medical billing transcription supplier information

1--What is Medical Billing?

Medical Billing is the process of submitting and following up on claims to insurance companies in order to receive payments for medical services rendered by a health care provider.

2--What is the Medical Billing Process?

The Medical Billing process is an interaction between the healthcare provider and the Insurance Company. After examining the patient, the doctor maintains a medical record. This Record includes the patients' symptoms, clinical findings, and diagnosis and treatment details. Following these details a medical coder or a billing specialist provides a medical code for this record. This billing code is then submitted to the Insurance Company. The Insurance Company then proceeds with the claim.

3-- What about the Payment?

Based on the amount negotiated by the doctor and the insurance company, the original charge is reduced.

4--What about the Billing Quality?

Billing Quality is measured in terms of timeliness and completeness of payment. The shape of the distribution curve of Accounts Receivable illustrates billing quality. For several decades, medical billing was done almost entirely on paper. However, with the advent of computers it has become possible to efficiently manage large amounts of claims. Many software companies have arisen to provide medical billing software to this particularly lucrative segment of the market.

5—What are the Medical Billing mistakes you should avoid?

Physicians believing that their billing professional care a lot and will not be doing any mistakes is at the head of the list.Take a copy of patients Insurance card. Also a second ID. Secure sign advanced Beneficiary notice when indicated.

6—Tell about medical billing software?

As we know the tens of troubles medical professionals face keeping files, data and reports sorted and made available whenever needed. Medical Billing helps to organize these details and consolidate your all offices together.

7—Can I use medical Billing software from our home?

Yes. All you need is a computer with a broadband Internet connection.

8—Is billing Software easy to use?

Yes. The biggest benefit is that you don’t have to go through multiple databases.

9—What about the security features?

Medical Billing is protected through HIPPA- servers, which gives access to members that mean you and you only.

10—What about the cost?

Medical Billing Software is not very costly though. Also there is no long-term commitment for the software use.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:08 AM  0 Comments

Software as a Service (SaaS) is the new generation of ASP model designed to reduce the exorbitant costs of specialized medical practice management software. SaaS model is available for all aspects of medical practice management, including scheduling, billing, and electronic medical records (EMR), which are mission-critical for high quality clinical service, business operations, and regulatory compliance. SaaS model extends the advantages of Application Service Provider (ASP) model, which in turn evolves from the traditional Client-Server model. This article briefly defines key concepts and outlines a set of guidelines for SaaS vendor selection.

Client-Server (CS) Model

CS model involves central servers for database and application logic and multiple client modules connected to the central servers via local area network. This architecture allows allocation of significant application logic on the client computer.

Applications architects considering CS model must weigh performance and security advantages against increased maintenance costs. CS benefits stem from local control of application logic and data. CS shortcomings too stem from localizing logic and data because local arrangement requires the user to take responsibility over application maintenance, including data security, redundancy, disaster recovery, upgrades, backups, etc.

The medical practice utilizing CS model must develop in-house expertise and manage numerous services, including

1. Internet connectivity, bandwidth, and routers
2. Servers for Web server software, email, and firewalls
3. Database management
4. Data feed management
5. Capacity management
6. Redundancy management
7. Application upgrade management

Financially, CS models require the software user to make significant upfront investment in hardware and licensing and justify the business case using ROI-based arguments, which make little sense because of software and hardware innovation pace.

Application Service Provider (ASP) Model

ASP model shields the medical practice from high cost of specialized software and data maintenance responsibilities but not from upfront investment in hardware and in software licenses. Early ASP applications were created from traditional CS applications by moving centralized data and application servers to a third-party hosting service provider and allowing access to the application via HTML user interface as an afterthought. The third-party hosting service provider would take the responsibility for application maintenance and data protection.

The medical practice using early ASP model manages two costs:

1. Licensing and monthly support fee to software vendor
2. Software hosting fee to hosting vendor (typically a "pay-as-you-use model")

Software as a Service (SaaS) Model

SaaS model extends ASP benefits from outsourcing of system maintenance to simplified financial responsibilities. SaaS vendors eliminate the upfront costs to medical practice by making the upfront investment in hardware and licensing on behalf of all medical practices using the application.

To make such a financial commitment, the hosting vendor must develop thorough expertise in application maintenance and new feature development. Such a requirement became feasible with recent technology progress in terms of security (128-bit SSL encryption) and browser-based client performance along with AJAX coding methodology. The new generation technology now compensates for earlier CS model deficiencies and justifies network-native SaaS software development by design.

Because of higher specialization, SaaS vendor is able to focus on client business requirements, resulting in more responsive service and higher client satisfaction.

SaaS Vendor Selection

Medical practice in search of SaaS vendor must focus on the following topics:

1. Functionality: Does the application deliver all required functionality? Have you documented functional requirements subject to practice business goals, including financial, practice workflow and personnel objectives? Have you considered integrated practice management functionality including patient scheduling, SOAP notes, and billing?

2. Training Plan: Will the vendor provide sufficient training? What drives the training process: practice workflow changes or available software functionality?

3. Third-Party Application Interface: Does the application work with existing applications already deployed in the office? What data exchange requirements must be satisfied if you decide to purchase another application later?

4. Performance: How do you measure application and service performance? Are formal performance metrics available continuously?

5. HIPAA Compliance: What controls are in place to enable access only on a "need to see" basis? Is every access instance logged using secure mechanism?

6. Service Level Agreement: What minimum service levels does the vendor guarantee to the client? What are the penalties for violating SLA?

7. Problem Resolution: Is there a formal process to communicate problem identification and resolution? How is it tracked?

8. Data Access and Ownership: Who owns the data? Keep in mind that according to HIPAA, the patient is the ultimate owner of health data. How secure and private is the connection? Does it have Role based Access Control (RBAC)?

9. Disaster Recovery: How long would it take to recover from a disaster? Is a secondary data center available 24 x 7?

10. Disengagement Procedures: How long is data available upon severing the relationship? Who is responsible for data transfer to the new vendor?

# posted by Medical Information : 2:07 AM  0 Comments

Recent recurring themes, like cutbacks and downsizing, are in the news every day when it comes to businesseses of all sizes. Due to those problems there are now less people in the companies left to complete essential company work and that’s typical for every company. Fortunately there are products that can help companies cope with the results of that trend. Billing software is one of those products. As there always are bills to be processed no matter the size and the type of the business itself, there are a number of programs to choose from that can help doing that, and that include so many additional useful features that they can actually match the needs of any company.

Such software can be used for example both in a medical clinic and in a law firm. It will equally well serve for medical billing that includes direct billing of patients, processing claims to insurance companies and many others depending on the situation and for the law firm to track time that’s billed to a certain customer. This professional billing software is capable of tracking incurred expenses by the attorney’s work also and many other things.

Application of such software seems to be unlimited as it can also be used by merchandise selling companies. Such program can be so set up that it will send and track invoices and include them for the specific time periods required. What is more, the billing software can fit perfectly a company with routine expenditures as it can produce time based bills electronically for all the automatic and recurring purchases.

Billing software can manage claims made by both suppliers and customers, and in addition it can process employee time slips for example. Not only will it process them but it can also calculate automatically and process payroll deductions based on that too. In some companies they have it even easier. Employees enter their timesheets electronically and the billing software generates a calculation of their exact pay. So if you set the daily or hourly wage for an employee, the software itself keeps track of time-slips, payments, accounts and all necessary details. Of course there are online billing programs too. Such programs don’t even require software for the companies with mostly routine expenses that don’t fluctuate significantly. They do offer quick and easy to follow billing procedure though.

Billing software has just as many variations as the different factors that make up a business as it is. Having different sizes, numbers of employees, etc. or the function of the company being manufacturing, distribution or dealing with different professionals to generate business leads to a great variety in the requirements each company has for its billing software. In order to help with that situation there are free directories that match billing software with company requirements. The billing software will be a great help for you but you have to make sure that you choose the right program for your type of business and your needs exactly. That’s why it is always better to use the help of those directories, search them through and find the perfect match.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:07 AM  0 Comments

Remember when you were little and you played the game Truth or Dare. It seemed easy to decide between your choices then. Yet when considering the options of work at home medical billing, the choices can be a little more scary and your decisions a bit more daring. There are a number of companies out there looking to lure you in and take your money, but there is still the potential for a work at home medical billing business.

The Federal Trade Commission has sent out stern warnings to people when it comes to the advertisements they see to start their own work at home medical billing business. There are a number of advertisements out there for pre-packaged work at home medical billing businesses. These advertisements will tell you that there is a shortage of medical billers, and doctors are clamoring to outsource the work to trained work at home medical billing experts.

Many of these companies promoting these pre-packaged businesses for a work at home medical billing business make big promises like providing you with a list of clients along with training and software. The truth is, most doctors will hire larger companies to handle their medical billing, and the list of clients given are just doctors names that you need to contact and to whom you need to promote your work at home medical billing services. The false claims by these companies that you can make significant money from a work at home medical billing business by using their packages has prompted the FTC to file suit against those companies.

If you are considering a work at home medical billing package, you will want to asks some questions from the promoter. You will need to ask for names of previous purchasers of the work at home medical billing program so that you can contact them for references. You can also discuss the work at home medical billing field with doctors and other medical billing professionals to learn about the potential of the business in your area. Also, the Attorney General’s Office and other consumer agencies like the Better Business Bureau can give you insight into the promoter.

Still, there is an opportunity out there for you to start your own work at home medical billing business if you have the experience, contacts, and wiliness to market and network. If you have worked as a medical biller for years and have a number of medical contacts, starting your own work at home medical billing business could be a viable option if you are looking to work from home. You will need to be prepared at first to do battle with larger firms as you build up your work at home medical billing business.

When you start your own work at home medical billing business, make sure that you examine whether or not you really have what it takes to run your own work at home medical billing business. It may sound like heaven to work at home, but you will need to learn to discipline yourself to get work done and manage your time effectively. You will also have to make sure you do not get so caught up in your work at home medical billing business that you forget to have your own personal life.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:05 AM  0 Comments

Medical-billing-software is designed to allow you to work on your medical billing needs effectively. Whether you are looking for software that will train or software that will allow you to send out those bills, having the right medical-billing software is quite necessary and needed in just about every medical operation out there.

What should you look for in the medical-billing-software that you need?

• Look for products that fit your needs specifically. You will find a wide assortment of options that will include such things as training software as well as medical-billing-software that will allow you to pull together and send out the bills that you need to.
• You will want the right type of software for your medical establishment as far as insurance information. Some various options in the format as well as in the input needed for the bills is also important.
• What works wonderfully in medical-billing-software is the fact that you have a wide range of products that can work with virtually any system set up out there. That means finding the right program for your system requirements.
• One of the most important things to look for in medical-billing-software is simply how easy it is to use. Not all programs are designed with this intention unfortunately. Look for those that do offer it.
• You also will want to choose the medical-billing-software that fits within your budget as well. While this may seem difficult, you have many options out there to consider and you are sure to find those that will work the best available.

You will find many options in medical-billing-software available to you on the web. You will see that there are a number of great options to consider and there is sure to be more than one that fits your specific needs. Yes, it can be exciting to finally be able to get your billing done faster, easier, and even more accurately when you use great products such as medical-billing-software.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:27 AM  0 Comments

It is tempting, if you are running a medical office, to think that handling billing in house is cheaper. The truth is that it is not for a couple of reasons. First of all, when you handle it in-house you need to pay for employees, training, equipment, software, updates on the software, and postage. There is actually a great deal of postage, in fact. Secondly, you just aren’t as likely to get the job done right in-house. You can actually improve your collections and get paid faster with medical billing services.

The first way you improve your collections and get paid faster with medical billing services is because they are experienced in hard to handle claims. Yes, in-house, your people would likely have no trouble handling a standard claim that the insurance company pays off. However, what do you do when the insurance company denies a claim? Professional medical billing services know how to collect the money on such bills. With a good service, no claim goes unpaid. That means your revenue streams remain steady and reliable.

Another way you can improve your collections and get paid faster with medical billing services is that they are highly accurate in their record keeping. Not only can a billing service collect payments efficiently, but also they know the ins and outs of the financial side of your medical business. They can act as collections, accounting, and as advisors for you about the business side of the office.

Overall, because they are trained to be accurate and efficient when working with insurance companies, a medical billing service will get you paid faster. Rare is the time an insurance claim will be sent back to your billing company. They have relationships with the insurance companies and are able to file claims and bills with perfect efficiency. If you tried to do the same thing in-house, you would spend a fortune sending employees to seminars, keeping up on the billing, and still maintaining other duties. The relationships would not be there for years, and in the mean time you would likely miss out on revenue.

Your medical billing service will also attend insurance seminars with the companies. That way, they can report back to the office and help the doctors and managers to understand what is going on in insurance. Through advising and informing, they can help you be as efficient as possible with billing and insurance affiliations. You will always have the “inside scoop.” That is important to make sure that you improve your collections and get paid faster with medical billing services.

So you can certainly improve your collections and get paid faster with medical billing services. All you need to do is hire the right one and let them do their job. Because they are trained to get your money, deal with insurance, and keep impeccably organized records, they will more than pay for themselves when it comes time to make sure all claims are collected and on time.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:27 AM  0 Comments

Is you mail box harassing you? Does it bring you unwanted medical bills? Do you feel your blood pressure rising and steam coming out of your ears? Do you feel you are alone in this situation? If the answer to the questions is yes, read on.

We are the people of the United States of America and everyday it seems that something we depend on is being taken away or fragmented.

The medical insurance companies are a big part of this disgusting picture. They will try and hold onto their money with their teeth before they will pay your medical bills.

WHY IS THIS?

I call it a game between the medical provider and you the consumer. The insurance companies are aware that many people that work in medical billing are not fully trained in the problems that arrive on a daily basis.

When you work in a medical provider’s office the denials from the insurance companies are massive and complicated. The insurance companies do this on purpose to confuse the professional’s billers as well as you the consumer.

We the people must make a stand. Medical Insurance is extremely expensive and the monthly premiums keep escalating, we the consumers are getting the short end of the stick.

In my E book I try to cover all these pitfalls and help the consumer fight back with sample letters of appeal. These letters can be used for you, the consumer, to question your medical insurance company on how they computed their final payment to your medical provider. An appeal letter can achieve a payment where none was made in the first place or a better payment.

Thank you for reading my article. Please feel free to read my numerous articles.

If you have any questions on medical billing please make a comment. I will answer.

Copyright Linda E. Meckler 2006

Linda is the author of her first published book, “Ghost Kids Trilogy. ” Christy, 12 and her Brother Brad, 16 moves into an old house on top of a mountain and meet two Ghost Kids. Become involved with all the characters and all the adventure and mystery.

Then we have a mysterious, magical Blue Vase where Uncle Charlie the villain is trapped. He wants out of the Blue Vase and exchange he will tell Christy and Brad where Pirates’ Treasure is Hidden.

Take a walk with Christy and Brad down a dark hall hunting for Pirates” Treasure. You will think were you there right there with them.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:27 AM  0 Comments

With the new cap imposed by Medicare effective January 2006, Medicare beneficiaries will only get $1,740 of therapy services (combined with Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy) and a separate cap for Occupational Therapy.

How will it affect the Medicare Beneficiaries?

1. Our senior citizens people will dramatically be affected by this cap due to obviously, many of them suffers from all different physical conditions that needs therapy. After a stroke, surgical replacements, they need to have therapy to be able to go back to their normal lives.

2. Patients who needs therapy do not normally have the same and only one kind of episode in one calendar year. Usually, they are being treated with additional cases. Medicare will no longer cover the services after the $1,740 cap has been reached. One example, the patient is being treated due to difficulty in walking because of previous stroke then later on had a hip replacement, that is another case but had happened on the same calendar year. This patient will be forced to pay out-of-pocket to get the therapy services that he needs to be able to walk again. But what about other senior citizens who only depends on their social security? This will mean additional cut on their monthly benefits?

3. The bottom line here is that, the older people who primarily needs important care is obviously the most vulnerable and helpless among the Medicare beneficiaries. These are the people who are vulnerably sick and weak.

With a lowest average physical therapy charges of $ 160.00 per visit, a patient can only get 10 visits per calendar year (but this is combined with Speech Therapy!). With let’s say Physical Therapy Services alone, that would only be twice a week for only 5 weeks! Imagine it when the patient needs combined with Speech Therapy! A stroke patient usually needs both Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy, is it not?

The above issues are a reality. We hope the congress may lift this policy on therapy cap and realize the impact on this policy to many who needs the essential care and therapy services!

# posted by Medical Information : 2:26 AM  0 Comments

A medical billing service is a company that takes over the nasty job of collecting money so that the doctor’s office doesn’t have to do it. So, then, choosing the right medical billing for your company can mean a lot when it comes to revenue. The right company will keep a doctor’s office’s receivables at the maximum level while maintaining a consistent flow of cash. So, in order to keep things running smoothly in the office, you must make sure you choose the right medical billing service for the office.

The first step in choosing the right medical billing for your company is to make sure they are going to submit insurance claims promptly. They should also track payments accurately and perform thorough follow up on all claims that require that. With the right billing service, no claim should ever go unpaid.

The right service will be thorough and complete in their preparedness. Reps from the company should attend insurance seminars so that they can advice the office doctors about changes in insurance and keep them abreast of financial situations in the office. They are hands on handlers of billing as well as advisors and consultants for the doctors about the business side of the practice.

Though a doctor could probably do much of the information on his own or hire employees to do it, he can save money by outsourcing the process. The doctor will save him or herself the cost of equipment, software, updates, postage, legal forms, and even payroll. Additionally, these companies do this all the time and thus can actually maximize the doctor’s accounts payable. It is likely that if the doctor tried to do it in-house he would not be able to maximize to the degree a professional company can.

Choosing the right medical billing for your company means finding an expert company that will have the expertise to collect on all claims and submit claims accurately. They should even be able to collect on claims denied by the insurance company. When done in-house, it is the problem claims that end up neglected, so choosing the right medical billing for your company will prevent you from losing the money on such claims.

In order to prevent yourself from choosing the wrong medical billing company, you should check references thoroughly. Call several other doctors who are using the service and get their opinions of the company. By doing so, you can save your office the trouble of getting the wrong company for the job and having to start over after possibly losing money. Getting it right the first time will, as much as anything else, save you money in the long run.

Choosing the right medical billing for your company is important. Besides taking one more thing off the plate of your employees and allowing them to concentrate on other things, it also allows you to maximize your company income. By making sure all claims are paid and keeping money flowing through your office, your medical billing company is an important part of your business. Make sure you make the right hire the first time around.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:26 AM  0 Comments