Knowing when to upgrade your medical billing technology is crucial for the success of your practice. Here are the top 5 signs to look for!
Effective billing technology is crucial when it comes to running a medical practice. However, many practices continue to use outdated medical billing technology even when it no longer meets their needs. Although delaying the upgrade may initially seem reasonable, waiting too long will make the inevitable transition more challenging.
As healthcare providers face increasing challenges with patient payments, rising expenses, and increasing patient expectations—sticking with outdated medical billing technology can become a significant risk. Recognizing when it's time to upgrade can lead to quicker payments and better patient satisfaction while providing better insights into financial performance. In addition, effective billing technology can provide better insights into financial performance, empowering practices to make better choices that support long-term sustainability.
We will share five signs that suggest it's time for your practice to upgrade your medical billing technology.
1. Inefficient Manual Processes Are Slowing You Down
Manual billing processes can present major challenges for medical practices. A manual billing system is prone to human errors, such as incorrect data entry, missed charges, and miscalculations. This often causes delays in sending patient statements and collecting overdue accounts, which can lengthen payment cycles and create cash flow problems. Billing mistakes in healthcare cause losses of around $935 million each week. That's $935 million that could be redirected toward improving patient care, investing in new technologies, and expanding services.
An integrated medical billing software can transform these manual processes through its automation and outsourcing capabilities, significantly mitigating these challenges. Here are some common manual tasks that can be outsourced or automated by upgrading your practice's medical billing technology:
Data Entry
Incorrect bills due to data entry errors frustrate patients, leading them to dispute charges or potentially skip appointments, such as when they receive incorrect pre-visit billing charges. Unfortunately, these errors result in lost revenue. For example, if your error rate is 5% on $500,000 in monthly medical bills, that's a loss of $25,000. Over time, frequent manual data entry can diminish morale and productivity and increase turnover. Losing medical billing staff can be extremely challenging, regardless of the size of your medical practice.
Printing and Mailing Statements
Your current method of printing and sending billing statements is likely very time-consuming and expensive. Your staff dedicates time to print, assemble, address, and send envelopes. There are unnecessary expenses associated with paper, ink, postage, and labor. If professionally printed mailed bills were outsourced, it could reduce your mailing costs by 30% on $1,000 in monthly expenses, saving you $300.
Communication With Patients
Patients often call to dispute charges, ask about potential charges, or negotiate payments. Repeating the same information to patients and sending reminders manually can be tiresome without the right medical billing technology. Automated reminders manage receivables before they become past due and keep patients informed with minimal staff involvement while helping your practice save money. If you're working with around $600,000 in monthly billing and spending about 5%—or $30,000—on patient billing calls, eliminating just 15% of those calls could save you $4,500 each month.
Chasing Overdue Payments
The ongoing chase of overdue payments can be stressful and disheartening. Your staff may feel like debt collectors instead of patient care advocates, leading to a disconnect from their main responsibilities. On the other hand, not collecting payments before or on due dates results in a significant loss of income. Integrated Collection Services can improve recovery rates while allowing your staff to focus on patient care. Even a 2% increase in collection efficiency can lead to substantial gains over time, especially for practices with a high volume of patients.
2. Rising Staff Burnout and Administrative Overload
Outdated technology significantly impacts the efficiency and well-being of medical staff. The main problem lies in the technology and its integration into the billing workflow, with the administrative burden posing an additional concern. Managing patient communication, tracking payments, and following up manually is incredibly challenging. This situation becomes unsustainable and takes a toll on staff. About one-third of healthcare professionals have expressed dissatisfaction with technology, and this discontent plays a major role in contributing to burnout.
Utilizing advanced medical billing technology solutions is important in addressing this overload. These tools can automate administrative tasks, optimize workflows, and reduce manual workloads. By adopting advanced solutions, medical practices can:
- Improve communication: Mailed statements with QR codes, PDF inserts, and email and text reminders can boost patient engagement and satisfaction.
- Increase precision: Automation helps reduce errors connected to manual data entry, resulting in more accurate billing.
- Lighten the workload: Advanced medical billing technology can significantly lower staff workload by automating repetitive tasks, including printing and mailing bills through outsourced services. This automation eliminates the need for in-house printing, stuffing envelopes, and managing postage. Decreasing the administrative load can lead to a more positive and supportive workplace.
Investing in advanced medical billing technology is a proactive step toward achieving operational excellence and sustainable growth.
3. Increasing Payment Delays and High Days in Accounts Receivable (A/R)
“Days in A/R” shows the average time it takes to receive payments after a service is rendered. In an ideal scenario, the days in accounts receivable (A/R) should fall between 30 days and 40 days. To determine the days in A/R, you divide the current receivables, after accounting for credits, by the average daily charge amount.
However, when medical billing payment processes are slow and options for paying medical bills are few, it leads to longer cash flow issues. This can lead to increased strain because money becomes tied up in receivables. Payment delays can become the norm when medical practices face unmanageable billing technology.
By embracing advanced solutions that offer multiple methods for patients to pay—in-office, online, over-the-phone, or automated—practices can improve their cash flow. In addition, integrating with medical billing software can improve the collections process, ensuring no payment is overlooked.
These options accommodate the preferences of a high volume of patients and lead to quicker transactions, reducing the time it takes to convert receivables into cash.
4. Poor Billing Patient Experiences
Patient satisfaction is closely tied to the billing experience. Unclear statements, lack of payment options, and limited communication can frustrate patients. More than half (56%) of patients consider the billing experience significant enough to switch providers after a negative experience. An unhappy patient leads to decreased repeat visits and revenue for your practice. The billing process significantly affects patient satisfaction, making it necessary to address issues within the revenue cycle.
Patients are less likely to pay their bills when they encounter statement inaccuracies, lack information about their estimated financial responsibilities, and have insufficient access to preferred online tools. Implementing patient-friendly medical billing technology solutions, like the following, can significantly improve engagement and communication:
Convenient eBills via Text and Email
Sending eBills via text and email informs patients of their financial responsibility. They can also come with a secure link to an online billing portal, such as PayWoot.com, where patients can access their bills and make payments anytime. This 24/7 availability reduces frustration and eliminates the need for long phone calls or office visits.
Automated Reminders
Medical billing technology solutions such as automated email and text notifications can inform patients about upcoming bills and payment deadlines. These messages can be customized to meet individual patient needs and scheduled up to three times per month until the balance is paid, minimizing the likelihood of missed payments.
QR Codes on Mailed Bills
Including QR codes on mailed bills makes it easier for patients to quickly access a dedicated payment portal by scanning the code with their phone. This convenience encourages faster payments and eliminates the need to type in URLs. Detailed PDF inserts provide significant value as a built-in marketing channel. Since the postage is already paid for with the mailed statement, these inserts can be used to share educational patient content, explain the benefits of using the payment portal, the ability to apply for financing, and options for automated billing.
These proactive steps keep patients informed about their financial obligations while providing easy access to resources to help them manage their payments. This improvement in your medical billing technology and patient experience could result in a more loyal patient base, possibly reducing complaints about billing and leading to better financial outcomes.
5. Lack of Integration With Other Practice Systems
Disconnected systems, like separate Electronic Health Records (EHR) and practice management software, lead to billing inefficiencies and a higher chance of costly mistakes. For instance, significant inconsistencies can arise if System A, which captures patient demographics and medical information, does not integrate effectively with System B, which manages billing processes.
Proper integration is necessary to streamline workflows and guarantee correct billing data. Integrated solutions offer advantages for staff and patients by providing a connected platform to manage all aspects of the practice. For instance, BillFlash connects with over 100 billing applications, helping remove inaccuracies and ensuring billing processes run smoothly and accurately.
Upgrading Your Medical Billing Technology: What to Look For
When considering new medical billing technology, prioritizing the right features can significantly enhance your practice's efficiency and revenue cycle management. Here are several key features to focus on:
Smooth Integration With EHR and Practice Management Systems
To boost operational efficiency, consider integrating billing software that combines billing, payment, and collections into a single solution. This approach will simplify workflows and improve financial management. Your billing technology should integrate smoothly with your current Electronic Health Records (EHR) and practice management systems. This helps reduce the chances of duplicate data entry, lowers the chances of errors, and offers a complete view of patient accounts.
Automation for Billing and Payment Reminders
Look for medical billing technology that automates billing and sends timely reminders to patients. Automation helps reduce manual mistakes and saves time, ensuring patient invoices are produced promptly and follow-ups happen effortlessly. This improves cash flow and enhances patient experience.
Improved Communication
Improving communication is crucial in medical billing to ensure stronger patient-provider relationships. The right technology can facilitate clearer interactions between staff and patients. Utilizing features like eBills via text and email, mailed statements featuring QR codes and PDF inserts, and automated reminders help improve communication by delivering timely and easily accessible information to patients—helping them understand their billing statements and minimizing confusion.
Multi-Channel Payment Options
Patients now seek flexible payment options. Solid medical billing technology should provide various payment solutions, such as online portals, digital payments, in-office payments, and over-the-phone payments. This flexibility can increase payment rates and make it more convenient for patients.
Integrated Collections Services
A built-in collections service can also help manage overdue payments. Seek solutions that integrate collection features within the billing system, enabling you to manage the guidelines for suggested accounts for collections, monitor past-due accounts, and expedite payment once collections are made.
How BillFlash Can Help
BillFlash offers a comprehensive solution for medical billing, payment, and collection needs. Here are some of the key services we provide that can help upgrade your medical billing technology:
Billing Automation
This simplifies billing processes by sending statements through mail, email, and text, without manually sending bills. Practices can send eBills via text and email with a secure link to PayWoot, our payment portal, allowing patients to view and pay their bills quickly. Automated reminders can be sent up to three times a month through email and text until the balance is paid, ensuring timely payments.
Payment Solutions
Our services provide multiple payment channels, including online portals, phone payments, in-office payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and patient financing through FlexPay. With FlexPay, you get paid first while patients can pay over time.
Integrated Collections
The provider is in control by setting the criteria that flag an account as recommended for collection efforts. Providers can then review these flagged accounts during their regular billing workflow and determine which overdue accounts are sent to our team of recovery specialists with just a click of a button. Say goodbye to manual paperwork and forms. No more wasted time trying to collect payments on your own. Our recovery specialists will handle the payment process while maintaining positive patient relationships.
Seamless Integration
BillFlash connects with over 100 billing applications, eliminating inefficiencies and guaranteeing smooth operations among all systems.
We help healthcare providers maximize their revenue cycle management by reducing the time and effort spent on billing and collections. Our advanced technology allows providers to focus more on patient care than administrative tasks. We give new meaning to the billing experience: a complete solution that works to improve the overall financial health of your practice.
Embracing Medical Billing Technology Change
Recognizing the signs that it's time to upgrade your medical billing technology is crucial for the success of your practice. From inefficiencies caused by manual processes to the impact on staff morale, each indicator underscores the need for advanced medical billing technology solutions. By taking action and investing in new technology, you can improve your billing processes and cash flow, and create a better experience for your staff and patients. Embrace change today, and set your practice toward greater efficiency and success tomorrow.
Ready to transform your billing processes? Schedule a demo with BillFlash today to learn more about our comprehensive billing, payment, and collection software.