When you think about an audit like an interrogation, it can invoke anxiety. If you change your perspective to look at audits as an improvement tool, it can be something practice owners and managers can look forward to. Occasional Billing and Coding Audits are valuable tools to help improve your revenue cycle and maintain compliance with CMS and other regulatory bodies.
What could I gain from doing an audit? GOALS
The results from any audit are measured against industry benchmarks. If you are struggling to meet or keep up with these standards, a billing and coding audit should be performed in order to help you understand the key areas where your clinical operations are weak and help you to identify priorities and set goals toward making improvements that impact your revenue cycle.
At MEREM Healthcare Solutions, we call these standards, Industry Benchmarks, and it is our mission that all of our clients meet and exceed industry benchmarks.
What is a REVENUE CYCLE AUDIT?
A practice operation review tool used over a period of time to help you improve your current revenue process. We believe that routine, internal audits of your billing and coding processes are necessary. Every time an audit cycle is completed, there should be further improvement in patient care.
WHAT ARE INDICATORS THAT IT’S TIME FOR A REVENUE CYCLE AUDIT?
Is your practice losing money? – An audit will help you identify revenue loss and set goals focused on profit potential.
How quickly are your claims being followed up upon initial denial? – Efforts to reduce claim denials should begin with a revenue cycle audit to help you identify the source of denial trends.
Are you confident in your in-house/outsourced coding accuracy? – Coding services are the life-blood of your practice. That is how the services you provide are transformed into billable revenue.
A complete Revenue Cycle Audit includes:
- Coding accuracy audit
- Billing and accounts receivable audit
- Industry Benchmark Comparison for your individual practice
Conducting a revenue cycle audit in-house may take away from your daily responsibilities, and be a daunting task. Considering an outsourced solution for conducting your audit will help you stay on track and focused on continually improving your processes.
Whether you currently handle your billing and coding in-house or outsource to another company, MEREM Healthcare Solutions can provide you with an unbiased industry comparison and revenue cycle audit report to assist physicians and practice managers with improving their practice performance. Our audit results are always kept confidential for our client’s internal use only.