| The 2003 Health Insurance Portability and | | | | Medical coding and billing services and HIPAA |
| Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rules mandate | | | | compliance |
| the behavior of healthcare providers towards the | | | | HIPAA requires healthcare providers to implement |
| flow of health information. HIPAA advocates | | | | security procedures to meet government |
| electronic submission of bills, and has been | | | | regulations and ensure the faith of patients. |
| instrumental in bringing about a great change in | | | | Medical practitioners should work only with |
| medical billing practices. Electronic billing enables | | | | professional medical billing providers who are |
| medical providers to get more returns in less | | | | experts in HIPAA compliance. Before signing up |
| time. | | | | your potential billing partner, ask the following |
| HIPAA compels healthcare providers to improve | | | | questions: |
| their administrative processes. An increasing | | | | - What processes are in place to ensure HIPAA |
| number of medical providers are turning to third | | | | compliance? |
| party medical billing providers to implement the | | | | - Is the billing provider's staff trained in HIPAA |
| new standards. Medical billing providers are | | | | compliance? |
| experts in HIPAA compliance and industry best | | | | - Does the staff appreciate the difference HIPAA |
| practices. Hiring a billing service saves medical | | | | compliance brings to billing services? |
| providers the trouble of learning a new system | | | | - How is the security of health information |
| while reaping the immediate benefits of an | | | | assured? |
| improved revenue management cycle. | | | | - Which medical billing software does the billing |
| Advantages of electronic claim filing | | | | provider use? |
| Medical billing providers file claims electronically for | | | | - Does the medical billing software incorporate all |
| their clients. There are many advantages to this: | | | | the critical HIPAA-related requirements? |
| - An online records management system reduces | | | | - Is the billing provider's software compatible with |
| the chances of errors in the forms, radically | | | | your records management application? |
| increasing the collections. | | | | - Does the billing provider offer comprehensive |
| - Filing claims electronically is fast as the interface | | | | patient records management services? HIPAA has |
| is data intuitive. | | | | enforced standardization of billing transactions. |
| - Managing and tracking electronic claims is easy. | | | | While this was initially perceived as a needless |
| - Electronic claims are processed and paid in less | | | | time-consuming procedure, HIPAA has helped the |
| than 21 days. Manual submission and payment of | | | | medical industry increase revenue by billions of |
| claims takes 90 days on an average. | | | | dollars. Administrative efficiency and effective |
| - Unpaid claims are reduced by almost 60%. | | | | record management systems help healthcare |
| - Filing claims electronically saves cost. The cost of | | | | providers reduce time to payments and improve |
| filing a claim electronically is half the cost of paper | | | | their bottom line dramatically. |
| submission, and the cost of reviewing an | | | | Electronic claim filing has infused a new life into |
| electronic claim is one third of the manual process. | | | | healthcare practices that are often troubled with |
| All these advantages are making more and more | | | | low cash flow. Medical billing providers ensure |
| healthcare providers take to electronic submission | | | | HIPAA compliance for your practice, make your |
| of claims. More than 75% of the medical claims | | | | revenue management cycle more effective and |
| submitted are electronic. | | | | streamline the billing process. |