Physical therapy practices generally arenât very large or heavily staffed, however, the most common way medical billing for physical therapy is handled is in-house, with existing staff. This is often because the providers operating small and mid-sized practices believe there are benefits to keeping billing in-house where it can be manually managed.
However, in practice, this is rarely the case, and frequently the opposite is exactly what happens. More time and money are spent on billing, chasing claims and denials, and following up on collections, that would have been better spent boosting care and attention for patients. One of the most effective ways to prevent this from happening is to use outsourced medical billing services for physical therapists.Â
Partnering with a company that specializes in medical billing for physical therapy can provide a laundry list of benefits that will help your practice generate more revenue, reduce cost waste, and focus more on patient services. Additionally, it can significantly reduce the staffing, training, and compliance workload that many practices experience an increased need for while growing. Here is more information about why you may want to consider partnering with an expert local medical billing company.
Comprehensive Medical Billing For Physical Therapy
AMS Solutions employs a large team of medical billing experts that we keep thoroughly trained and focused on a particular area of specialty. This not only allows them to remain among the most highly-trained billing specialists in the industry, but it also allows for seamless compliance with regulations and payor requirements. AMS is heavily invested in guiding our coders and billers to be at the peak of compliance and accurate processes.Â
When you outsource medical billing, your practice will be given a billing solution that fits its needs. You will be assigned either an individual or a team to handle your billing and coding tasks. The experts you work with, however, will understand the bigger picture of physical therapy and will be able to help manage the specific challenges presented by physical therapy practices.Â
One of the biggest challenges in maintaining billing and coding on-site is the staff needed to maintain effective billing and collections, as well as the pay and benefits of any other employee. By outsourcing your billing and coding to medical billing services for physical therapists the practice can leverage the cost as a service. Additionally, you wonât have to worry about constantly making sure theyâre trained to current regulatory and compliance standards, since AMS will make sure that is all taken care of.Â
Major Benefits Of Outsourcing Medical Billing Services For Physical Therapists
There are countless benefits that the average small to medium-sized physical therapy practice could see, depending on the unique situation of the practice and its specific challenges. This list wonât be exhaustive, but it will provide some insight into what most providers can expect to see when moving to a billing service.Â
Increased Focus On The Patient
When billing and coding are handled by in-house staff they must reduce the focus on their standard patient duties, which is counterintuitive for a business that exists to help people. Outsourcing your physical therapy medical billing can reduce the amount of time that local staff spends performing clerical or administrative duties. By taking this important task off of their plate, local staff are able to give much more attention to patients, creating a far better level of care than they would have experienced before.
Higher Patient Satisfaction Levels
One of the natural results of increasing the focus on the patient and providing better overall care is that patient satisfaction will begin to rise. This benefit can be seen from the very day that the practice switches from in-house billing to a billing service, as employees will instantly have more time to dedicate to patient care. AMS can handle your billing, as well as customer service and billing questions that may come up with patients. This leads to better rates of satisfaction, more referrals, more appointments, and increased revenue.
Lower Administrative Burden
A major downside to keeping coding and billing assigned in-house is that the team that often manages the billing is a team made up of other office staff that has other duties they need to focus on for much of the time. Coding, billing, and keeping the revenue cycle short requires significant administrative work. On top of all of the regular administrative workload that is generated by the job of billing, there is the need to track claims, correct errors and resubmit denied payments, and even manage collections on past-due payments.Â
Fewer Billing Errors
Medical billing is a complex and detail-driven field, and even those who are properly trained can make errors, and errors in billing mean the claim can get denied and therefore wonât be paid. Errors can skyrocket when in-house employees canât devote the necessary attention to create error-free billing. Partnering with AMS Solutions means all of your claims will be completed and submitted on time, free of errors, so your chances of claim rejection drop drastically. Fewer rejections mean a shorter revenue cycle and healthier books.
Increased Revenue
When smaller medical practices like physical therapy providers begin to use a medical billing company, there is often an immediate revenue increase of at least 10% and up to 30% or more in some cases. Not only is your billing more effective and error-free, but your staff isnât preoccupied with administrative tasks, so they are able to focus more on the patients. Increased focus means more patients can be seen in a day, which means more claims submitted, and more revenue generated. Reducing the cost of keeping the billing in-house can also lead to a rise in the profitability ratio.
Effortless Compliance
When in-house personnel need to be out of the office for several days for professional development or training, not only are they not there to do their job, but someone else will often have to help, impacting at least two positions and their duties. When you partner with a medical billing service for physical therapists, like AMS Solutions, you let us handle all of the training and compliance, so that you can focus on treating your patients.
Data Security
Healthcare providers are the biggest target of cybercriminals and one of the largest potential sources for personal data leaks and breaches. Personal confidential data is the most valuable type of data, and there is a large amount of it in medical records and billing claims. Keeping this data secure while billing in-house can be challenging, but an experienced medical billing company will have the processes in place to keep that data secure while also preventing bottlenecks to your billing and revenue cycle. Additionally, making sure you are using a leading billing service can reduce the potential for HIPAA regulation violations.
Partner With AMS Solutions For Premium Physical Therapy Billing
If you operate or perform administration for a small to a midsize physical therapist, making sure your billing is submitted quickly and without errors is one of the most important ways to keep the practice healthy. Save your practice considerable amounts of money, time, and effort by contacting our Texas medical billing company today to discuss your organizationâs needs and how we can help you meet them.