A Guide To Developing An Automated Medical Billing System?

Depending on your corporation submits claims, medical billing automation is a method in which claims to scrub, charge input, and remittance are carried out instantaneously using timers and natural language processing. 

A medical billing automation computer program is made to carry out routine tasks. Through Automation, work and tasks are completed immediately with fewer errors. The income and general profitability of a clinic greatly increased by automating the medical billing process.

Automation handles every significant medical billing component that a person might find monotonous. In addition, all the errors are discovered before submitting the claims-making process system much more effortlessly and faster.

The automatic text or email delivery of bill notifications to patients by RPA in medical billing can be used to increase collections.

Therefore, an enormous sum of money is spent annually in the US alone on healthcare. 

Let's dig deep into the importance of a billing system.

1) AFFORDABLE PRICES

RCM is the process of obtaining payments for medical bills to bring in money for the healthcare sector. Because it combines administrative data like personal information of a patient, treatment codes, insurer name, etc., making the management time-consuming and expensive. 

Implementing an automated medical billing system increases your business cash flow and frees up time and resources, helping you concentrate on patient-focused tasks.

2) SUITABLE DOCUMENTATION

In this era, a single filing of a paper document costs $20 for a procedure, and then you must access the cost, and employees are required to fill out about 20,000 forms every year. Thus, medical billing involves a significant amount of administrative paperwork, such as creating and registering patient profiles, eligibility checks, and other validation, as error-free documentation is the aim of every healthcare provider.

Ergo, using Automation in medical billing boosts productivity while cutting down on the number of employees assigned to specific processes.

3) STREAMLINED MEDICAL BILLING

An outdated billing system brings disorganized claims and unnecessary errors, as per healthcare providers. For example, as per the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, coding errors cost $28.91 billion in payment errors in 2019. 

Also Read: RPA Use Cases In Payroll Management

The laws and billing codes governing the medical industry are intricate and constantly changing. Therefore, keeping pace with the changes and how they impact your practice is a burden. In order to keep track of and manage these variables as quickly, you need to have an efficient data cleansing solution. It's an essential tool that removes human error from the claim submission process. 

Therefore, finding billing errors before submitting claims enables you to decrease refusals, handle problems as they arise, and ensure that you have been paid on schedule.

1) INSURANCE

The most significant step in an automated medical billing process is insurance. To gather data, such as entries from patients' medical histories, insurance eligibility, and drug and disease codes, healthcare professionals must sort with the help of different insurance systems. Based on the accuracy of the medical billing codes, then the payment is made.

2) HIPAA COMPLIANCE

Healthcare organizations must embrace Automation and integrate RPA development services to reduce security risks, maintain HIPAA compliance, and foster a successful relationship between doctor and patient. Most procedures for filling information approved by patients reduce the scope of omissions and errors. 

These typically result in skipping steps and making the most basic mistakes. However, properly implementing RPA encourages Automation in healthcare workflow to assist with the automatic transfer of patient data.

3) APPOINTMENTS AND SCHEDULING

When RPA bots sort appointments and registrations from the start of consultation until it is over, the appointment and scheduling automation can easily streamline the scheduling process for patients.

4) MONITORING CLAIMS

Automating claims processing can ensure accurate payments so that no claim goes unpaid or is underpaid. By utilizing RPA in claim processing, your business can avoid any loss that might arise from underpayments.

1) REGISTRATION

A patient must pre-register for a doctor's appointment by providing insurance information. Old appointment information will already be saved, so patients only need to give their visit's purpose when they return. Before submitting a claim, registered medical billers can check the information provided.

2) CHECK YOUR FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Financial responsibility investigations are conducted to confirm patient insurance to determine who is responsible for what for a doctor's visit. A biller must first gather crucial data, which can only be done by conducting financial responsibility checks to ascertain whether a patient's insurance plan covers the services the patient requires.

Since every person and business has a different insurance policy, a biller must confirm the patient's coverage before assigning any bills and ensuring that prescriptions are fully covered. In this instance, these checks are performed by RPA bots.

3) BOOKINGS

To distinguish between registered and first-timers, patients are asked to complete when they arrive. For example, whether copayments are received before or after the enrollment is completed by providing official identification, such as a valid insurance card and a passport or driver's license.

Copayments are typically collected at the point of service, and after the patient's identity has been confirmed, a report is sent to the medical coder. The medical coder examines the medical report after receiving it and converts the data into useful medical code. The "superbill" is the end product of the medical coding process.

The superbill contains demographic data regarding the patient's medical background, the doctor's and provider's names, the codes for the diagnosis and procedure, the procedures carried out, and other pertinent medical data. The superbill is then sent to the medical biller via software.

4) CHECKS FOR CODING AND BILLING COMPLIANCE

Although the billability of a procedure largely depends on the rules established by the payer and the patient's insurance plan, the medical biller ensures that the procedures coded are billable after receiving the superbill and transferring it into billing software or a paper claim form.

Standards for compliance must also be met, according to billers. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Office of Inspector General (OIG) compliance standards typically require the code to adhere to certain rules (HIPAA).

5) SUBMISSION OF CLAIMS

Through EDI, claims are transmitted electronically and with coding (Electronic Data Interchange). All healthcare organizations subject to HIPAA must submit their claims electronically under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Claims, however, will only be sent via EDI if they are error-free.

6) PROCESS OF ADJUDICATION

At this point, a claim is either accepted, rejected or denied. A payer assesses a medical claim to determine whether it is valid or compliant and the amount that will be paid to the provider. The biller or provider is sent the details of the claims during the adjudication process so they can determine how much they are willing to pay and why.

After the primary insurer has approved the claim for patients with secondary insurance, the remaining amount is sent to the secondary insurer. If there is a problem, the payer may initiate an appeal process.

7) GENERATE PATIENT STATEMENTS

The care that the patient has received from their healthcare provider is described in detail in patient statements. Once the payer has paid the agreed-upon sum, the patient is responsible for the remaining balance. To explain why some procedures were covered, and others weren't, some payers may include an Explanation of Benefits (EOB).

8) MONITORING PATIENT PAYMENTS

Paying bills on time is necessary to keep a system running smoothly. To ensure that medical bills are paid on time, billers are responsible for mailing out precise, timely bills. 

When it comes to bill payments, notifications, and collections, they have their own set of policies and deadlines. If the patient does not pay the full amount or is past due, the biller must ensure that the provider is fairly compensated for their services.

Also Read: RPA in Finance Industry 

If your software is outdated, you risk dealing with a lengthier claim, processing times, non-payments, incorrect codes, disconnections with current billing codes, and a decline in profit. Medical Billing Automation is crucial for the business revenue cycle and makes the medical facility most effective and efficient.

Automation benefits a wide range of people, including patients and employees because it makes repetitive processes simpler and error-free, including medical billing, claims, scheduling, and more.

Thus, having a relaxed work environment is possible if you opt for a streamlined and optimized workflow. You can reduce human error and accurate the process using automated medical billing procedures.