Healthcare
Initially, healthcare BPO services gained popularity with practice center owners due to their cost-cutting traits. Eventually, there came a time when more organizations underwent mergers and acquisitions. The new management became keen on central billing offices to streamline vendor relationships. Now, imagine yourself running a medical billing company that specializes in revenue cycle management during the lull period. What a nightmare that would have been! But luckily for you, the Affordable Care Act happened.
This act tipped the scales in the favour of healthcare BPO services once again. The Affordable Care Act created an influx of new patients, now empowered through insurance coverage. That, along with an increase in the size of the aging population, led to a rise in complex claims. With payers and medical billing officers struggling alike, healthcare BPO services came back with a boom. And as a medical billing company owner would say: the curse was lifted, finally!
One of the key trends contributing to the rise of healthcare Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the increasing complexity of healthcare systems. With rapid advancements in medical technology and a growing number of regulations, healthcare providers are finding it challenging to manage their administrative tasks effectively. By outsourcing back-office functions such as billing, coding, and claims processing, these providers can focus on delivering quality care to patients.
A Sneak-peak Into the Future of Medical Billing Services
Honestly, this is a happy time for any medical billing company. The prospect for medical billing services appears to be nothing less than sunny! To quote a recent market survey: “The global healthcare BPO market is projected to reach USD 468.5 billion by 2026 from USD 296.4 billion in 2021, at a CAGR of 9.6% during the forecast period.”
The unprecedented market growth may be attributed to the extensive outsourcing in the pharma industry. The healthcare industry is in dire need of structured processes that can help shrink costs and meet the rising demands.
5 Trends That Has Shot Up the Demand for Healthcare BPO
In this blog post, we have identified five major pain points afflicting healthcare providers. Take a close look at them and see if your organization is facing any of these issues. If you are, then probably now is the right time to reach out to your nearest medical billing company for a quick chat!
Staffing Shortages: The Covid-19 pandemic has put a perpetual strain on the healthcare systems. Almost every other medical facility is understaffed and overworked. If allowed to continue, this can be detrimental for an organization on so many levels. It can increase costs and decrease the morale of the existing employees. To avoid adverse consequences healthcare providers, tend to opt for outsourcing options.
Regulation Updates: No healthcare service provider would ever want to get caught up with compliance. But let us face it: keeping up with everchanging regulations does feel like a full-time job. Not just the regulations surrounding patient information or tax-exemptions; by in-housing medical billing processes one must stay ahead of a list of things, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the National Consumer Assistance Plan. Understanding and implementing the new protocols is a chore best left to healthcare BPO service providers.
Reimbursement Delays: The Affordable Care Act, along with value-based payment systems and new requesting reimbursement protocols, may lead to unprecedented delays. Your in-house staff may lack the time, or the experience required to keep up with piling claims. Rather than watching your office staff break heads endlessly, consider outsourcing healthcare BPO to a medical billing company you trust. This way, you can manage your revenue better and allow your staff to stay focused on patient care.
Technological Advancements: Technical innovation and advancement is almost an every-day phenomena in the healthcare industry. Staying focused on every such change and learning from them is virtually impossible. Adapting to new technology in-house can be a pricey and time-consuming affair! The best thing to do would be to offshore your requirement to a HIPAA compliant service provider who can cater to your needs at cost-effective rates. A provider who will make sure that all of your online written communication is secure by using a HIPAA-compliant email (if you’re wondering if Gmail is HIPAA compliant, this will be a great resource for you).
Patient Expectations: With each passing day, people become more aware about their healthcare needs, and the cost pf availing care services. Owing to high deductible health plans, patients are keen on taking matters into their own hands. They are constantly on the prowl for the best bang for their buck. The more affordable healthcare services become, the greater will be pressure on service providers to offer the best experience in patient care. So, probably it is not a good idea for your precious staff members to get wrapped up in tedious paperwork. You best bet at meeting patient expectations could be to outsource medical billing and transcribing services.
The Conclusion
Every practice centre has some important responsibilities like customer service, reimbursement follow-ups and denial management. All these tasks are as time consuming as they are critical. Much of your financial success depends on how you choose to execute them. The smart thing to do would be to free up your physicians and staff members as much as possible so that they can concentrate on care giving and customer satisfaction responsibilities. And delegate the rest of the work to a healthcare BPO partner who can strategize and scale solutions to meet your specific needs.
