Overview
Depending on the size of your practice, the average in-house billing department consists of one or two trained billers per one to three providers. Payroll expenses aside, the start-up costs of an in-house billing department will include:
– Equipment (computers and software), registration with clearing house, additional space for record stage, reference material (annual coding books or courses)
– Other ongoing costs include printers/copiers for paper submission/resubmission, stationery, postage, patient statements processing, and software and hardware support.
Working with JS Medical Billing is like having a highly productive and motivated employee with no hassle. We never call in sick, there are no payroll taxes, and you don’t have to pay the benefits. We are fast, courteous, and accurate, and we provide a service that we are sure will recommend to your colleagues. Your practice will run smoothly, allowing you much more time to devote to patients.
Should I Outsource Billing?
If you answered YES to most of the following questions, then you should consider outsourcing medical billing for your practice:
– Is the overall collection rate declining?
– Are you experiencing an increased number of denied claims?
– Do you have effective billing supervision and staff?
– Do you need to invest in new computers and software?
– Are computer support fees too high?
– Are you planning to expand the practice?
– Is your practice cost structure also high?
Compare
In the table below, we will use as an example 7% net collections to see what true returns a medical billing company can deliver.
In this example, we will look at the cost of an in-house billing function for a single physician with total receivables at $30,000 per month ($360,000/year).
| In-House Billing with 1 Billing Employee | Yearly | Example @ 7% of net collections |
|---|---|---|
| Billing Employee @$20/hr. x 40hr x 50 weeks | $41,600 | Included |
| (Optional) Health Insurance @ $400/month | $4,800 | Included |
| PTO (vacation and sick leave) | $1,600 | Included |
| Taxes | $2,900 | Included |
| Office Expenses | $2,400 | Included |
| Medical Software and Computer Maintenance | $4,000 | Included |
| Total Billing Cost per Year | $57,300 | $25,200 |
This example demonstrates that by using JS Medical Billing services, a physician can earn an additional income of $32,100 per year.
The cost of the product or service doesn’t necessarily have to be less than the cost of managing the product or service in-house. The most important factor to consider is whether or not your billing service is increasing your revenue by lowering A/R days. This helps you earn money faster.
Because of the amount of money involved in the average medical claim, even a five percent improvement in collections means exponentially more to the bottom line than a five percent reduction in billing fees.
Just a 5% improvement in collections can result in $18,000+ additional revenue.
How to Select a Billing Service?
1. A small-to-medium-size medical practice will most likely have greater success with a small-to-medium-size billing firm.
2. Medical billing is a very specialized field. Companies that offer collection services, payroll, financial consulting, tax consulting, malpractice insurance, and marketing firms are not very good choices.
3. The working agreement between parties should clearly specify the responsibilities, including termination. In any case, the agreement should allow termination within 30 days of the written request and allow a smooth records transition from medical billing service servers to your servers.
4. Maintaining the integrity of physician accounts receivable is crucial. Many physicians are reluctant to allow checks and correspondence to be forwarded directly to the billing service. We set up direct deposits for every insurance payer.
5. The delicate and important issue of where the checks and correspondence should be mailed need not be as complicated as it appears. Some reputable, high-quality billing services, including JS Medical Billing, will not even provide services to clients who insist upon having the checks and correspondence mailed to the billing companies directly.
6. There are many possible options, but the most important point to remember is that one entity must be completely responsible for the validity and integrity of the EOBs.
Ready to Outsource?
We want you to be a JS Medical Billing customer for life.
We believe in the power of small practice, and we want you to succeed.
And we believe JS Medical Billing will help you do that.
But if at any point you choose to bring your billing back in-house, you can with no questions asked.
No hassle.
That’s our guarantee!