If you run a clinic, hospital, private medical practice, or any other healthcare organization, you know how difficult it can be to source the best medical billing service for your needs. Finding effective medical billing companies is paramount in any medical practice, and many of these companies offer a subpar service that doesn’t represent the standard you wish your practice to be associated with.

Whether they falsely advertise their claim denial rate, or you’ve been unimpressed with the level of feedback and communication, it’s crucial to know that there are other options available to provide solutions to your medical coding and billing requirements.

1. Challenge Medical Billing Companies to Be More Transparent

It is no secret that the claim denial rate for a lot of payers has risen exponentially during the last few years, yet medical billing services continue to report some of their lowest claim denial rates in years.

Picking a medical billing service provider that is proficient in claim denial management should be a driving factor for any medical practice, and too often they will avoid providing you with the true data and offer full transparency.

One of the best ways you can challenge your medical service biller is to test them on DOFR, an abbreviation for A Division of Financial Responsibility. The DOFR refers to a provision in a contract between healthcare providers and a payer that distinguishes who is financially responsible for reimbursing you for your services.

Nowadays, many claims are being wrongfully denied due to DOFR. Because of this, confronting your biller by asking how they handle their claim denials in relation to DOFR is critical to ensure all claims are paid by the responsible party.

2. Ensure They Provide Excellent Customer Service

How frequently your medical billing company provides you with updates on any changes in the industry is another good indicator of if they’re the right service for you.

While large medical billing services have a bigger workforce, it is typically only representative of the number of clients they have, not how strong their customer support network is. By default, you will frequently find that smaller and medium-sized organizations provide better customer support. Generally, this is due to the personalized experience they offer and their commitment to tailoring their services around your specific requirements.

Your medical billing company should also be able to streamline your process for getting in touch with them when you need them. On top of providing helpful and informative support completely unprompted, you should also be able to contact them through whatever method is most suitable for your business.

Be it email, telephone, live messaging, or video conferencing, always ensure that your medical billing service will be attentive and eager to assist you in any way they can.

Furthermore, you should look for a company that will go the extra mile to provide any service you require that may not be traditionally provided by them. If you have niche demands to make, it’s imperative that they are open to the idea of including this clause in your contract, rather than settling for a verbal agreement.

3. Choose Local Medical Billing Companies

A common fallacy when choosing the best medical billing services is to believe that the size of the company directly correlates to the value of the service that it can provide. In reality, choosing larger medical billing services can often result in a drop in quality. There are a few reasons that are responsible for this, but typically putting less time and effort into your medical practice is a big factor.

In contrast, a small medical billing company is a lot more viable in this customer-centric industry due to how much closer they are to their clients. You need a medical billing service that is more poised to receive feedback and can be pragmatic in the face of changing preferences or requirements, not one that will get back to you in a week with unsatisfactory responses and solutions.

Working with a smaller medical billing provider can be far more transparent too. In the pursuit to build long-term relationships with clients in medical practices, it is in their best interest to allow their partners to view their data and financials. This is to ensure that the clients are equally as invested in their medical billing company as they are in your medical practice, and you’ll also be able to verify important information such as the true claim denial rate.

4. Be Aware of Their References

When searching for the right medical billing service for your medical practice, you will naturally look to read as many reviews of their service as possible. This would typically be a strong approach as you can gain insight into a company’s philosophy and work ethic before committing to a long-term partnership with them.

However, it’s important to note that you should avoid taking these reviews at face value and ask yourself if you’re receiving the full picture. Many of the websites providing reviews on medical billing companies have ulterior motives and are financially incentivized to leave an overwhelmingly positive review, regardless of how representative it is of their business.

The company you ultimately end up partnering with should always be able to provide you with independent references from real people. They should also be proud to supply you with customer success stories or any other means of verifying their abilities.

5. Make Sure the Price Is Right