Practice Management Moment: In-House vs Outsourced Billing Services

Insurance is both the joy and pain of the world of revenue for your practice. On one hand, insurance pays for services that a patient may not have otherwise been able to afford and therefore would NOT have come into your practice. On the other hand, billing for insurance is time-consuming, frustrating, and often leaves some elements unknown with regards to total amounts collected, and can be costly regardless of how you choose to handle it.

Because of this, many practice owners struggle to know whether they should bill insurance in-house with their existing staff or hire the services of a billing company.

As you evaluate this decision, make sure to take into consideration ALL the variables. A few of those variables are as follows:

Consider the value of growth. We have had countless conversations with doctors that say, "I am not giving up 6% of my revenue." While at the same time, they have to hire a full time staff member and then their growth is limited to the amount of billing he/she can personally manage. Then there is the learning curve that can slow down the flow of cash into the practice and also limit potential growth.

Consider the value of the RIGHT employee. When deciding to do the billing in-house, you need to hire an EXPERIENCED biller. Yes, they cost more. But consider the amount of billing an experienced biller can get done in the same amount of time, as well as considering the speed at which an experienced biller can get payments from the insurance. If a billing error is made, there is a denial sent and then you must rebill the insurance. This correction period can take 6-12 weeks! What is the value of time with regards to cashflow in your office.

Consider the value of quality of life. Maybe the thing the doctors think of the least is your personal sanity, or in other words, your quality of life. If you have an experienced billing company, or an experienced biller, how much do YOU have to worry about? There is value in the right team.

As you make this decision for your practice, take time to consider ALL the variables. Don't jump to financial decisions without considering all the financial and non-financial variables that will be impacted.