Staying competitive and being successful in an ever-changing landscape means that today’s medical practices need certified billing and coding employees that know how to handle healthcare revenue cycle management. Often, however, that job is lumped in with the many other responsibilities that your staff has to complete. Choosing to certify your employees may seem daunting, or outright impossible. However, opting to move forward with certifying your employees offers great advantages for your practice.
In the not-too-distant past, small medical offices could often have their office needs met by a single manager and some key support staff. With regulations and requirements changing so frequently, it is important for medical offices to have their front office certified. Doing so helps reduce denied claims, saving you time, money, and other resources.
Not convinced yet? Continue reading for the 10 reasons certified coding and billing staff is well worth the investment.
- Formal Certification = Fluency
The ICD-10 codes change every year, with 2020 having the largest and most extensive changes seen by the medical industry in decades. Certification demonstrates a thorough understanding of how to read and decipher these changes. In addition, staff who are certified have an aptitude and desire for these types of skills. - Attention to Detail
It is often the details that result in claim denials. Certified staff not only have an eye for finding such details, but they are trained to zero in on those areas that most often trigger a denial. - Analytical Skills
Being able to look over a patient’s chart and glean the information needed to fill out a claim within a short time frame is necessary. The ability to do so helps boost productivity while ensuring that the specific information needed to ensure accuracy is input the first time. - Ability to Work with Varied Populations
When your staff is certified, they have the professional skills to successfully interact with a range of people. They are comfortable, courteous and tactful when interacting with insurance companies, colleagues, patients and providers. In addition, certified front office staff have the ability to develop and maintain working relationships with insurers, vendors and others. - Technical Skills
The world as a whole is becoming more reliant on technology and nowhere is this more evident than in the medical field. An employee who is certified has the knowledge and skills to electronically process claims, monitor claim denials, bill the appropriate party and run specific reports using the appropriate electronic health records (EHR) system. - Positive Values
Your staff should have the best interests of your medical practice at heart with their every working action. With certification, that type of integrity is automatically transferred to ensure compliance with the necessary requirements while also protecting your patients’ privacy as mandated by HIPAA. - Focused on the Long Term
When working with certified billing and coding staff, the focus is on reducing claim denials in the first place. This long-range approach helps reduce the time it takes to resubmit claims. In addition, your practice will have more money coming in because claims aren’t being denied as frequently. - Quicker Payments
Denied claims mean that your practice’s cash flow is bottlenecked. Medical billing and coding performed by certified staff help increase the chances that you’ll receive a payment within a timely manner. - Improved Focus on Patient Care
At the heart of every medical practice lies your patients. If your front office staff isn’t certified, they’ll likely spend a great deal of time trying to wade through the different documentation that’s required for each claim. This can reduce their focus on patient care which could, in turn, result in lower rates of patient satisfaction for your practice. - Audit Safeguards
With certified billing and coding staff at the helm of your revenue cycle management, the potential for audits won’t be such a daunting possibility. Instead, certification arms them with the knowledge, professionalism, and confidence they need to support every step of the process.
Certified staff are proactive and work on preventing denials instead of simply fixing them. By focusing on the long-term needs of your practice, this specialized staff could save you both time and money.
In some cases, medical practices cannot afford to have their staff become certified. In others, there simply isn’t enough time to devote to this additional training.
Revenue cycle management companies like Health Revenue 360, LLC make having certified staff an affordable and viable solution. This allows your current staff to focus on other crucial duties such as patient satisfaction. Contact us today to learn more.