Top 3 Medical Billing Issues Practices will Face in 2018

Do you want to set your practice up for success in 2018? If the answer is yes, then you need to stay abreast with the trends, issues and updates that might affect your revenue cycle over the course of this year.

Since medical billing is one of the most tedious yet important procedures for any medical practice, you will have to make sure that it is streamlined and is bringing in money for all rendered services. You will also have to be aware of medical billing issues that might affect your practice’s financial health in 2018.

Here are top three billing issues that your medical practice should consider in the current year:

1. Medical practices across the US are still struggling with the ICD-10 shift. This is despite the CMS’s declaration about faults in the reporting measures. Due to inaccuracies in coding, revenue cycle of many practices has been affected. Medical billing issues are persisting even after coding challenges have been identified by AHIMA and a deep analysis of errors has been done. So in order to sail through 2018 smoothly, you will have to make sure that experienced and ICD-10 certified coders are working for your practice.
2. According to the industry experts, preparation for MACRA will also pose medical billing issues for many practices. It is believed that MACRA will come into picture from January 2019 and bring many changes in the healthcare industry. Practitioners will have to make various refinements in their operations to leverage the healthcare data of 2017. They will have to make payment adjustments in 2019 once it is implemented. If you haven’t made necessary arrangements to fulfil its requirements, then now is the best time to start.
3. Another issue that might cause trouble in medical billing is the lack of trained workforce. If you haven’t hired experienced billers and coders, then it can lead to inaccuracies in claims submission and result in delayed or denied payments. Therefore, recruitment of well-trained billing staff or training of existing staff is crucial in order to ensure that your practice gets paid for all rendered services in 2018.

Since handling the above-mentioned challenges can be time consuming for practices, many healthcare providers prefer to hire a third party for medical billing services. It not only saves them time and money but also gives them ample time to focus on patient care.