You can often tell a lot about a medical billing company by their internal procedures and protocols. Believe it or not, many don’t have any. Ask what type of quality control initiatives they have in place. See if these initiatives are formalized.
It is important to note not only the experience of the company, but also the experience levels of the actual specialists, supervisors, and managers who will work on your account. There is not a salesperson in the world who won’t tell you that the company they represent has the best customer service. So dig deeper. Ask about policies. Speak to references. Most importantly, make sure the structure of the company does not hinder your access to the specialists who actually perform work on your behalf. It is important to note not only the experience of the company, but also the experience levels of the actual specialists, supervisors, and managers who will work on your account.
Outsourcing your billing to an outside service can have the added benefit of creating a level of billing redundancy to make certain your revenue cycle stays on track and generating maximum income. But don’t take this for granted. Investigate levels of personnel redundancy to make sure that your billing continues to be processed properly without delay if a specialist leaves unexpectedly. Also check into redundancy related to the company’s computer systems.
Ask yourself if your practice is going to have to completely change the way you function just to accommodate your billing service, or if they are willing to work with the way you operate. A billing company should have options which integrate seamlessly with your practice’s processes and not require significant change or realignment. What is the overall cost? Look at the details. What is included and what is buried in the fine print? Are things like software, training and postage included? Are there start up fees or any hidden costs? Do fees seem exorbitant or perhaps even too good to be true? Sometimes you get what you pay for (good or bad). Make sure to compare apples to apples. What good is it if you pay a billing service 2% less, but collect 10% less revenue?
Sure, all billing services say they will maximize revenues, but how confident are you that the companies you are considering can actually do it? Take every function of the billing process as well as the people who perform the work into consideration.
Ultimately, it will be the confidence you get from doing your medical billing due diligence based on the requirements of your company and the vendor best equipped to make it a transparent, effective and profitable solution to your needs.
