Third Party Billing Services Can Help Improve Reimbursement
The use of a third party billing service is becoming common practice throughout the medical field and is rapidly increasing within the dialysis industry due to the increased resources necessary to bill under bundled reimbursement. By using a third party that specializes in dialysis billing, organizations are able to leave the time-consuming billing regulatory compliance legwork to the experts. This not only helps increase providers collection process it frees up more time for the caregivers to focus on direct patient care.
We all are aware of the complicated nature of medical billing. From diagnosis codes to claim forms, medication doses to medication routes, there is a wealth of parts that make up a claim and numerous opportunities for errors. Dialysis billing is no exception, and may present more opportunities for error due to the number of treatment activities a patient receives monthly and the recent changes to how claims are processed under bundling.
Treatment for End Stage Renal Disease (“ESRD”) is a frequent and involved process. Patients receive dialysis three times a week on average, or more for home treatments. Additionally, if you factor in all the various components of a claim form (labs, meds, co-morbid conditions, infections, etc.) with the volume of treatments a facility conducts per month the opportunity to miss billing data or have errors on claims increases dramatically.
With the high frequency of treatment activities, medical costs and the overhead of running a dialysis facility 10 – 16 hours a day begins to add up quickly for providers. These costs make it imperative that facilities, especially independent organizations, receive the full amount of reimbursement they deserve as quickly as possible. This is why many providers are outsourcing their billing needs to professional medical billing services.
Quality third party billers handle far more than just the basic claims submission. Additional standard services, such as insurance claim follow up, are time consuming efforts for the unpracticed and can have major positive effects on reimbursement. Sophisticated services, such as Gaia Software’s third party billing services, employ reporting and analytical tools with monthly reports that will point to areas where profitability can be increased.
Third party billing services offers independent dialysis facilities and hospitals a cost-effective way to handle the increasingly complicated administrative tasks associated with insurance and patient collections. A good third party billing partner such as Gaia will alleviate the monthly stress of billing allowing organizations to focus valuable time on quality patient outcomes.
