Should You Outsource Medical Billing?

Now that you have a detailed view of the billing types, let’s discuss other factors that would influence independent practices like yours to consider outsourcing their billing. Here are some questions you should ask to assess your needs:

1. Is your billing process inefficient? If your collections are dropping every day, your in-house billing department may be having issues. Outsourcing to a third-party provider could significantly reduce the number of rejected claims and the time taken to receive payments.
2. Do you have high staff turnover? Staff turnover in a small or independent medical practice, especially in the billing department, can be damaging. Claims processing is the lifeblood of a medical practice. Any additions or replacements in the billing team will inevitably slow down claims processing.
3. Are you tech-savvy? Keeping your billing in house will require investing in practice management software. You’ll also need to frequently train your staff, which adds to the costs. If you don’t want to deal with software upgrades and frequent technical issues, outsourcing your billing is probably the right move.
4. Are you a new medical practice? New medical practices have their hand's full managing patient care, making it tough to manage billing as well. Outsourcing your billing right in the beginning can give you the much-needed relief from the day-to-day stress of launching and managing a new practice.
5. Do you have different priorities? Many solo physicians and small medical practices aren’t too savvy with the business side of things. Some just want to help patients and not undertake administrative tasks. Outsourcing the billing process eliminates this daily hassle and allows you to focus on providing patient care.