Are you among the practices that have outsourced your medical billing services? If yes, you need to ensure that your billing vendor is prepared to help your practice sail through revenue challenges scheduled in 2015.
Here are few questions that you need to ask the billing company and assess whether or not they are ready to offer you the required assistance:
ICD-10 Readiness
In order to avoid cash flow disruptions post ICD-10 compliance, many providers are outsourcing their billing and coding needs to a third party. They want to be assured that a dedicated, experienced team of coders is handling the coding complexities and getting them maximum payment. If you have also outsourced your billing for the same purpose, you need to be sure that the vendor is ready for ICD-10 updates.
You need to ask the billing company about their ICD-10 conversion plan and whether or not they have the latest software and tools to handle coding post 1st October, 2015. If you have doubts about the vendor’s readiness, avoid potential risks and switch to a more reliable service provider.
Are Security Measures in Place?
With an increase in number of security breaches, it has become important for billing vendors to follow strict safety and security protocols. They not only need to ensure HIPAA-compliant billing but also comply with other reforms while handling a physician’s revenue cycle. Since leakage of patient information can create trouble for your practice, it is necessary to ask if your vendor is updating security protocols to ensure maximum protection of your PHI.
In case you are outsourcing your billing for the first time, this is the most important question you need to ask. Go through the detailed description provided by the company to get an idea about what measures are adopted for security. A reliable vendor will also have effective backup and emergency plans.
What about System Integration?
The third most important question you need to ask is- will the billing company integrate its system with your electronic health record system. There are many EHR vendors who also provide medical billing services so, if the aforementioned criteria is met, you can seek medical billing services from your EHR vendor too.
Whether you are outsourcing for the first time or you already have a medical billing vendor, these are some of the important questions that you need to ask. 2015 might prove challenging for practices that are not prepared. From ICD-10 implementation to second phase of HIPAA audits, there is a lot that practices will have to be prepared for.
In case the existing vendor is not ready with the latest system and tools, revenue cycle of your practice will be at great risk. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to outsource to a reliable vendors that offer HIPAA-compliant billing and makes use of the latest technology to deliver quick results to providers.