible for individuals to handle everything themselves.
Outsourcing could be the Answer
Day-to-day practice management challenges like staffing shortage, and retaining talent can be solved by outsourcing your medical billing operations.
Managing Staffing Shortage
Revenue cycle management operations require staff with specific experience. When you are hiring a biller, he must have submitted claims to the payer before. Every payer has unique billing and reimbursement guidelines so the biller must be familiar with such guidelines and policies.
Every payer also has a unique prior authorization requirement which also needs to be considered. For coding, many providers like to do it all by themselves and use a few procedure codes and modifiers constantly. This could attract external payer audits also.
When you outsource to Medical Billers and Coders, billers or coders with relevant experience are assigned to your account. We make sure that as per your payer mix, a biller who is well-versed with billing guidelines is assigned. For coding functions, medical specialty-wise coders are assigned. Our well-trained billers ensure maximum clean claim percentage with minimum claim rejection.
While specialty-specific coders ensure, accurate use of procedure codes along with correct modifiers. With the current stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, billing and coding guidelines are constantly updated by insurance carriers. Our team of billers and coders stays on top of these updates to receive accurate insurance reimbursements.
Retaining RCM Staff
Retaining RCM staff is another big challenge faced by practice owners. With bigger healthcare organizations offering better pay grades, retaining skilled RCM staff is a real challenge. Practices are spending a considerable amount of money on staff training. When such well-trained staff leaves, it affects day-to-day RCM activities.
When you outsource, you won’t have to worry about staff retention, payroll expenses, medical benefits, and other manpower expenses. Medical billing companies offer customized billing options so that you will be paying based on the insurance reimbursement received. Most billing companies will charge on a percentage basis on monthly insurance reimbursement received.
When you share required documents with the billing company, you don’t have to worry about anything. Medical billing, charge entry, payment posting, denial management, AR follow-up, and rejection handling, all activities are handled by the billing company.
When you outsource your medical billing operations, you are freeing your time for better things i.e., patient care. Medical Billers and Coders which is a leading medical billing company ensures that you focus just on patient care while we handle complete medical billing operations for you.
When we submit medical billing reports, you will come to know important numbers like claims submitted, paid claims, denied claims, rejected claims, top denial reasons, and accounts receivables. To know more about our specialty-wise billing and coding services, contact us at info@medicalbillersandcoders.com/ 888-357-3226
FAQs
1. What did the HFMA survey reveal about staffing challenges in healthcare?
The survey showed that healthcare organizations are facing staffing shortages across all revenue cycle management positions, including billing specialists, patient follow-up staff, and claims experts.
2. How does outsourcing medical billing help with staffing shortages?
Outsourcing ensures that experienced billers and coders are assigned to your practice, minimizing gaps in staffing and providing specialized knowledge of payer guidelines and reimbursement rules.
3. What are the benefits of outsourcing medical billing to reduce staff turnover?
Outsourcing eliminates concerns about staff retention, payroll, and benefits, saving time and money while allowing you to focus on patient care rather than managing RCM staff.
4. How can outsourcing improve the accuracy of medical billing and coding?
Medical billing companies assign specialty-specific coders and stay updated on the latest billing guidelines, ensuring accurate coding, proper use of modifiers, and maximizing claim acceptance rates.
5. What services are included when outsourcing medical billing?
Outsourcing covers everything from charge entry and payment posting to denial management and AR follow-up, so practices can focus on patient care while their billing operations are professionally managed.
