When starting an ABA therapy practice or when looking to improve your existing practice, one of the most important considerations is ABA insurance and billing. You’ll need to investigate the pros and cons of in-house billing vs outsourcing and compare the various medical billing outsourcing companies at your service.
Read on to discover the three options available to you in terms of managing ABA insurance and billing, as well as the expectations you should have for ABA insurance and billing outsourcing services, specifically.
Your Options for Managing ABA Insurance and Billing
Firstly, you could opt to handle all of your billing and insurance-related tasks on your own. That means making time to spend on the process each week, if not each day. This is the least expensive option, but it takes knowledge and a big-time investment.
Alternatively, you could decide to hire someone and pay them to do the work for you. If your practice is on the larger side, you may need to hire more than one person and create an entire billing department. This requires a bit more time spent managing others and providing oversight and tends to be more expensive because you’ll need to operate as an employer and pay benefits, taxes, and salaries.
The third option is to outsource. What is medical billing outsourcing? It means you’ll pay for the services that a third party completes for you, customized to suit your requirements. If you choose Missing Piece as your third party, our team works closely with you to help ensure you get the types of services you need at a price you can afford.
While there’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution, there are obviously many advantages associated with outsourcing billing services. Making the decision to outsource medical billing and other insurance-related services opens the door for more time to manage your patients’ care and needs. It can also often alleviate many of the frustrations you have as an ABA provider.
If you’re considering this route for your practice, it helps to know what to expect when you use insurance outsourcing services. Once you make the decision to outsource, you’ll work closely with Missing Piece every step of the way to ensure the transition is as smooth as it can be.
What to Expect From the Process
The initial process requires establishing what type of work you want to be completed by your outsourcing team. This could include:
- Billing and collections: This includes managing the bills to your clients for the care you provided. It also entails working directly with insurance companies to see that proper codes are used during that process. You’ll need to follow up with payers when payments are not made, too.
- Credentialing: This is the process of gaining approval to provide services to patients who use a specific insurance provider. You need to work with the insurer to ensure you meet its requirements to provide care.
- Contracting: Contracting is the process of setting up a legally binding contract with the insurance companies ensuring they will pay you when you provide services to their clients. This may include becoming an in-network provider for them.
- Benefits verification: This process involves verifying the benefits a patient has to make sure that his or her insurance company will pay for the services provided.
You’ll work with the third-party team to determine what specific tasks you want to be completed and what you plan to do in-house. It can be intimidating to let go of the reins and allow someone else to do this important work for you. Though when you hire a company that has expert-level professionals to provide professional assistance to you, you can trust the process. You’ll have more time to focus on your patients and fewer concerns about billing codes and insurance verification questions.
Missing Piece Has the Expertise You Need
Sold on the benefits of outsourcing medical billing services? Then you’re probably wondering about the cost of outsourcing medical billing. While many providers are under the impression that handling billing and insurance in-house will be more cost-effective, the reality is that that’s rarely the case.
If doing it yourself, you’ll need to invest in detailed training courses and purchase resources to ensure you’re always up-to-date with changes to billing and insurance requirements.
If hiring an expert, or a team of experts, to work in-house, you’ll need to pay monthly salaries, invest in initial and ongoing training, as well as potentially seek out larger premises to accommodate the need for more office space.
On the other hand, when you choose to outsource billing services, you can custom select the services you want to fit in with your budget – or even opt to keep a small portion of your billing in-house and outsource the rest. Here at Missing Piece, we’re always flexible when it comes to your needs.Insurance outsourcing services can help enhance your business operations while also working closely with you to help your practice grow. Learn more about why outsourcing is such a valuable tool for many providers. You can also contact us for more information or to schedule a free billing analysis.