Medical Billing Software

M edical billing refers to a payment practice in the provision of healthcare services where a healthcare provider after offering healthcare services to an insured client submits the total cost of the service rendered to a health insurance company through a medical coding system, and subsequently follow up the claims with the company to receive the full payment. Manual medical billing is an inaccurate, tedious and time-consuming process attributed to a large number of paperwork involved along the potential human errors that may occur. Therefore, a medical billing software attempts to streamline the process by significantly reducing the time and paperwork involved thereby increasing convenience for its providers. Medical billing software is designed in such a way to base the billing amount on codes generated by a physician depending on the type of medical service administered. The codes are known as Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) and are relayed to a patient’s health insurance company via medical billing software. Not all medical cost is covered by a health insurance company, therefore a medical billing software usually contains a shared costs billing functionality in certain instances where co-payment is required or when some medical procedures are not covered by the insurance company. Some more advanced medical billing software integrates the patient’s information into the system to enable quick access to a patient’s medical records for historical reference. Functionalities of Medical Billing Software Claim Processing Medical billing software provides claim processing in a much more efficient way thereby significantly limiting common errors in claim processing along with a quicker claim submission. Medical billing systems minimize costly errors by validating CPT codes in relation to the claims before final submission of the claim. This goes a long way in preventing a claim rejection by the insurance company considerably increasing the timeline for claim compensation. Healthcare Services Eligibility Some patients may receive healthcare services only to establish that they lack a valid health insurance cover causing huge losses to the health provider. Medical billing software can resolve such problems by verifying a customer’s insurance eligibility by obtaining their insurance information prior to the administration of any healthcare service. Electronic Superbill The electronic superbill functionality enables a healthcare provider to personalize forms that clearly outlines the services offered to each customer by the several health practitioners in the facility including doctors, nurses or lab diagnosis services. This eliminates confusion in billing customers often leading to overbilling or underbilling. Payment Reminders Medical billing softwares have a payment reminder functionality which can automatically notify a customer of an overdue account via a soft collection letter which is automatically sent online to the customer's email address. This feature significantly cuts on the cost of manually creating and sending letters to the customers. Cloud vs Local Storage Medical billing software provides cloud storage over the traditional local storage that employs the used paper in storing health records. Cloud storage as a huge advantage over the local storage in terms of accessibility, security, cost, customization among other essential features. Additionally, cloud storage makes it possible to securely access patient’s medical records from anywhere and on different devices bringing about greater benefits. The Bottom Line Medical billing software comes with enormous benefits including:

• Processing claims with minimal errors substantially reducing on uncalled for expenses due to costly errors.
• Ensure a customer has a valid health insurance policy before undergoing any health procedure.
• Developing online Superbills to avoid overcharging or undercharging a customer.

Medical billing softwares are a must have for any large health facility to ensure flexibility and efficiently of the medical billing process.