The Need For Medical Billing
Doctors are being swamped under a mountain of insurance claim paperwork, confused by constantly changing insurance regulations and frustrated by long delays in payments and high claim rejections rates.
To most doctors there seems no way out but to keep training staff, working long hours and hoping that the money comes in on time. Well, at last there is a light at the end of the tunnel and a way out of the never-ending cycle. That help comes in the form of you and Electronic Medical Claims Processing. You could be the solution to the doctor's medical claims filing problems.
Electronic Billing has been around for over 15 years but still there are over 60% of doctor's processing their claims using old outdated paper methods. The main reason for the slow growth is the substantial lack of qualified people able to help doctors with this major billing problem.
This is changing with estimates from the US Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics) putting medical billing as one of it's fastest growing occupations in health services, which is expected to increase more than twice as fast as the economy as a whole. They project medical information and claims processing to grow much faster than the average for all other occupations with a 68% growth by the year 2005.
These are the projected employment growths through 2005 form the United States Department of Labor - Bureau of Statistics
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Bureau of Labor Statistics (US Department of Labor) project medical information and claims processing to grow by 68% by the year 2005. |
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Doctors face significant difficulties filing paper claims. Electronic Claims processing is the answer.
Just processing paper claims is very costly. The complex network the paper claim goes through may result in long delays in payments of up to 90-120 days. The clerical personnel involved should be working on more important projects or providing higher quality patient care.
On average 30% of paper claims are rejected due to errors. Once these claims are rejected they are often just placed in a desk drawer and forgotten or could take up to another 120 days to get paid. Estimates from the American Health Care Administration state that the average cost of sending a paper claim could be as high as $15 or more per claim, other estimates put this much higher due to the high cost of administrative staff and benefits paid by the doctors.
Electronic Claims is changing all this. There is no complex paper trail involving many people to follow. The claim simply goes from the doctors office to the claims specialist(you), then to a clearinghouse where it is forwarded to the insurance company. The whole process can be completed in less than 24 hours involving just 3 or 4 people.
Insurance companies are saving millions of dollars every year thanks to electronic claims. This has prompted them to pay the claim in an average of only 7-21 days. The simplified processing steps and consequent reduction in error rate reduces the rejection rate from 30% or more to a mere 2% or less. The average cost per claim charged by the billing specialist is normally around $3 - $7, a large savings compared to a average $15 per claim.
Manual vs. Electronic Analysis
| Manual Billing | Electronic Billing |
| 45-120 days payment wait | 7-21 days to payment |
| 30-35% rejection rate | Over 98% paid |
| $10-$15 preparation costs | $3-$7 preparation costs |
| Extensive follow-up | Limited follow-up |
Is There a Need for Medical Billing in My Area?
There are presently over 1 million health care practitioners across the country. As recently as 1990 only 8% of all physicians processed their claims electronically.
Recently released figures in 1997 still only put this figure as high as 38% of claims filed electronically.That means that over 600,000 doctors are still submitting claims on the old, outdated, paper claim forms!
Right now there is a huge gap in the market for electronic claims specialists. Right now is the time to take advantage of this gap and ensure your place with successful future in this industry.
For most doctors it is not a question of if, but when they will implement electronic claims processing.
Given these facts it's no wonder that doctors are converting to Electronic Claims Processing
Medical claims processing is rated as one of the fastest growing occupations now, and considerably into the next decade.
Not only is the medical industry one of the largest in the country but the Medical Claims and Billing profession is one of the fastest growing occupations in the US. According to the US Department of Labor, due to the rapid growth in the number of medical tests, treatments, and procedures the industry is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations.
The Timing Is Right - Now Is The Time To Get Started
Health care has become the largest industry in the United States. Estimates put the cost of the present health care system at over 1 trillion dollars per year. The insurance companies pay the vast majority of this huge figure with patients making up the difference. No wonder the insurance companies are pushing for major change in the existing billing procedure.
Currently patients are making over 1.5 billion contacts with their doctors per year with over 8 billion claims filed by these doctors to insurance companies. Insurance companies spend over $30 Billion each year processing claims. Doctors alone spend more than $650 Million on just postage of claims. Doctors are swamped by this paperwork and gasping for air. Clerical staff spend hours generating paper claims when they could be completing other important projects or helping patients. What method do you think the doctors would prefer?
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The Service You Provide to the Doctors
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