Medical Billing Solving The Problems Part Ii Patient Billing

Writen by Lori A Anderson

Medical billing in the United States is fraught with many challenges and problems. The primary goal of medical billing is to receive fair compensation for the work that was performed in a timely manner. However, this is rarely the case. This series will explain those challenges and suggest possible solutions to these problems.

Patient Billing

Most practices today find it more time consuming and more costly to attempt collection of fees from patients then insurance carriers. For those practices that do take patient collection seriously, they may underestimate the toll on resources to complete the task.

Have you ever wondered how long it takes your staff to complete the print and mail function of sending out patient statements? Some practices choose to do weekly, biweekly or monthly patient statement processing. Manually processing a patient statement mailing dramatically affects your practice operations and revenue streams. Processing times can be lengthy, and delays are quite common due to lack of time and resources at most physician's practices.

A careful analysis of the costs reveals some surprising numbers.

• $0.39 first-class stamp
• $0.08 envelope with window or label
• $0.08 return envelope
• $0.02 paper
• $0.10 printer ink or toner
• $0.25 labor (assuming $15/hour and 60 statements/hour)
• $0.92 Total

At $0.92 per statement to perform this operation in house, there may be a better solution for you.

Potential Solution

There is a solution; electronic patient statements. The process of sending patient statements can be as easy as sending electronic insurance claims. Electronic patient statements allow your staff more time to focus on your patients. When it comes time to print, fold, stuff, stamp, seal and bundle the statements, you can outsource this menial labor task. With electronic patient statements any patient that has a balance and is eligible to be billed, will automatically be sent a patient statement on time. With this automation, you will improve your accounts receivables timeline. Electronic patient statements also allow you to minimize mis-labeling errors and delays inherent with the in-house print and mailing functions which impacts your ability to bring your money in.

Your practice management software solution provider should have this valuable service available. Additionally, this service usually costs less than the postage and supplies outlined above. Usual automated patient billing service costs for electronic patient statements are $0.62-0.75 per statement.

Lori Anderson is an independent consultant with LAtech working with AntekHealthware on their DAQbilling Medical Billing Software and LabDAQ Laboratory Information System projects.