Medical Billing And Coding – Picking The Most Suitable Fees Alternative
Medical billing services offer a number of choices to compensate them for their services. Every practice has unique requirements and the appropriate selection for you is based on the volume, type, and dollar amount of claims. Following are some of the billing options available to medical offices, with their positive and negative.
1. Percentage based fee
This is the most common type of billing option offered by medical billing services. You pay a fraction of the net amount received or of the total claims submitted to the covering agency. Percentage rates range widely (4%-16%) as they depend on the services included in the contract, claim amount and monthly average number of claims. Percentage based agreements are appropriate for almost all healthcare practices, especially if the medical billing service manages all the jobs connected to billing. This method of billing provides an incentive to the billing service to submit and follow up claims rigorously – an excellent advantage for the customer. The only problem of percentage based fee is that the billing service could possibly neglect smaller claims as the small amounts do not justify the vigorous follow up necessary to collect. You can overcome this problem by paying a slightly higher percentage for the smaller claims to motivate the service to collect on them.
2. Flat fee per claim
The medical billing service charges a fixed rate for every submitted claim. The amount can vary from $1 to $8 based on the service. This alternative works well for health care practices that see high value but low number of claims or claims that are tough to collect (as from a particular payer). The drawback of this agreement is that the billing service does not have much incentive to pursue the claims aggressively. You should accept this option only if you stipulate follow up in the agreement and release the fees after the claim has been paid.
3. Hybrid Billing
Hybrid billing is a good combination of percentage and flat fee service. In a hybrid contract, pricing terms are specific to the category of claim and the insurance carriers. This kind of billing arrangement is perfect for any hospital that has a wide range of claim amounts and a moderate to high volume of claims. This also enables medical practices conform to the flat fee rules set for Medicaid and Medicare claims in a few states. The percentage-based fee structure is applied for private insurance claims. The major downside of hybrid billing is that it introduces billing complexity into practices with low volume of claims.
Before deciding on the billing option you want with the medical billing service, carefully evaluate your billing volume, amount of claims, and the kind of payers. Ask the billing service to forecast results based on monthly average volume of claims, amount of claims and payers so that you have some idea of what you would pay under every type of billing option. Consider the future growth of your practice before you choose the optimal payment contract. There is a perfect medical biller for each kind of practice; it is just a matter of learning the ropes and making an informed decision in hiring the right service for your practice. Daljeet Sidhu is the author of this article.


