Archive for December, 2009

Why Use Web Based Medical Billing Software?

Medical organizations have been recognizing the importance of digitizing their offices and records ever since technology became reasonably simple and cheap to use. Digital records mean faster access and easier maintenance. However, one aspect of the office that has been slow to come fully online is the billing system. Although offices may submit their claims electronically to insurance companies and government agencies, most of the database work, billing, etc. is typically done locally. Like keeping strictly paper records, this leads to a tremendous amount of overhead and waste. It should come as no surprise to most managers that web based medical billing software can greatly simplify billing tasks.

Perhaps the biggest problem with billing software that is stored locally lies in the IT costs required to run it. A large portion of office costs are directly related to IT staff and technical support. Maintaining local billing software requires the setup of daily backups, servers, and other infrastructure. Consequently, this results in the wasting of valuable resources that could otherwise be used to provide higher quality care to patients. Web based medical billing software removes all these problems by storing the data securely on an online server. By having all the data in a central location, you don’t have to worry about making backups or setting up the infrastructure because the software maker has already done that for you. In addition, the fact that all the data is stored on the internet means that you can access it anywhere a connection is available. This can greatly improve productivity and enable you to sort out issues 24/7.

Another reason for using web based medical billing software is the fact that it is much more efficient than managing everything by hand. For example, some web medical software companies will print and mail patient statements on your behalf. Simply set a minimum patient balance and a maximum frequency, and the company that makes the software will automatically mail out all the patient statements matching your criteria. This means that you’ll no longer have to worry about printing off statements, stuffing them into envelopes, and mailing them out yourself. Simply press a button and its done. This is just one example of the improved efficiency that web based medical billing software brings – there are many more cases in which using the software proves more cost and time efficient than other solutions.

Web based medical billing software is a great tool to use when trying to streamline your practice. When one thinks of all the time and energy spent on mundane tasks such as maintaining your IT infrastructure, submitting insurance claims, and printing patient statements, it becomes very clear that web medical software is the way to go. It’s extremely efficient and can remove most of the costs associated with all the aforementioned activities. Plus, the added bonus of having your data where-ever, whenever you want, makes this type of software irresistible for most practices.

Why Should My Office Use Patient Scheduling Software?

Scheduling can be one of the most complex administrative tasks that a medical office performs. In offices with multiple medical facilities, keeping track of recalls, finding open times, and being able to remind patients of outstanding amounts, can be very challenging. Fortunately, software manufacturers have recognized the stress of keeping track of all this data and created applications that can efficiently and effectively create schedules for patients and doctors. Known as “patient scheduling software”, these programs are vital for the success of any medical office.

While it is clear that some software is required to schedule appointments, it may not be altogether clear why specific patient scheduling software is required? Why not just simply use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of the days? Then, when a patient is scheduled in, you could simply just highlight the date and time. The answer is that this causes a great deal of inefficiency and doesn’t really keep track of much other than the appointments. Good patient scheduling software can not only keep track of the visits, but also find the next available appointment quickly (something that you’d have to keep scrolling for in an Excel spreadsheet). A well-written application can even remind administrators of additional details, such as co-payment amounts, alerts for outstanding balances, or referral information. Having these reminders appear on-screen translates into better service for the patients and easier payment collection for the office.

Some offices may be hesitant to implement such a system because they’ve heard of all the IT costs that are associated with having patient scheduling software. For example, offices may be against the application on the grounds that it will require servers, a lot of setup work, daily backups, and so forth. Then, even after it’s set up, there are likely to be support costs that may outweigh the benefits described above. Fortunately, medical developers are aware of this and have started to create a class of applications that fall under “SaaS” (software-as-a-service). These applications are designed to store all of their data securely online. Consequently, you don’t need any servers in your office and you can access the patient records and schedules from anywhere in the world, provided that you have internet access. If you’re sitting at home at 10pm wondering who you have scheduled for tomorrow, simply open your computer, load the software, and find the info you want. No hassles on the backend – just simple and easy-to-use.

All in all, there are very few reasons not to use patient scheduling software. Especially, in a multiple physician office, there’s truly no other effective way of maintaining your appointment book. Between the block times, appointment types, necessity to know co-payment amounts, recall information, and so on, managing appointments without this software would be horrendous. The best part is that getting all these aspects completely automated comes at no extra IT expense. Simply pay for the software (either one-time or monthly fee) and there are no extra costs above and beyond that basic payment.

There Are Many Advantages of Medical Office Billing Software

Perhaps one of the most frustrating and tedious tasks of being a physician is submitting insurance/government claims and billing patients for services rendered. Insurance companies can be particularly frustrating because they will often deny claims for mundane reasons. With traditional paper claims, it could take more than a month to find out if an insurance company would be willing to provide payment. Then if the claim was rejected, it could take even more time to rectify the errors that caused the denial.

Medical office billing software reduces or eliminates many of these aggravations by electronically submitting claims. Most of the time, this means that you’ll be able to know the status of the claim immediately. For those that need to be investigated by the insurance companies, most billing software includes the ability to view the status of the claim in real-time so you’ll know the status as soon as possible.

In addition to submitting claims electronically, medical office billing software also lets you track your receivables. You’ll be able to get valuable statistics about your patients such as if their bill is paid in full, if they have any pending insurance claims, or even the average time it takes for them to pay. Some web-based billing systems will even print and mail paper invoices for you. Simply tell them the invoices you want printed (e.g. only print for patients with over $20 outstanding), and they’ll mail them out on your behalf.

With the number of patients and hassles in a contemporary medical office, it’s hard to argue against streamlining your billing procedures as much as possible. Buying medical office billing software can help you efficiently keep track of claims and receivables. Because there’s less worry about the financial end of the practice, this enables all parties involved to provide better service for patients instead of worrying about when certain claims will be paid.