Outsourcing Your Medical Practice Management

According to the American College of Physicians, approximately 20 percent of new physicians create their own practice. While autonomy is one of the main benefits of a solo practice, it can be difficult for a small provider to shoulder the financial demands necessary to succeed with smaller budgets and fewer resources. Thankfully, companies like Tower Physicians Solutions are a smart option for small practices that need help with the back office. Deciding whether or not to outsource your medical practice billing can be a difficult decision for many. Medical Billing & Coding has always required a specialized set of skills, and in the last few years there has been a steep increase in complexity and red tape. Whether you are a new practice startup, experienced veteran, or in the midst of turmoil like upgrading to a new system, referring to a specialist makes a lot of sense. Here are some benefits to using a medical practice management company such as Tower Physician Solutions.

TIME TO GAIN CONTROL

Many people think that outsourcing whether it be medical billing or HR means giving up control to someone else. The opposite is true, and for most practices, they feel more in control than ever before. Someone else is taking care of the time consuming work and dealing with the headaches, so the providers have breathing room to review their monthly reports and see at a glance the health of the practice. Adding an expert billing team to the mix utilizes a team approach to progress toward mutual goals.

AN EVER CHANGING INDUSTRY

The healthcare landscape is changing at an unprecedented rate and Medical Billing is not spared from the upheaval of change. Keeping up with the ever changing rules and requirements is difficult under the best of circumstances. It requires constant education and vigilance. Most people practices just don’t have the time needed to dedicate to this task.

UNDERSTANDING ICD-10

An outsourced medical billing service keeps you informed about which modifiers can be used or how to bill for an injection. However, there are a couple changes on the horizon that will require substantial investment by a medical practice. The obvious one is ICD-10. Hands down, it’s the biggest change to hit the medical billing world in years. The number of Dx codes will rise from 13,000 to 68,000 and a substantial increase in payer denials and decrease in cycle time is expected. The change is inevitable and will affect all aspects of billing, but a medical billing service can provide the benefit of a vast knowledge base and just as importantly; they are privy to aggregated trends from a network of other practices. This inside information keeps them on the cutting edge and shared knowledge is transferred to the practice in real time. Real time information can be invaluable when the change is fast paced and unprecedented.

GET YOUR MONEY FASTER

Cash flow is key. Your days in AR, or revenue cycle time, has a significant impact on your bottom line. Outsourcing to a medical billing service can submit your claims faster and with fewer errors, so you receive payment from payers in the shortest amount of time. Your payments are posted by professionals who will prevent errors in payment posting, resulting in denials being detected upfront. These are worked and resubmitted for timely payment. A professional billing service will ensure that you are transmitting claims electronically to all possible carriers and are set up to receive ERAs, further reducing turnaround time. Achieving the highest reimbursement possible in the shortest amount of time puts money in the bank and not on the books.

FOCUS ON PATIENT CARE

You spent all those years in school to become a doctor so that you could enjoy a long career helping people. Little of that time was spent learning the intricacies of medical billing and practice management. Doing your billing in house requires a lot of time and effort. Even if you aren’t the one that actually spends 15 minutes trying to contact a carrier to follow up on a single claim, you will still need to deal with the high level management and all of the headaches that come with it. Medical practice management can free up a substantial amount of time that could be spent with patients or for some much needed R&R.

Contact us and let us get started on a plan so you can stay focused on your patients! Contact Tower at 630-243-5731 for more information. Tags: billing, billing and collecting, management services, medical practice management, revenue cycle

For the past year, CMS was especially lenient, paying for codes in the right “family of codes” without requiring more specificity. From now on, claims that don’t include cause codes to go along with a CKD or ESRD diagnosis will not be paid. If your physicians, coding specialists or billing service are not aware of CMS requirement for specificity, you could see a severe increase in denials. To save the time it takes to resubmit claims and to ensure your payments don’t plummet, reach out to Tower Physician Solutions. Tower’s revenue cycle management experts will work with you to ensure you get paid for your services.

E-mail info@towerps.com or call 630-243-5731.