Medical Billing Outsourcing » Medical billing and coding

VA, Kaiser Permanente invite veterans to pilot program

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:08:38 +0000

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and healthcare nonprofit organization Kaiser Permanente recently announced a pilot program designed to exchange EHR information using the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) created by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

This initial pilot is planned to begin in mid-December 2009.

“Utilizing the NHIN’s standards and network will allow organizations like the VA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to partner with private sector healthcare providers to promote care for Veterans,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki.

Last week, the VA and Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente sent a joint invitation letter to veterans in the San Diego area who receive care from both institutions to participate in this pilot program.

The pilot program connects Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect and the VA’s EHR system, VistA.

The program puts the highest priority on patient privacy and data security, and no exchange of information will occur without the explicit permission of the individual patient. Patient information will not be shared without first obtaining their consent.

The VA, DoD and HHS have been working closely to create a system that will modernize the way healthcare is delivered and benefits are administered. DoD will be included in the next phase of the pilot program in early 2010.

Above article published http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=19731:va-kaiser-permanente-invite-veterans-to-pilot-program

Electronic Medical Billing Save Money by Improving Office Procedures

admin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:56:32 +0000

Electronic medical billing makes life easier and collections more successful in a medical practice. Questions about medical bills can be answered before the bill becomes past due because of quicker response times. Complicated payment procedure for insurance companies will no longer overwhelm a billing office.

The increased productivity in billing can be directly linked to the different kinds of medical billing software. Client server (CS) and application service providers (ASP) make up two types. Management of a client server requires configuration, back up, restoration, and upgrades after it is initially installed. In addition it consists of a central server and terminals linked to a local network. For these reasons client servers are usually more expensive.

Application service providers assure the latest in technology. The central server is located with the vendor, and data is exchanged via the internet. This minimizes time needed for troubleshooting and downtime. Electronic medical billing training can also be conducted online. The vendor is responsible for managing the technology, recovery, restoration, installations, and upgrades.

Post-payment audits by insurance investigators are less frequent with electronic medical billing. Increased cash flows come with more accurate and easy billing. Cost and productivity savings, including fewer clerical errors reduced office workload, and improved coding come with electronic billing. And electronic billing software offers benefits such as compliance requirements, financial and work flow controls, and accurate procedure coding for patients.

Many medical offices choose application service providers instead of local client servers because IT staff and equipment expenses aren’t necessary. Yet further reasons for choosing application service providers are because of greater flexibility. The lack of equipment to install means the system is faster to implement, and the training of necessary personnel can be done online.

Electronic medical billing makes the billing process accurate and less susceptible to penalties. Built-in compliance protection prevents electronic billing software from committing fraudulent billing or coding practices or issuing duplicate bills. Federal and state enforcement agencies have brought legal action against medical billing offices. For this reason the compliance protection feature is crucial in the event that a post-payment audit triggers suspicion and causes a penalty to be accessed. Proper billing procedures and post payment audits are much easier.

Since technology often becomes outdated every three years the replacement costs of a client server needs to be considered. There are tax advantages to purchasing the client server equipment, but these may be offset by the reduced front end cash flow. An application service provider will charge a monthly service fee, but this is small compared to the sizable upfront investment needed to purchase a client server.

Electronic medical billing is a cost effective way to increase cash flow and guarantee billing compliance. Once you have decided on electronic billing, the next step is to choose which methods best suits your office. Both client servers and application service providers are a great way to get electronic billing onto your office

Above article published on

http://ezinearticles.com/?Electronic-Medical-Billing-Save-
Money-by-Improving-Office-Procedures&id=2421041

Outsource Medical Billing Services

admin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:06:26 +0000

The process of collecting fees for medical services is called medical billing. The medical bill which is issued by the physician is said to be a claim. Medical billing may be handled directly by the physician and his or her staff, or it may be administered by a third party. The third party is an independent contractor or company that specializes in handling medical billing. Once the patient service is complete, the respective staff begins preparing the claims and send to the physician or to a third party for billing. After accepting the patient’s signature as assignment of benefits, the claims are sent to process to receive the payment directly from the insurance company. This set of process is called medical billing.

Medical billing provides detailed information of Medical Billing, Medical Billing Software, medical billing services and more. Medical billing is affiliated with medical coding certification. Medical Billing services include the customer/physician in its process. Medical billing services saves time, resources and reduces rejected claims. Medical billing services include patient demographic entry, charge entry, claims submission, payment posting and reconciliation. Key benefits of medical billing are improved cash-flow, faster payments, and higher customer satisfaction. The benefits of medical billing outsourcing include less paperwork and lower employee cost, minimized error and faster revenue receives. For minimized error the perfect audition is done by the supervisor. After the approval of supervisor the claims are sent to the process of revenue. One of the major advantage of medical billing outsourcing is it assists the physicians in saving money through payroll generation, equipment reduction, elimination of postage, and with software service support. Outsourcing to a professional billing company frees you from administration problems. One of the important things has to be noted is while choosing the medical billing outsourcing the costs varies directly with the medical billing.

If the medical billing drops, the cost drops. So the usage of medical billing outsourcing is very consistent to change medical billing expenses from a fixed cost to a variable cost and to improve the ability to manage our business. A medical billing firm gives the detailed information that need to successfully negotiate a contract with a malpractice insurance carrier. The benefits of medical billing outsourcing include less paperwork and lower employee cost, minimized error and faster revenue receives. For minimized error the wonderful audition is done by the supervisor. After the sanction of supervisor the claims are sent to the process of revenue. One of the major advantage of medical billing outsourcing is it assists the physicians in saving money through payroll generation, equipment reduction, elimination of postage, and with software service support.

Outsourcing is made in the concern of minoring firm, conserving energy directed at the competencies of a particular business and resources. Most of the U.S. companies are outsourcing information technology and services to offshore locations to reduce costs and take benefits of global skills. Managers want to know which jobs are more conductive to global disaggregation. Outsourcing engages the relocate of the management and day-to-day execution of a complete business role to an external service provider. Outsourcing services in the companies are customer support and call center functions like market research, web development, engineering, ghostwriting, cad drafting, customer service, telemarketing, and content writing.

Above article published on http://www.articleclick.com/Article/outsource-medical-billing-services/1063269