Medical billing in the growing health care industry is vital to patents, health care professionals and insurance agencies alike. When a patient visits a doctor, dentist or even a chiropractor the patients visit is normally paid for through insurance agencies. In order to make and collect payments, medical billing systems are utilized and sent to the insurance company. To ensure federal and state laws are being upheld and no fraud is taking place, medical bills along with vital patient information must be updated and stored on a regular basis. Each patients visit must be accurately documented with every procedure, treatment and prescription that was given. In this huge global system of electronic healthcare this is no easy task. There are databases containing medical records that are stored for many years. However, much of it is still sitting in paper file cabinets waiting to be entered and stored electronically.
The medical billing field itself is seeing a sharp expansion in training and hiring in order to keep up with the increase. Some of the most recruited workers in the world are medical coders and medical billers. Training programs, schools and online courses has seen a tremendous growth over the past year along. One of the primary reasons isn’t because of more patients but rather a switch from obsolete record keeping to modernized electronic forms. The control of medical billing is essentially the control of money through the medical profession. For this reason very specific procedures must be maintained. Sloppy record keeping could trigger a federal investigation and/or lawsuits along with allegations of fraud. This is no laughing! Many have lost their license over simple mistakes that could have easily been avoided had they kept their records up to date. Remember, we are talking about very sensitive personal information often kept private from patients own spouses. If any of that data is leaked civil lawsuits could be brought against a practitioner.
When trying to decide on the best medical billing software, security should be your top priority. There needs to be a safeguard inside the software itself that limits access to its use. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) set forth by congress plays a vital role in medical billing and any software on the market needs to address the issues raised from the act. Another feature to look for is multiple health insurance providers’ compatibility. Simply put, can the application recognize multiple providers in its system? If not, all of that information would need to be done manually with is very time consuming. One area you shouldn’t focus too much on is the cost. Cost is all relative to the value you receive for the cost invested or ROI. However, the impact that it will have and the dire need to organize and maintain patient records makes it a necessity, not a liability.
