This economy isn’t easy on any organization.  And even in the best of times, a hospital or private practice could end up in bankruptcy if they failed to handle their billing effectively.  So, without a doubt, effective and efficient medical billing needs to be a priority for any healthcare organization today.

But how can you tell if your practice needs help with your medical billing?

We’ve identified seven tell-tale signs that this is the case:

1.   You have a lack of cash flow momentum.

If you’re having difficulty keeping up with payroll, following up with insurance carriers, confirming you’ve received the full payment you deserve through insurance, or getting due bills out in a timely way, you’re going to run into serious cash flow problems in a hurry.  Once that momentum slows down, it’s going to start snowballing very quickly.

If you see this happening in your billing office, it’s time to get some outsourced help from people who specialize in handling these functions.  This allows you to get back to doing what you do best.

2.   You are experiencing increased days in accounts receivable.

This is a sure-fire way to get into the problem we just discussed in #1: a lack of cash flow momentum.

Accounts receivable has to be running like a well-oiled machine in order to make up for the inevitable paperwork delays you’re going to get from Medicare, Medicaid and other huge insurance carriers.  If you’re delaying the process on your end, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

Outsourcing your A/R functions takes the pressure off your billing team and puts it on the shoulders of a team who can focus completely on their core expertise: collecting your money for you.

3.   You and your staff are working harder without noticeable results.

This is frustrating.  It increases stress and hurts morale in what is already an inherently stressful environment.

If you find you and your staff are working harder, but no more is being accomplished, you can be sure there are inefficiencies and procedural snafus getting in the way.  Maybe it’s unnecessary or poorly formatted paperwork.  Maybe it’s a software or hardware issue.  It could be a leadership problem.

Whatever it is, outsourcing a key function can lighten the load on everyone, allowing your team to regroup and refocus on what they’re all really there to do: serve the patient.  And a team of experts handling your medical billing for you can and should review the current processes and procedures to note and help you eliminate inefficiencies as well.  Bonus!

4.   Your superiors are becoming more involved with your everyday business in an attempt to improve cash collections.

Similar to the #3 sign above, having management breathing down your neck can increase stress and harm morale as well.  Their concern is legitimate: they’re looking at the bottom line.  But all too often, they might be overlooking the root causes of the issue.

A medical billing organization like MAS will work directly with leadership, as well as the folks who work with the systems and with the patients day in and day out, to make sure the billing process is being improved from the ground up.  That way, everybody’s happy: the patients receive better service, the staff is able to focus more fully on their core expertise, and leadership is able to see a healthy, and improving, bottom line.

5.   Your overtime costs are exceeding your budget.

This is another sign that something is wrong internally with the current processes, procedures or staffing functions.  But, it comes down to billing too.

If you need additional staff, or need staff to work additional hours, but the budget is not there to support it, there’s a very good possibility money is being left on the table at some point in the process.  If the billing functions are not running efficiently, if billable work is being missed or not properly documented, or if outstanding bills and A/R are not being followed up on quickly and effectively, you’re not going to have the money available to pay the staff you need.

But, if these issues were resolved through outsourcing the billing functions to a team of experts, the money would be there.

6.   You are being asked to increase collections with less staff or more staff turnover.

This is a classic “cost-savings” effort by management that, unfortunately, tends to have the opposite effect.  By trying to force a team to do more with less, they create a breeding ground for inefficiencies and sloppy work.

A far more effective solution is to allow an outside team of billing experts to increase collections for you.  That allows a small but efficient internal team of billing staff to handle an even greater volume of work, with greater cash flow and speedier resolution of claims as the result.

7.   Your third party payers are becoming more difficult in processing and paying your accounts.

This is an unfortunate situation, but it happens all the time: many insurers, including organizations working with Workers’ Compensation and No-fault auto claims, take advantage of complex state insurance regulations and other legal maneuvering to delay or renege on paying claims. 

As a large healthcare facility with a high volume of claims, it’s difficult for you to keep up with the constant back and forth, and they’re counting on your giving up on collecting.

But, an outsourced team of billing experts is going to go after these payments like a bulldog after a bone.  It’s what we do, and we have the legal expertise and realistic motivation to stick with it until the money is in your hands.

Although it’s becoming more and more difficult to maintain a profitable practice in this economy without sacrificing patient care, here at MAS we strongly believe that outsourcing your medical billing is a huge step in the right direction. 

We encourage you to get a hold of us and let us help you find out how much value we can add to your organization!