How to let go of the need to control
Does controlling behavioral health billing activities in-house hurt or help your operations? We bust the myths around medical billing process outsourcing.
You are not alone if you are wondering whether or not it makes sense to control the insurance management process of your billing activities in-house. Let’s face it. You really don't want to be part of the process; you just want to be part of the outcome. Understanding the process and the pros and cons is where you figure out who's worth being a part of the billing solutions outcome.
Pros: In-House Behavioral Health Billing Operations
- You may have more control.
- Your costs could potentially be lower since you don’t have to share any revenue with a third party medical billing company.
- Your therapists are naturally closer to your patients, so if they are up to the task, your clinicians may be able to secure longer authorizations in some cases.
- You are building an in-house knowledge base, which can be valuable over time.
- If one or two of your in-house billing staff members do not work out, you can replace them without having to reengineer your entire operation.
Cons: In-House Behavioral Health Billing Operations
- You may experience longer VOB times with more mistakes, which will result in fewer admits, lower occupancy, and more unintended scholarships.
- You will likely receive shorter authorized stays, which results in less revenue and diminished patient outcomes.
- You may encounter more denials, receive fewer wins on appeal, and achieve lower payment conversion rates, which will further reduce your cash flow.
- You may experience excessive compensation costs, employee dissatisfaction and burnout, and high turnover.
- Your managers and clinicians may become distracted by and frustrated unnecessary work, which could dilute your outcomes and increase your personnel expense.
The Takeaway: You need specialists more than ever
Knowing these pros and cons of in-house behavioral health billing operations is just the first step in realizing that automating high-volume, billing and insurance process management can have a dramatic impact on improving cash flow, reducing errors, and ultimately making the treatment experience better.
Since 2011, Elevated Billing Solutions has been a trusted partner—helping addiction treatment and behavioral health facilities increase revenue and improve cash flow through effective billing and insurance process management solutions.
