Tackling DME Billing Issues the Right Way

The DME Billing healthcare industry is booming because of technology and a surge in demand for medical services.

This unprecedented growth is putting pressure on coding, billing, and revenue cycle management.

It’s no longer tenable for providers to rely on labor-intensive, tiresome, and error-prone manual billing processes.

A study conducted by the University of Minnesota shows that nearly 80% of all medical bills contain errors.

Another research by NerdWallet shows that 50% of claims contain errors.

Even with these grim statistics, stakeholders agree that adopting electronic medical billing improves accuracy by huge margins.

Going paperless leaves healthcare providers with two options: outsource the billing process, or adopt a SaaS solution.

Let’s outline the benefits of each option to help you choose the right medical billing strategy for your HME/DME supply business.

Outsourcing DME/HME Billing 

Healthcare administrators spend significant resources on medical coding and billing.

This process begins with patients booking an appointment and ends with the collection of payments.

Since medical billing is a complex, irksome, and time-consuming process, some durable medical equipment suppliers choose to delegate these tasks to companies specializing in billing.

Here are the advantages of outsourcing DME/HME billing:

1. Low labor costs & errors: Instead of employing people to perform billing tasks in-house, hire outsourcing agencies. This not only relieves your business from overhead costs but reduces errors. Outsourcing allows HME suppliers to continue with their work without falling behind due to onerous billing tasks, even when there is a shortage of personnel.
2. Smooth revenue cycle management: Outsourcing companies ensure the RCM process is smooth, since their income depends on payer reimbursements and patient payments. Allowing coding and billing specialists to do the job creates a reliable stream of income. Indeed, streamlining the revenue cycle means getting payments on time and minimizing debt, and this can be made easier by outsourcing the RCM process.
3. Improved customer satisfaction: Since you’ve delegated most of the tasks to a third party, you dedicate more of your time to the delivery of care. Outsourcing billing tasks gives you time to provide undivided attention to patients, increasing their satisfaction. This is particularly important if your practice cannot afford to hire on-premise staff to undertake front-end and back-end medical billing tasks.
4. Better compliance: Healthcare companies must stay up-to-date with changing regulatory and compliance environments. It can be costly and time-consuming for a DME business to maintain compliance, that’s why a third party could be the solution. Professional medical billers ensure all claims adhere to the latest CMS and HIPAA guidelines to reduce denials and improve cash flows.
5. Greater consistency: With in-house staff, you must endure unplanned staffing changes because of employee turnover. You also have to put in place measures to train and equip new employees with medical billing knowledge whenever your top teams aren’t available. Healthcare providers can overcome these DME/HME billing staffing challenges by outsourcing billing to third-party agencies.

What If Outsourcing Is Not an Option? 

Some healthcare providers like to control operations and keep everything within their premises. Outsourcing is not suitable for you if:

• Your line of practice is a specialty such as ophthalmology and dermatopathology
• You don’t want to relinquish control of medical billing and RCM processes
• You like to supervise your staff and ensure they undertake everything as per your organizational culture
• You’d like to control the costs of billing
• You want to adhere to data protection and privacy guidelines

Now that neither outsourcing nor in-house billing is best for your business, what next?

It’s time for you to try DME billing software (https://nikohealth.com/hme-dme-billing-software/).

With such a solution, you can strike a balance between patient care and billing. Let’s see why home medical equipment software is your best option for efficient DME/HME billing.

Why Choose DME/HME Billing Software? 

Before healthcare providers outsource medical billing, they first must evaluate if it’s the best thing for the business.

If not, they can rely on other options, including adopting a software solution to streamline the billing processes.

Here is why your DME/HME business needs cloud-based software for billing and RCM:

1. Cuts down administrative tasks: Healthcare admins spend a lot of hours managing billing tasks, which can hamper the efficient delivery of medical services to patients. Even with outsourcing, you still have to get your hands on a few billing tasks like patient intake and document verification. A DME/HME billing tool automates the billing process, allowing you to concentrate on patient care.
2. Streamlined billing: With a software solution, you’ll enjoy fast and efficient billing because everything from patient intake to payment collection is automated. Such solutions enable you to monitor and check the status of claims in real-time anywhere, anytime. You can track the patient’s history, automate insurance eligibility checks, and communicate effectively using HME software (https://nikohealth.com/).
3. Minimize denials and maximize cash flow: A SaaS tool for HME billing has predefined rules that easily flag errors and incomplete data that may lead to denials. It also allows you to know from the onset the amount you’ll get from the insurance and co-pays. With this software, patients can make payments via the online portal at home any time they want. In the long-term, medical billing software boosts revenue and productivity, while stabilizing your payment cycle.
4. Reduce audit risks: Government auditors can come to your DME/HME business unannounced. It’s not a matter of if, but when. To minimize audit risks that can lead to suspension of your license, fines, and even litigations, use software solutions to keep everything tidy and up-to-date. The software can dig out incomplete documentation and highlight errors more precisely than humans.
5. Real-time business reports and analytics: In this competitive DME/HME industry, you must understand the performance of your business at any time. This means understanding what’s happening in coding and billing processes. Home medical equipment software solutions allow you to know which claims have gone through and those which have been denied. The software also allows you to know which claims and bills to prioritize.

As we have seen, the DME/HME cloud-based solution is a good software that allows you to connect all operations, integrate different systems, and take full control of your business.

If you want to stay ahead of the competition, consider this tool to make your billing tasks fast and efficient.

Related CTN News:

A Newly Identified Langya Virus Infected 35 People In China

Why Collagen Supplements are Popular in Malaysia

New Study Finds 1 in 8 People Will Suffer From Long Covid