Collection
agencies G. Many billing services own or have affiliate
relationships with collection agencies. You'll
most definitely want to avoid this situation.
Make sure your billing service provides you
with a monthly report containing proper information
on delinquent accounts enabling your office
manager to properly send the information to
a collection agency of your choice. In my opinion
billing services that own collection agencies
or establish close affiliate relationships with
them are unethical and should be avoided at
all cost. Even though it is nearly impossible
to find a collection agency that does not have
relationships with medical billing services
the point I'm trying to make is to be sure that
your billing service is independent and you
have the freedom to select a collection agency
of your choice. This relationship presents a
scenario whereby the billing service can simply
go after the easy to collect accounts and allow
the more difficult but still collectible ones
to slip into the hands of a collection agency
who obviously charge a much higher percentage
of collections. Again, it's easy to see how
a billing service can facilitate or erode your
sense of control. The most reputable collection
agency I've dealt with is a company called Collection
Information Bureau (CIB). I've been doing business
with them for years and they have never attempted
to establish an affiliate relationship with
my company. CIB can be reached at 1-800-231-3514,
contact sandy Lopez.
Different
types of billing services
There
are three different types of billing services.
Fee per claim 50/50 Full
service
Fee per
claim billing services charge a flat rate per
claim. The fees generally range between
$1.25 to $5.00 per claim depending upon the services
provided.
Advantages: May
be helpful to a brand-new practice who is not
fully implemented a computer system or is still
trying to decide whether to outsource. Practices
with old or outdated computer systems Relatively
inexpensive cost per claim Excellent
for practices who have a problem with only one
particular payer group such as Medicare or payers
that require electronic claims submission
Physicians planning to retire within one year
Highly flexible
Low-volume practices less
employees
Disadvantages:
Expensive
for high-volume practices Poor
integrity of accounts receivable Lack
of information systems Lack
of control
50/50
50/50 billing services install computer terminal/terminals
in your office. The billing service performs
part of the billing process while your office
performs the other. As you can probably tell
from my list of disadvantages this is in my
opinion the least desirable type of billing
service.
Outsource
Medical Billing Services