Discover the Vetting Criteria to Find the Right Medical Billing Service for Your Practice - I

When Juan Pablo, MD, first opened his medical practice in the US, 7-years ago, his billing system was completely a mess. His practice did not at all follow up aggressively enough with his patients, who failed to pay the fees, as well as insurance company payments were continuously delayed by claims fraught with coding errors and misplaced numbers.

Fortunately, all of this took a U-turn when he decided to outsource his medical billing requirements to a well-established service provider. And since then, for Mr. Juan, there has been no looking back, as he is earning more money and the collections have increased by 30% and he is being paid faster. In this article, we would be discussing the key vetting criteria that can greatly help to find the best billing service for any kind of health care facility or a medical practice.

• A good billing service will partner with your practice to deliver outstanding results
  These are the advantages of outsourcing billing needs that often, 3rd-party billing firms like to tout: fewer staff headaches and higher collection rates. You can save thousands of dollars by outsourcing your practice's billing operations. For many physicians, though, the idea to outsource is not always so clear. Remember, do not count on outsourcing costing you less - it does not always.
  
  The bigger question is who is going to do the job better?
  That is a tough question to answer. Even many experts in the billing sector acknowledge that quality among billing firms – many of them mom-and-pop firms varies considerably.

• It needs a leap of faith to outsource the billing function!
  So, how can you decide whether outsourcing your needs to a medical biller is right for you and how to find a reputable one? Billing services boasts of splendid results – but can they deliver? Yes, many can. In order to identify real expertise from marketing hype, physicians and interns need to dig a little deeper than performance track record metrics.

• Assess Cost and Advantages -
  Billing service providers typically charge a percentage of fees that the total amount they collect. The percentage they demand differs both by service provider and by practice type. Most companies charge general internal medical practices higher than subspecialty practices, as primary care doctors generate more medical bills for smaller amounts, which in turn, mean more work for billing company. In general, physicians can expect to pay 9-11% of their total collectibles to outside billing firms.
  
  Experts strongly recommend that medical practitioners should invite potential outsourcing organizations to provide them with a cost estimate based on the practice's billing data, payer mix and charge volume. The doctors must then, assess all these factors and find the best suitable outsourcing company. Ideally, you will benefit from the billing service if you would be able to cut the size of your billing staff.

In the next part of the article, we will be continuing the same discussion. However, for more details on medical billing, you can visit www.activemds.com.

A Guide to Electronic Medical Records – Part II

This article is in continuation to the article that was written earlier under the same title and introduction.

The medical industry is full of complex tasks and responsibilities that need to be fulfilled by different members of the fraternity. They each have assigned tasks that have to be performed according to the need of the hour and the requirement of the moment. Medical billing is one of these things that need to be taken care of in the medical system. This is because when money matters complicate, everything suffers. This calls for the need for effective money management to be done. Be it in terms of providing the right sort of bills, or electronic record keeping, managing the organization or looking after the welfare of the patients, it all needs to be done carefully, so as to help the organization grow over the years.

The important task is to find an ideal mode of keeping medical records so that they can be used as per requirements. Electronic Medical records kept by special companies who offer these services are considered to be one of the best ways of maintaining records for the purpose of retrieving them as per needs and requirements.

It is essential to trust on the best in the business as they can guarantee quick and efficient services and that too at the most affordable rate.

You need to make sure that the firm you are going to trust for this task of medical billing is well reputed and experienced; giving your work into the hands of new and inexperienced might not be the best idea. It’s good to do a little homework about the company so that one can find out whether or not it’s one worth working with.

Asking for quotes is the next step. So when one has located a few companies offering medical billing services in the vicinity, there is need for asking them for quotes for the sort of work you are going to offer to them. Most firms these days have the facility of giving free quotes, thus making things easier for you. All you need to do is to choose to accord to your needs, and cost-affectivity, the one that best suits your requirements.

It is also important of determine that the company delivers, quick, and reliable solutions. There is no room for error in the medical field and this applies to record keeping as well. The record-keeping will have a direct impact on the quality of healthcare services being rendered to the patients and one needs to be sure that the best services are trusted for maintaining long term medical records.

Find out more about Electronic medical records facility at http://www.activemds.com/

At Times of Medical Emergencies, Seek Vital Help from Electronic Medical Records

Did you know that people meet with accidents as much as every few seconds in the world? The roads are becoming more and more populated and rash drivers have unleashed such a plethora for the commoner that having a road accident isn't something out of the ordinary anymore. There are people dying each day due to these accidents.

As for the ones who are critical and are taken to the hospital for treatment, do you think it would be able to treat them ideally if there wasn't a proper medical record keeping system available in the industry? Miracles are happening every day in hospitals and it is partly because of the investment in the sensible technology of electronic record keeping. When a person meets with an accident and is taken to the hospital, he/she can be traced down with the use of these electronic medical records, and the person's entire medical history can be found online.

The family is the one truly devastated when a person has an accident. Imagine having to check at all local hospitals to find where your loved one is being treated, it would be excruciating. This is why electronic record keeping is proving to be a great help. The hospital authorities can not only find the medical history of the person and start treatment, but also contact his/ her family and friends and inform them about the accident.

In the cases where people die in road accidents, the insurance companies will have their part to play. Medical records need to be really strong for the person if the family has to receive the claims and this can be easily achieved with the help of these electronic records. No-one can replace a deceased loved one, however, the family gets financial support with the help of these companies providing excellent record keeping solutions for the benefit of common people as well as the hospitals. This is a two-way process that can be handled well by the service providing companies so that nobody has to suffer the lack of records in critical situations.

The good part is that there are companies available in plenty that do this sort of record keeping and medical billing for the hospitals. It won’t even cost them too much money and it’s definitely worth investing to be able to guarantee saving a number of lives in the future. This means that the hospitals can concentrate on their sole aim better now and people's lives can definitely be saved when accidents occur.

Find out more about electronic medical records at http://www.activemds.com/