“Should I outsource my chiropractic medical billing?”
“Is itcheaper to outsource chiropractic billing?”
The question of whether to outsource chiropractic billing operations or keep the process in-house weighs heavily on chiropractic practices. First of all, insurance billing is the pillar of success for any growing practice and also one of the most complicated. Before we move forward, it’s important to know when most practices outsource their billing process. A doctor of chiropractic opens a new practice and brings staff members on board to manage the administrative tasks. But as the practice grows, the staff has to devote more time to stay on top of patient care and practice management. Whether you’re managing it yourself or hired a biller to do it, in-house billing turns out to be a time-consuming and costly endeavor as your patient volume grows. Why? When practices manage billing operations in-house, they need to make sure they can cover expenses like payroll or per hour charges of the biller, purchase the right chiropractic billing software, register with a financial institution and clearinghouse, stay up to date with billing/coding changes, and so much more. A chiropractic practice earning more than $50,000 in a year has the option to outsource billing to a managed billing services company. By outsourcing billing, they can avoid costly expenses, avoid worrying about staffing billers, and reduce stress. The best way to decide whether you should manage your billing process in-house or consider outsourcing to a managed billing service provider is to look into these factors
What is the size of your staff
What is the skill level of your staff in billing
Your budget for managing in billing operations
Your average daily patient volume
State of your practice’s finances
Let’s discuss the differences between in-house and outsourced chiropractic billing, so you can decide which is right for your practice.
Pros and Cons of In-House Billing
A. Pros of In-House Billing
1. Direct Oversight over Financial Processes
If you appreciate having hands-on control of financial operations, then in-house billing is right for your practice. If you’ve already hired billing staff who is knowledgeable and experienced with billing software, that’s another reason for keeping it under your roof.
2. More Flexibility
Whether you want to change the billing process, improve the coding practices, or introduce new payment methods, it is easier to pass on
instructions to the billing team working in-house and execute procedures with greater flexibility.
B. Cons of In-House Billing
1. More Expensive
With in-house billing, you need to hire an experienced coder and biller, purchase technology systems and equipment, pay the biller’s salary, and cover employee benefits and training costs. They can add up more than what is commonly paid to a managed billing company.
2. Liabilities
If practice owners don’t keep a stringent eye on their billing department, chances of seeing their liabilities go up increase due to many reasons, such as general employee neglect and unappealed claim denials.
3. Full-Time Support Not Available
If you’ve a part-time biller, it will be difficult to manage your billing operations because you may not get full-time support when needed. Even
with full-time billing staff, problems might arise when one employee takes a leave of absence or quits altogether. Training new billing staff at your own expense is a waste of time and resources. Practice owners and providers will face challenges in maintaining an optimal quality of carewhile managing the administrative tasks, billing, staffing, and other daily operations.
Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Billing
A. Pros of Outsourcing Billing
1. Save Money
The complexity of onsite billing can cost chiropractic practices more money than it’s worth when compared to outsourcing the revenue cycle management process. Outsourcing your billing operations is a cost-effective option that can greatly increase revenue and return on investment for growing practices. For instance, if you collect $10,000 per month from insurance companies and the billing services provider charges 5% of the total collection, you will only have to pay $500/month to the billing company. However, you might end up paying more to your part-time or full-time biller when handling billing in-house.
2. Save Time
When billing is done internally, then providers will have to get involved in most of the claims and billing processes. This might consume some of
your time, resulting in less focus on patient care. Outsourcing your billing practice lets you focus on patients rather than stressing about overhead
expenses, liabilities, and support issues.
3. Experienced Billing Professionals
Chiropractic billing companies have expert billers and coders who have years of combined experience in processing claims, posting payments,
managing denials and rejections, follow-ups, appeals, and more. When you hire a chiropractic billing company, they focus on only one thing that is billing & collecting revenue for your practice. When you keep your billing in-house, you’ll need to make sure that your staff is properly trained in how to code claims and submit them to insurance companies. Chiropractic billing companies work extensively with insurance companies and clearinghouse and know what needs to be done to ensure that your claims are paid. They closely work with you to ensure your coding is accurate, claims are submitted on time, resubmit claims, and follow-up with insurance companies when required.
4. Greater Transparency and Control
A managed billing services provider shares with you a comprehensive report every week or when you request it. You gain unparalleled visibility into your billing operations, even each claim. You don’t have to spend time micro managing your billing staff. Robust reporting and dedicated teams mean that outsourcing billing offers the same level of control or even a higher level of control when you compare it with in-house
billing.
B. Cons of Outsourcing Billing
1. Variable Cost
Generally, billing service fees from outsourced companies are based on a percentage of collection. When you might have to pay higher during
the busy months and less in passive months. If you hire a billing company like zHealth that charges a lower percentage of the total monthly collection, you can ensure more profits both during busy and passive months.
2. Finding the Right Billing Company
When you outsource your billing, it is recommended to do your due diligence to ensure that the billing company you choose has experienced billing specialists, offers the flexibility you need, and charges a lower percentage of the total collection. Make sure the company is up-to-date on all coding changes and updates. If you find it difficult to find the right billing company, try asking these 10 questions to evaluate a chiropractic billing services provider.
Conclusion
Chiropractic practices that have planned to improve their billing process in 2022 and increase their flow of revenue may find that outsourced billing operations meets their needs better and is more cost-effective compared to keeping it in-house. If you’re still not sure what is the right option for your practice, we’d be happy to showcase what a dedicated billing team can do for you. Contact us to discuss your billing concerns.
Next read:
5 Chiropractic Medical Billing Strategies to Boost Your Monthly Revenue
