The Business Buzz

Medical billing is one of the more complicated back-end business processes in any industry. That’s because providing care and billing patients may involve insurance. The insurance landscape in the U.S. is incredibly complex, with dozens of organizations in both the private and public sectors. Did you know that as of 2023, the Current Procedural Terminology code set has over 11,163 codes to choose from?

Selecting the wrong code (or making any other mistake) when submitting a CMS-1500 or 837P can create an avalanche of problems and delays. Payment solutions must integrate with medical record-keeping systems in order to minimize friction. Unfortunately, the healthcare industry as a whole lags behind others in the transfer of paper systems to cloud-based databases.

You’ve got to work with a payment processing company that can partner with your current medical record system or whose partners can facilitate the transfer of your systems to cloud-based databases. Your payment processor must also provide robust integrations with accounting software. That’s because insurance companies offer lump-sum payments that include dozens (if not hundreds) of visits. Without the right software, untangling the payments to make sure you’ve gotten paid what you’re owed can become an accounting nightmare.

Patients themselves do make some payments, such as copays. However, the medical field is plagued by bad debt (e.g., unpaid bills). Are there ways to collect debit and credit card payments smoothly and on time? Indeed, there are. Discover more about patient billing in our blog posts.