Unique Challenges of Physician Medical Billing 

The changing procedures and regulations in the medical billing processes in the healthcare industry have resulted in a financial crisis for a number of physicians. Being a physician in the twenty-first century entails more than just treating patients. Globalization’s impact, technological advancements, rising healthcare costs, and new government regulations are just a few of the challenges physicians face in providing high-quality care.

Not only this, your financial crisis can also be affected as a result of changing procedures and regulations for medical billing services. As per the experts, the most complex challenge for physicians is integrating their financial policies with real-time changes in medical coding and physician medical billing services.

However, once you know what the challenges are, you can easily overcome them, right? Let’s take a look at some of the most common and current medical billing challenges that physicians face:

Increased Claim Denials:

One of the most common challenges that physicians face is payment denials. Undoubtedly, they are entitled to be compensated for their time and efforts. But the reality is completely different. In fact, they will be unable to address the issue of payment denials without review and management. As a result of regulatory changes and changing patient medical denial of claims, physicians will be burdened even more.

A minor coding or physician billing error can result in claim denial, jeopardizing a practice’s financial health. Other challenges that arise in addition to payment rejection include poor reimbursements and an inefficient payment schedule. As a result, physicians must plan ahead of time for dealing with such physician billing challenges.

Administrative Burden:

According to a survey, over 411,000 seniors have experienced double physician billing for the services provided by them to their patients. This occurs because physicians are subjected to a great deal of stress in medical settings due to the nature of their profession. Aside from caring for patients, they must also perform administrative duties, which add to the already-heavy workload. It is difficult to ensure that patient care runs smoothly alongside the documentation process, as the latter requires staying on top of system changes and staying current.

Outdated and Inconvenient EHR Interface:

Did you know? Your patient’s electronic registration needs to be altered as a result of the new CMS document requirements adding another challenge in your physician billing. This has made all of the current EHR interfaces obsolete. Thereby, physician billing services will suffer if doctors do not use effective and efficient software solutions for registration and medical billing. EHRs and other health information technologies have the potential to improve patient care and outcomes significantly.

Furthermore, it is difficult for physicians to use these systems efficiently because it is problematic to divide time between the patient and the computer. According to the study, the average time spent by the physician has increased from 30% to 50% of patient meetings to view the EHR directly. Out of this time, the majority was spent in desktop arrangements that did not allow them to focus more on patients.

Changing Confidentiality Laws:

HIPAA laws were created to protect patients’ privacy and data, and they must be followed by healthcare settings. However, these confidentiality laws are constantly changing, resulting in harsh penalties if not followed correctly. Physicians fail to keep up with changing confidentiality laws, which traps them in a bind.

Specialty Billing Process:

If you want to reap the benefits of medical practices, you must keep up with the changes that occur. To complete the complex tasks of physician medical specialty billing, special handling, authorization, and pre-certification are required.

Such specialized and focused physician billing processes necessitate knowledge as well, in order to streamline the process and obtain faster reimbursements. However, not all physicians have the time or knowledge to keep up with the changes and dive into the details of the process. Absence of knowledge results in claim errors, which result in denials.

Outsourcing – Your Ultimate Solution!

Undoubtedly, all the medical billing challenges faced by the physicians will have a direct negative impact on the practice’s cash flow. As a result, it is critical to plan ahead of time for all of these issues and to put a strategy in place that will benefit your practice. Outsourcing expert physician billing services such as 24/7 Medical Billing Services is one of the best ways to deal with all of these issues. Their physician billing experts will handle all the billing issues professionally while increasing your revenue.

Read more: Why Physicians Need To Prioritize Billing And Coding Errors?