4 Essential Features of Home Health Billing Companies

 

Home health agencies always deal with several care services that are provided in homes only. Each home health service has its unique billing code, and a single mistake can cause your practice to face claim denials and loss of payments. You cannot afford to commit a single mistake when you want to enjoy timely and optimal reimbursements. But as the healthcare staff performs all the clinic operations, that's one of the main reasons they can't give enough time to patient care.  

So the solution to this problem is outsourcing to home health billing companies, which can take care of this process end to end. These companies have dedicated experts who know all the complex nuances of the ICD, CPT, and HCPCS codes. Apart from that, they take care of streamlining the prior authorization procedure and also know how to use the right technology to quicken the claim submission process. But before diving into how the outsourced companies can help, let's dive into what home health billing is.  

Defining Home Health Billing  

Home health billing is considered the process of getting paid for the care provided to patients at home. It is not a simple process, such as sending a bill and collecting a check. Always remember that each and every claim follows a strict rule from Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance companies. However, if anything is not right with the codes, timing, and documentation, the claims get denied, and the payment gets delayed. It has been observed that the home health agencies deal with the evolving regulations, complex paperwork, and different payers, each having its own rules. However, unlike hospital billing, which is a more standardized process, home health billing is considered full of gray areas, constant changes, and audits.  

Advantages of Hiring Home Health Billing Companies  

There are several advantages of hiring outsourced agencies, starting from staying updated with the latest regulations to technological usage. These advantages are described below:  

Staying Updated with the Latest Regulations  

Healthcare regulations constantly change due to the introduction of new diseases. As the healthcare staff takes care of all the healthcare operations, it becomes difficult for them to focus on improving patient care. Here, the home health billing experts come who stay updated with all the latest changes in the coding process. Apart from that, they also know all the complex nuances of the HIPAA law to protect the patient's data.  

Streamlining Prior Authorization Process  

Prior authorization is considered a complex and time-consuming process. It is because you need to first verify the patient's eligibility, collect important patient documents, and then submit a prior authorization request. If the healthcare staff does it on their own, then they may not get the time to improve patient care. Here, you can take the help of home health billing companies that know all the ins and outs of the prior authorization process. So, taking help for the prior authorization procedure is also one of the main reasons to hire the outsourced experts.  

Cost-effectiveness  

The in-house teams come with a high cost because you need to train them and also buy expensive office space for them. Apart from that, you also need to buy them expensive software so that they can quicken the claim submission process. However, the outsourced companies provide them with the relevant training and also the office space, which saves a lot of cost for the clinics. Moreover, the RCM experts also know which software to use to make sure no claim denial occurs. So, cost-effectiveness is one of the main reasons to hire outsourced experts.  

They are Technology-Agnostic  

Technology plays a major role in quickening the claim submission process. But if the clinical staffs focus on tackling all the administrative hassles, then they can focus on improving patient care. So, you need the help of home health billing companies that know all these technological uses. The outsourced experts know how to work with the client's EHR system. In addition to that, they also know how to do electronic prior authorization procedures. They also know how to use software such as Brightree, AdvanceMD, Kareo, and many more. Like this, these trained experts can take care of your RCM process.  

How to Choose the Right Company?  

Before hiring any company, check if they help with patient eligibility verification, proper documentation and coding, prior authorization, claim submission and tracking, denial management, accounts receivable management, and financial reporting and analytics. Choose those companies that have expertise and experience, a customized solution for your agency, technology-driven efficiency, and dedicated support and partnership. These companies can also reduce your operational costs by 80% and provide 10% buffer resources. Furthermore, these companies also help with other specialties such as DME, orthotics and prosthetics, urgent care, gastroenterology, cardiology, infusion, and many more specialties. So, if you want to streamline your billing process, you may consider outsourcing to home health billing companies.