What these experienced medical professionals do want is everything a well managed computer system can deliver; and this is -- money in the bank. In other words, they want results, not machines.

Outsourced Billing -- A competent, experienced billing service can provide a well-managed computer system as well as motivated, efficient billing personnel that can produce these desired results. Physicians who contract out or "outsource" their billing departments can expect their billing agents to perform initial data entry of patient demographic and charge data, prepare insurance claims (electronic whenever possible), follow up unpaid claims diligently and promptly, post payments and adjustments, detect and challenge inadequate/incorrect payments, and bill patients for deductibles and co-insurance.

Expert, Specialized Management -- Because established, high quality billing contractors provide billing and collecting for many practices, they have developed expertise in many areas that would be impossible to match in a solo or small group practice. They will likely have experts in Medicare, Workers' Comp, Medicaid, Champus and managed care plans active in your practice area. They may also have experts in billing for surgery as well as for primary care. Of course they will most certainly have computer specialists who provide the data management which enable all other personnel to perform efficiently. A local billing service which develops and maintains its own software will usually be more effective and flexible than one which operates with software which is "canned" for national distribution.

What to Expect -- Expert, specialized account management, by a knowledgeable billing service, means that they can usually do a better job of billing and collecting that an in-house billing department. In many cases this can translate into a 20 percent or greater boost in practice revenue! It also frees up the physician(s) and support staff to do what they do best and enjoy most -- practice medicine.

Cost is Performance Based -- Outsourced billing adds virtually nothing to fixed overhead since fees are usually based on a percentage of actual collections. This percentage varies according to specialty and size of the practice. A group of surgeons performing organ transplants might have a fee as low as three-and-a-half percent while other specialties might range up to fifteen percent. The International Billing Association, a trade group of billing professionals, has compiled the following fee percentage ranges for various specialties.