The Recession's Effect On Medical Practices
Every firm, including medical practices, is feeling the effects of this "going on too long" recession
. In the 2010 the responses indicated nothing had changed. If anything, it appears to be becoming more of an issue.
The survey, conducted in 2009 and 2010 by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), suggests the following items that already have or probably will impact medical practices:
- An overall revenue decrease
- Cuts have been made to the operating budget
- The uninsured patient load has increased
- A reduction in wellness and other preventative type of patient visits
- Account receivable increase
- Patient no- shows are on the rise
- A delay in capital outlay spending
- Sub-par appointment reminder tasks
- Contract renegotiation for low payers
The number one impact of the recession for two years running, however, is a need to improve billing and collection processes in medical practices.
Where most processes need improvement, is in the very beginning of the workflow. This one is no exception. For example, to improve billing and collections, an automated verification system would be helpful. Done prior to when the patient arrives for an appointment, automotive verification allows both you and the patient to know exactly where the patient stands with insurance. If they are eligible, great, if not, they patient will be aware they have to pay.
Another area that makes a huge obvious impact is up-front medical bill coding. Rejected, denied or claims that have to be resubmitted can cost your practice tens of thousands of dollars per month.
To free yourself up from the administrative chores of hiring, maintaining and training a staff, consider hiring a competent medical billing company. They can act as an extension of your office regarding the tasks of medical billing, coding, maintaining records and collecting moneys due.
When looking for top-notch firm medical billing firm consider the following:
- Experience of the firm: How long has the company been doing this work? Do they have references you can contact?
- Results: Does the company have results they can show you? This could mean coding accuracy, recovery and billing timeliness statistics.
- Responsiveness: When you call the company, will they answer you? If they answer, will it be in a timely basis? The key here is to try and judge their customer focus and commitment.
With the reduction of operating costs beginning to threaten revenues for positive cash flow, consider all of your options for the most efficient medical practice process in or out of a recession.
by: Ronald McLaughlin
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