Do you feel like your practice is feeling a little stagnant? Like you’re stuck with some invisible barrier blocking you from experiencing the growth that you know is possible?
With the pandemic (mostly) behind us, many practice owners and managers who survived are feeling like now is a good time to look forward and position themselves for the future.
However there are always obstacles that must be kept in mind. To successfully navigate these obstacles practice owners and managers need to identify what those obstacles are and make a plan to overcome them.
One of the most common obstacles for all medical practices is managing their billing needs.
Medical billing is a complex and ever-evolving task. One that might be best outsourced, if you are in the position to do so.
Let’s take a look at some signs that might indicate you are ready to outsource your billing.
- High Staff Turnover – This issue stands out because of the pandemic. Depending on how your practice operated during the shutdown, you may have lost a good portion of your staff and have not been able to get them back. This could leave you at a loss in terms of knowledge and experience when it comes to many aspects of your practice, including billing.
- High Rate of Denials – If you are short-handed or training new employees, there is a chance that there will be a higher rate of mistakes when it comes to coding and billing. This will lead to more denials. A high denial rate hurts your practice in a variety of ways.
- Decreased Efficiency – One particular way that a high rate denials negatively impacts your practice is efficiency. Whenever a claim is denied then that claim has to be invested and reworked. This is time consuming and means that someone cannot do other important tasks related to your business.
- Too Long of a Revenue Cycle – Another way that your practice is hurt by a larger rate of denials is that it takes longer for your practice to get paid. That is if you get paid at all. Denied claims can easily get set aside in the normal day-to-day operations, which means that some of those claims are never reworked. That is lost revenue for your practice. Even if the claim is reworked, you still have to wait longer to get paid. Very few things can prevent your practice from growing than a long revenue cycle.
- In a Position to Grow Your Practice – Sometimes things are going well. Your staff largely survived the pandemic, you have a low rate of denials, your practice is humming at peak efficiency, and your revenue cycle is nice and short. Some might think “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. While there is some wisdom to that sentiment, consider how much time and effort you can save by having an organization whose sole focus as it relates to your practice is managing your billing. You will most likely have an even lower rate of denials and your revenue cycle becomes even shorter. Your staff will be able to focus more on your patients which positions you to potentially grow your base of patients. All of this results in more revenue and ultimately growth for your practice.
Many practice owners or managers think that they cannot afford to outsource their billing. Maybe the question should be can you afford NOT to? Proper medical billing is essential if you are looking to grow your practice. Improper medical billing can leave your practice stuck in the same place, unable to grow. If you believe your practice has plateaued, then you should evaluate how your practice compares to the signs listed above. You might be surprised to find out that outsourcing your billing needs is the best path forward.