The Good:

1. Efficiency: Billing software can significantly increase efficiency by automating repetitive tasks, such as data entry and invoice generation. This can save time and reduce the risk of human error.
2. Accuracy: Modern billing software is designed to be highly accurate, reducing the likelihood of billing errors that can lead to financial disputes or regulatory issues.
3. Cost Reduction: Using billing software can reduce the need for extensive manual labor, leading to cost savings in terms of employee salaries and operational expenses.
4. Data Security: Good billing software often includes robust security features to protect sensitive financial data from breaches and cyberattacks.
5. Analytics and Reporting: Many billing software solutions come with built-in analytics and reporting tools, allowing companies to gain insights into their financial performance and make data-driven decisions.

The Bad:

1. Cost of Implementation: Implementing billing software can be expensive, including the initial purchase cost, training, and potential customization to fit the company’s specific needs.
2. Learning Curve: Billing software can be complex, and employees may require training to use it effectively. This learning curve can lead to temporary disruptions in operations.
3. Dependency on Technology: Relying heavily on technology can be risky if there are system failures, technical glitches, or if the software becomes outdated.
4. Security Concerns: While billing software can enhance security, it can also be vulnerable to hacking and data breaches if not properly protected and maintained.
5. Lack of Customization: Some billing software may not fully meet a company’s unique requirements, necessitating additional development or workarounds.

Regarding the billing company’s usage of the software, it’s crucial for them to:

• Understand the Software: The billing company should have a thorough understanding of the software’s capabilities and limitations to maximize its benefits.
• Employee Training: Adequate training programs should be in place to ensure that employees are proficient in using the software efficiently and securely.
• Procedures and Compliance: The billing company must establish procedures that align with industry regulations and best practices to ensure compliance when using the software.
• Regular Updates: Keeping the software up to date is crucial for security and taking advantage of new features or improvements.
• Data Backup and Recovery: Robust backup and recovery procedures should be in place to protect against data loss.

In conclusion, while billing software offers numerous advantages, it’s essential for billing companies to carefully consider both the advantages and disadvantages and take steps to mitigate potential pitfalls. Proper education, training, and procedural safeguards are crucial for harnessing the full potential of technology in billing operations while minimizing risks. Fortunately, Merem Healthcare Solutions encompasses ways to mitigate both the bad and good in technology, so you don’t have to worry about anything related to your revenue cycle management operations.

The post Technology: The Good and The Bad appeared first on MEREM Health.

The motto for getting paid is to Ask Early and Ask Often for Payment.

The fact is, the further into the collections process you go, the less likely a patient is to pay in full. If your practice’s patient collection efforts only go as far as issuing statements and generating “bad debt” reports of accounts that are turned over to collections, it’s likely that less than 50% of those collection balances will be recovered.

If this describes your practice, an improved strategy for Patient “Pre-Collections” that is both aggressive and fair should be implemented. Revenue for services rendered is the lifeblood of any facility, and if patients need to foot 40% of the bill, you can’t afford to miss out.

• Discuss payment expectations when you discuss procedure and appointment setting. If unable to pay in full, collecting a nominal portion the day before or the day of may make it worth proceeding.

• Collect a portion of co-pays upfront from patients. This isn’t always possible in the case of many emergency room admissions, but it is for specialty services such as elective surgeries and ancillary procedures.

Point of Service Collections

Point of service collections is just as important as insurance collections. Missed co-pays can quickly add up to a significant revenue loss. In the long run, point of service collections helps to cut down on statement costs and patient AR.

In order to

Patient billing is a significant problem for patients and providers.

ensure patients understand their coverage and are aware of their responsibilities — and that you get paid. Develop a self-pay policy, communicate it clearly to both staff and patients, and self-pay collection will become an integral part of your practice workflow.

People are not aware of their deductibles for specific procedures but when the time comes, it’s often the front office staff that has to educate patients about their insurance and the agreed-upon patient responsibility. Oftentimes, patients who hold high deductible health plans and other aggressive patient cost-sharing models are unpleasantly surprised with they find our they are ultimately responsible for their surgery. Patients who need to pay out of pocket for some or all of their medical care are frustrated by difficulties understanding what’s covered and what they owe, the lack of options for payment plans, and the poor timing of bills and communication around the process.

Front office staff are intimidated to collect payments or have not perfected Point-of-service collections, the art of asking for payment.

collecting some or all of the co-pay upon admission or before services are rendered

For Example:

Don’t Ask: CAN you can pay today?

Ask: How WILL you pay today?

Make it easy for patients to pay. 9 times out of 10, patients say they want to be able to pay their medical bills online. Facilities and healthcare providers can help ease the burden for patients by setting up customized payment plans, using patients’ preferred payment methods — which helps ensure that bills will be paid.

We don’t just set up a payment framework and then walk away; we are committed to giving providers the analytics, technology infrastructure, clinical support, and other resources that increase their likelihood of success. We also try to understand and address their challenges; for example, knowing that cash flow is a big issue, we’ve worked to make billing cycles shorter and more predictable.

The post Principles of Improving Patient Procedure Collections appeared first on MEREM Health.

By utilizing an experienced team of medical billers and coders who are knowledgeable in various specialty medical codes and trends, you can rest assured that things are being handled properly behind the scenes while you and your medical team can take care of patients upfront.

Chances are what first brought you into the healthcare industry was wanting to help others. You wanted to make a difference in people’s lives and give them more quality years. However, as you started your own private medical practice, you probably saw it was filled practice management tasks leaving you with less time with patients and more time behind a desk dealing with insurance and other revenue cycle demands. 

Be More Proactive in Your Medical Billing and Coding

According to Healthcare Business & Technology, more than 80% of medical bills contain errors. Medical billing errors are the biggest reason for the disruption of cash flow in a physician practice. 

Fortunately, by making sure everyone on your team is on the same page when it comes to documentation (as well as having a strong medical billing and coding team), you can greatly reduce these errors so that cash flow in your medical practice continues to move in the right direction.

No Errors Allowed!

As you well know, most medical billing errors are due to:

• Incorrect patient information, which includes insurance provider information
• Duplicate billing
• Poor documentation
• Unclear claim numbers
• Wrong codes being used

However, by putting the proper training in place and outsourcing your medical billing and coding services, you can ensure that a majority of your claims will not be denied. 

When these medical billing and coding errors take place, claims come back denied. Resubmitting a fixed claim denial with the correct information can take weeks for review and approval on the other end. In addition, this puts a delay in not only payment from insurance but also slows down the payment received from the patient. 

Medical billing errors add up quickly. Before you know it, your medical practice is starting to lose money rather than gain. However, by utilizing an experienced team of specialized medical billers and coders who are knowledgeable in various medical codes and trends, you can rest assured that things are being handled properly behind the scenes while you and your medical team can take care of patients upfront. 

Give Your Patients the Experience They Deserve

Even during a normal health care checkup, a patient’s anxiety can be high. Therefore, having a warm welcome can make all the difference in starting the patient’s experience off on the right foot within your medical practice. 

Allow our team to handle the billing and coding services behind the scenes so that your front office staff, along with other members of your medical team, can focus on the patients walking through your door and providing them with the best experience possible! 

Remember, happy patients will not only return. The chances are high that they will bring friends! 

Discover how our team at MEREM Healthcare Solutions in Birmingham, AL, can help your medical practice avoid medical billing and coding errors. 

Merem Healthcare Solutions offers services for every step in a practice’s revenue cycle management. We can start from the beginning from credentialing and end with payment posting once an account has been satisfied. We offer a wide range of solutions which include auditing, billing, coding, consulting, credentialing, payment posting, practice management, and pre-collections training. Check us out on our website or feel free to call us to see how we can help run your practice like a well-oiled machine – (205) 329-7519.

The post Outsource to Avoid Medical Billing and Coding Errors! appeared first on MEREM Health.

Therefore, while we don’t want to take away from the amazing work of physicians, nurses, front desk employees, etc., our team at MEREM Healthcare Solutions also wants to make sure medical billers and coders receive the recognition they deserve for the critical role they play within the healthcare industry.

What Do Medical Billers and Coders Do?

While your patients might not see them during their visit to your medical practice, medical billers and coders are there every step of the way—from the initial examination to diagnostic tests to the overall treatment of the patient. Medical billers and coders are responsible for translating the entire patient visit into special ICD-10 codes for proper billing.

But, before you start thinking, “How hard can that be?” did you know there are more than 140,000 ICD-codes? And each ICD-10 code has its own purpose. For instance, there isn’t just one code for “pain.” Rather, there is one ICD-10 code for pain in the arm that is unspecified. Then, there is another code for low back pain, and so on and so forth.

Not only is it vital for these specific codes to be known, but it is also vital that they are used correctly, as one wrong code entry could cause a delay in billing and payment, which can hurt a medical practice’s profitability.

The Unsung Heroes – Off-Site or Outsourced Medical Billers and Coders

Although some medical practices try to utilize their front office staff to assist with the medical coding and billing of patients, this practice of sharing responsibilities is not as conducive for the profitability of the medical practice as outsourcing the billing and coding to a third party.

For example, a patient walks into your medical practice. Depending on your specialty, your patient might already be high-anxiety. When they walk in, the front desk person isn’t able to welcome them warmly because he or she is on hold with an insurance company. All the patient has done at this point, is walk into your practice, and everything is already off on the wrong foot.

However, if your medical practice outsourced your medical billing and coding, not only can you reduce your chances of errors when it comes to cash flow, you can also allow your front office staff and medical team to focus directly on the patient, which can both improve patient outcomes and patients reviews—which is a win-win!

Discover how our team at MEREM Healthcare Solutions in Birmingham, AL, can help your medical practice avoid medical billing and coding errors.

Merem Healthcare Solutions offers services for every step in a practice’s revenue cycle management. We can start from the beginning from credentialing and end with payment posting once an account has been satisfied. In addition to outsourced medical billing and coding, we offer a wide range of solutions which include auditing, consulting, credentialing, payment posting, practice management, and pre-collections training. Check out our website or feel free to call us at (205) 329-7519 to see how we can help run your practice like a well-oiled machine.

The post Don’t underestimate the integral role medical billers and coders play in the healthcare industry appeared first on MEREM Health.

Below, the medical billing and coding experts at MEREM Healthcare Solutions have provided five of the most effective responses you should take when handling a claim adjustment.

5 Effective Responses to Common Claim Adjustments

Prove Medical Necessity

Sometimes claims are denied because they have been deemed medically unnecessary. In this case, you may need to submit additional information to prove that the service was medically necessary.

For example, if a person who has lost a lot of weight has surgery to have their excess sagging skin removed, the claim may be denied as cosmetic surgery which isn’t medically necessary. However, if the physician were to provide evidence that the excess skin was causing chaffing and irritation which led to an infection, it then becomes clear that this was a surgery of medical necessity.

What if a Service Isn’t Covered?

If you have a claim denied because the service, such as a weight loss plan, isn’t covered by the payer, don’t adjust the claim. These claims are to be billed to the patient that received the service. If you adjust the claim, then you are providing the service free of charge. The responsible party for a service that isn’t covered is the patient, not the physician.

No Prior Authorization

If you have a claim denied due to not receiving prior authorization, the first thing you need to do is check with the office to make sure they didn’t actually receive prior authorization. If they did, simply add the code and re-file the claim on the CMS 1500 form.

If a prior authorization was not obtained, see if the payer accepts retro-authorizations. They may not, but it never hurts try.

Filing Late

Timely filing denials are a common occurrence when resubmitting a claim that was previously denied. The way to counteract this problem is to be sure that, when you file a corrected claim, you include the payer’s previous claim number that was issued on the denial so that they will see that the original claim was filed in a timely manner and you won’t be denied.

Duplicate Claims

Sometimes when a bilateral procedure is billed on two lines, the payer may incorrectly assume that it is a duplicate. The release of ICD-10, cleared up some of this confusion thanks to the new codes that identify which side of the body a procedure was performed.

Until then, you must resubmit your claim with the correct information and let the payer know that the claim was actually for two separate procedures.

Get Your Claims Adjustments Managed By Medical Billing and Coding Experts!

These examples are just a few of the reasons you could receive a claims adjustment. There are many others including bundling and coding errors.

If you want to take the guesswork out of medical billing, saving your practice or hospital valuable time and money, then turn to MEREM Healthcare Solutions, your team of medical billing and coding experts!

Contact the professionals at MEREM Healthcare Solutions today to learn more about outsourcing medical billing and coding services for your medical practice.

The post How You Can Effectively Handle Claims Adjustments appeared first on MEREM Health.

Fee schedules are getting reduced every year. This means if you’re not on top of your patient collections at all times, revenue will be lost.

At MEREM Healthcare Solutions, one thing we know for sure is that poor revenue cycle management can be disastrous for a practice. The codes required for obtaining maximum revenue payout for billing medical claims are constantly changing, which brings numerous challenges for coders in an already busy practice. The coding and reimbursement landscape continues to change.

Impacts of High Deductible Health Plans

Due to patients having more responsibility for their healthcare costs, High-deductible health plans have a significant impact on your bottom line, from patient collections to bad debt.

You must also add in additional labor costs for the time required for your staff to focus on the collections side. Your billing process can no longer be something that gets a couple of hours of attention a day, it will constantly evolve and requires a dedicated staff or team to file and consistently work claims as well as dedicate additional time speaking with patients to discuss coverage and out-of-pocket costs.

Medical Billing and Coding – Let MEREM Health Help

With the increasing prevalence of High Deductible Health Plans and other aggressive patient cost-sharing models, it has never been more important to the financial health of your practice to have an efficient patient pre-collections program in place.

With a typical Medical Billing company, their patient collection efforts only go as far as issuing statements and generating “bad debt” reports of accounts that need to be turned over to collections. However,  we have found that when accounts reach this point, less than 50% of these balances are ever recovered.

At MEREM Healthcare Solutions, we work with our client partners to develop a Patient “Pre-Collections” strategy that is both aggressive and fair. We work with your front office staff and management to develop a Point-of-Service (POS) collections process to effectively collect more money up-front.

Additionally, you will have the added support of a dedicated medical billing team and a patient collections representative. Our patient collections reps work diligently to collect patient balances in full or to make payment arrangements within 90 days and will help you identify and transmit delinquent accounts to a third-party collections agency of your choice.

Contact Us today to learn more about our Patient Pre-Collections Services.

Patient Pre-Collections Solutions

Our Patient Pre-Collections Solutions include:

• 20 hours of consultant time to develop your customized solution
• Statements and collection letter processing
• Managing payment plan list to ensure patients meet their terms
• Running auto-dial lists to notify patients with delinquent accounts
• Aggressive follow-up on past-due surgical balances
• Custom reports to aid in POS collection efforts
• Diligent management of third-party collections accounts
• Ongoing support from our patient collection reps and management consultants

Request an Assessment of your patient AR to see how much money you could be leaving on the table! Contact MEREM Health at (205) 329-7519 or click here to send us an email.  We look forward to hearing from you!

MEREM Health provides exceptional collections and medical billing, coding and credentialing services for specialty physician practices, urgent cares, and diagnostic imaging centers. Take advantage of our medical billing and coding expertise today!

The post Significant Impacts of HDHP on Your Medical Practice appeared first on MEREM Health.

How Do You Determine
The Best Fit For Your Practice?

Have you struggled with choosing an outsourced Medical Billing Company?  Is your medical practice overwhelmed with the paperwork of billing and coding?

If you have outsourced your revenue cycle management process, how did you know that the outsourced medical billing and coding services company you are working with was the right fit for your practice? 

With a reputable billing and coding service, physicians can stop focusing on billing issues and get to what’s important: the patient.

Outsourcing your medical billing and coding to a professional healthcare solution company is advantageous for a number of reasons. Understanding what to look for is essential when choosing a company to outsource your medical coding. 

Check out the list below provided by MEREM Healthcare Solutions for the top the things to consider before choosing the best medical billing and coding company for your practice.

Are you still unsure about outsourcing your medical billing and coding? If so, check out our latest article,

“Should You Outsource Your Medical Coding? Yes!”

How Much Is the Medical Billing and Coding Company Willing to Do for You?

Looking for the best fit?  The best medical billing and coding companies perform above the industry average. The most basic medical billing company will provide:

• claim submission,
• carrier follow up,
• payment posting and processing,
• patient invoicing,
• and collections.

You’ll want to seek out and choose a medical billing and coding company that delivers more than the basics. Ask about their specific performance metrics, including net collection ratio, days outstanding, denial/rejection rate and the average number of days in accounts receivable (AR).

For many practices to even consider outsourcing, patient follow-up is key. If a patient fails to pay, you should expect that the billing company you are outsourcing these matters to will pursue that debt, right? Unfortunately, some will not.

Also, does the billing company provide frequent and detailed analytics and reporting to help your practice recognize what they can do to grow? Or do they just provide a bank statement once a month?

Any company that you are considering to partner with should be transparent about the services that they will deliver in order to help you determine which is the best fit for your practice. Choose a company that goes above and beyond the basic credentials. You also want to find an outsourced solution working within your specialty field of medicine.

Choose Experience And Specialty Expertise

When choosing a medical billing company, experience matters. After all, experience can ensure a smooth, problem-free onboarding process.

The number of years a company has been in business matters, but it’s not the only consideration. You also want to look for a company that has worked for a sizable number of years in your particular specialty. This ensures that they fully understand your field and have more intimate knowledge of the specific requirements for medical coding, documentation, compliance, etc. related to your specialty—whether it’s Advanced Imaging and Radiology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, or Gastroenterology.

Perhaps they have only been open for three years, but those three years were spent learning the specific, highly-detailed ins and outs of your specialty. Ask your prospective medical billing companies the following questions before you commit.

• How many years of experience do you have working in your area of expertise and in our area of medicine?
• How many clients in that specialty do you currently have?
• What size practices are you used to managing?

The answers to these questions will help you to weed out the companies who aren’t a good fit and can help ease your mind about partnering with an outsourced healthcare solution that is ready and able to seamlessly take on your practice’s medical billing and coding.

Discuss Technology… The Good and Bad

Technological advances have made for some fancy billing software. Find out what type of software the billing company is using. Does the company understand the full usage of the software? What kind of software education and procedures are in place for their employees?

Your practice wants to ensure there is not a violation of HIPAA privacy rules. A loss of data would most likely shut down your medical practice. Be sure your paperwork is safe and private by asking: 

• How does the medical billing company go about sharing your patient’s data?
• Is there a backup plan in place in case a security breach is made or the system fails? 

At the end of the day, it is essential that you ask all the right questions to ensure that you are getting a full-service medical billing and coding company that can properly handle your practice’s needs. 

Looking for the Best Medical Billing and Coding Services?

Turn to MEREM Healthcare Solutions. Get a free quote and learn more about our uniquely designed support system for revenue cycle and operations management needs. At MEREM, we don’t just provide services, we deliver solutions. 

No matter the size, healthcare organizations need a strategic partner and that is what we are here to provide. Let us help you save time and ensure proper coding for all your medical billing needs. You will feel the difference through the level of dedication and commitment we provide to our clients.

The post Finding the Right Fit appeared first on MEREM Health.

If you could relieve stress on your medical team, as well as improve the profitability of your medical practice tomorrow, what steps would you take? We invite you to take time and consider how outsourcing your medical billing solutions could impact your practice.

Why Should You Outsource Your Medical Billing?

Relinquishing control of any aspect of your medical practice can be hard.

Our team at MEREM Healthcare Solutions understands the desire to be in control of the medical billing. But wouldn’t you rather have your healthcare team be less stressed while also knowing that payments are getting handled efficiently so that your profit margins are where they should be?

Let’s take a look at three reasons why you should really consider outsourcing your medical billing.

1. Your Dollars and Your Time Will Be Spent More Wisely

How much are you currently paying in overtime? Is your front office team working more on keying in information and handling insurance companies than spending with patients who walk in the door?

As a medical practice, you want your patients to feel welcomed and cared for as soon as they call your office or walk in the door. However, that is difficult for front office staff to handle as they juggle phone calls and if they are on constant hold with insurance companies.

By outsourcing your medical billing processes, you can obtain a knowledgeable and experienced team who stays up-to-date on the latest CMS changes. MEREM Healthcare Solutions can handle your medical billing needs while your healthcare team focuses on something more important—your patients.

2. Your Claims Will Be Processed Faster

Medical practices are no different than any other business. It needs cash flow in order to run and operate. Therefore, the last thing your medical practice needs is coding errors, late payments, insurance denials, etc., to impend on your operations budget and slow down your medical practice’s ability to turn a profit and run proficiently.

By outsourcing your medical billing to MEREM Healthcare Solutions, our professionals are able to streamline and speed up your medical billing process of efficiently filing claims while also reducing billing and coding errors. As a result, you are paid faster because these errors don’t occur, and many claims do not have to be re-processed.

Time is money. In fact, when medical billing processes are completed correctly, a claim can be reimbursed as fast as 7-14 days! How great would that be for your medical practice’s bottom line?

3. Your Patients Will Be Happier

Depending on the reason for their visit, patients can be nervous or anxious about their visit even before they set foot in your medical practice. This is especially true for our Ambulatory Surgical Centers and Advanced Imaging/Radiology clients.

When you outsource the time-consuming office tasks, your medical team is able to really focus on your patients and improve your patients’ experience by having more time to answering all questions and keeping them comfortable. When your patients are happy with their experience, you are able to see a faster return on billing collections and you will receive more positive patient feedback since your focus in on the patient and the quality of care you are providing is at the optimal level.

Discover how our team at MEREM Healthcare Solutions can help your medical practice.

Isn’t it time you give-away the paperwork so that you can get back to why you got into the medical field in the first place? Allow our team to handle your medical billing processes so that you can provide the quality care you desire for your patients!

Merem Healthcare Solutions, in Birmingham, AL, offers services for every step in a practice’s revenue cycle management. We can start from the beginning from credentialing and end with payment posting once an account has been satisfied. We offer a wide range of solutions which include auditing, billing, coding, consulting, credentialing, payment posting, practice management, and pre-collections training. Check us out on our website or on social media.

Feel free to call us to see how we can help you run your practice like a well-oiled machine. Call MEREM Healthcare Solutions today at (205) 329-7519.

The post Benefits of outsourcing your medical billing processes appeared first on MEREM Health.

If there is one thing we understand at MEREM Healthcare Solutions, it ‘s practice profitability. We’ve been working to improve the revenue cycle for orthopedic doctors a long time, and we want to share some of the revenue cycle setbacks they’ve overcome.

We know from experience that so much income goes overlooked and undiscovered when it comes to medical billing and coding. However, there could be other revenue cycle components going on too.

When MEREM Healthcare Solutions was founded, we began by working with orthopedic healthcare executives as a solution to their on-going billing and coding problems. We’ve been working with orthopedic doctors and specialty health care clinics, and we have identified three obstacles that have helped them increase revenue and improve their practice performance over the years.

Bottom line: We want you to have a more profitable orthopedic practice and we can help you do that.

Could Your Orthopedic Practice Be Losing  Revenue?

Here are three common reasons why orthopedic practices lose money and 3 simple solutions that MEREM Health offers to make practices more profitable.

Reason 1.

High Volume Doesn’t Always Translate to Higher Revenue

We’ve learned that orthopedic surgeons are trained to think that the more surgeries they perform and the more patients they see, the more money they earn; however, this isn’t always true.

It is all about your RVUs. It is hard to keep the practice running on hammer toes or debridements.

• What if you are just missing out on RVUs due to your dictations?
• What does your payer mix look like? If all of your surgeries are being performed on Medicaid patients or a commercial payer with lower reimbursements than your revenue is sure to be lower than expected.

Solution: It is important to have certified coders experienced in Orthopedics reviewing each and every op report and office visit note.

At MEREM Healthcare Solutions, all of our coding staff are certified by the AAPC with years of Orthopedic experience. Many have been recognized for their specialty coding expertise through AAPC specialty certifications including COSC (Orthopedic Surgery). Additionally, we have a staff of practice consultants that can help you review your payer mix through a Revenue Cycle Audit and offer unique solutions for your orthopedic practice to maximize your time in the OR and in the clinic.

Reason 2.

Claims Consistently Denied Due to Inaccuracy

Billing is directly tied to your profitability. Income needs to consistently flow into the practice, which means your coding needs to be correct.

When there are mistakes in the billing and coding processes it could hold up claims for a long period of time. Even the best medical coders can make mistakes and, if they are overwhelmed, much can go overlooked.

Solution: Perform audits on a regular basis. When was your last coding audit?

Medical auditing can provide areas of improvement for your coding staff. Even well-trained staff can make mistakes. An audit can recognize under coding, bad unbundling habits, and code overuse. Once a coding audit is complete, your medical coding staff will then be able to bill appropriately for documented procedures.

Interested in A FREE tool to help you improve your current revenue process. 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.

Reason 3.

Inefficiency Due to Performing Too Many Procedures Outside of Your Specialty

More patients don’t always equate to more profits as we have already determined. If you’re performing surgeries you don’t specialize in, you’re likely to be much less inefficient with your time. This is where ultra-specialization comes into play.

Solution: Focus specifically on doing and being known for the procedures you are best at and refer out or perhaps join-in with other surgeons who specialize in other procedures.

Also, as you become more profitable and your practice grows, MEREM Healthcare Solutions can also help with credentialing any new provider enrollments with payors in your network and hospital privileging. Medical Credentialing is one area of the revenue cycle process where mistakes can cost your practice 10’s of thousands of dollars just by overlooking one letter or notice. Common credentialing errors cause scheduling delays, fluctuation in the revenue cycle, and much more. It’s important to take the appropriate amount of time necessary for credentialing, instead of waiting a month before a new physician arrives.

Let Us Handle Your Billing and Coding Needs

The day-to-day operation of running a busy orthopedic practice comes with many different challenges:

• Keeping up with appointments,
• Creating a reliable staff,
• And monitoring the expenses of running your practice.

We can take at least one thing off of your long-running list of day-to-day concerns AND make sure your practice remains profitable. Our team of professional coders and billers have the exact experience you need and we happen to specialize in orthopedics and surgery. Call MEREM Health today for a quote (205) 329-7519 or contact us to request a consultation.

MEREM Healthcare Solutions provides exceptional medical billing, coding and credentialing services to orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine physicians, hospitals, and outpatient centers. Take advantage of our coding expertise today!

Schedule Your Free Revenue Cycle Audit Today!

The post Three Reasons Orthopedic Surgeons Lose Revenue appeared first on MEREM Health.

Below, our professional biller and coders have provided some information about the benefits of outsourcing your medical billing and coding.

Medical Coding and Billing Services – Why Outsource?

One reason to outsource your medical coding and billing is that it frees you and your staff up to care for your patients.

When your staff are rushed because you’re clinic is busy or running behind, it is easy to make mistakes. Your patients will be taken care of more effectively at your practice with billing and coding taken off of your staff’s plate. Outsourcing this time critical solution to our certified medical billers and coders will be able to dedicate their time fully to coding and following up on unpaid claims, resulting in more claims being processed in a timely manner with fewer errors.

Accountability for Coding Errors

The CMS modify codes on a quarterly and annual basis. Incorrect coding, or miscoding, is likely for any medical practice that does not implement ongoing CPT code training for their medical coders.  Medical coding errors may lead to major delays in payment reimbursements and payer audits, which hurts your practice. Failure to provide correct coding can cause these payments to be delayed, denied, or limited.

MEREM Healthcare Solutions has found that an alarming majority of claims are rejected or denied upon initial submission. The reimbursement for denied claims depends on a practice’s efforts for correcting and resubmitting claim denials. You can avoid this problem by outsourcing your medical coding to certified professionals who have already become familiar with the new coding system and pursue ongoing training for relevant CPT code changes that directly affect our practice specialties.

When practices utilize outsourced medical coding solutions,

1. fewer mistakes are made
2. better care is given to patients
3. and billing cycles run smoothly.

Certified Coders Do More Than Just Submit Claims

It’s not uncommon for people to have multiple insurance companies. A professional, certified coder will make sure that each claim is submitted properly. Our expert coders have the correct software and expertise necessary to submit claims to all of the responsible payers while staying compliant with CMS and payer guidelines.

If any of your claims are denied, our billers can also handle the appeal process. Outsourcing your medical coding will ensure your revenue cycle is always running as smoothly as possible. (Did you know in-house medical coding costs more? Outsource!)

Ready to Outsource Your Medical Coding?

MEREM Healthcare Solutions, located in Birmingham, Alabama offers medical coding, billing, and revenue cycle management services to clients across the nation.

We are familiar with all of the ICD-10 and ongoing CPT changes upheld by CMS and MEREM Health will provide you with superior service for a fraction of the cost of our competitors! Contact MEREM Health today or request a FREE revenue cycle audit to find out how your medical coding can be enhanced with our dedicated expert medical coding team.

The post Should You Outsource Medical Coding? Yes! appeared first on MEREM Health.