“Medical Billing Outsourcing” Does Not Mean “Fire Your Employees.”

Many people associate outsourcing with the elimination of US jobs. In the medical billing industry, effective outsourcing is best used to supplement rather than replace existing employees. Your in-house employees and your outsourcing partner have very different skill sets and knowledge bases. Knowing how to use your outsourced team to make your in-house staff more effective – and vice versa – can make a medical billing company significantly more effective on all fronts.

Your in-house staff understands your clients at an intuitive level that your outsourced team cannot match. For example, your in-house staff knows that when Dr. Martin write “25” on the fee ticket, it means the patient paid a $25 copay, but when he writes “6” in the exact same place, it means the patient should return in 6 months for a follow-up appointment. They can understand ambiguities in handwriting and instructions, and they can make accurate predictions about what the doctor intends even when the written instructions are not clear.

In essence, your in-house staff are creative problem solvers.

Your outsourced staff lacks the cultural context to bridge those gaps of clarity. However, they excel at processing enormous amounts of repetitive and tedious work – with quality, focus and consistency. And because they do so at a lower cost, they free up precious time and financial resources you can use to improve overall operational efficiency.

Because – a medical billing company is dedicated to operational efficiency. Your clients demand quality, responsiveness and financial returns at as low a cost as possible. You want your staff to be happy, effective and compensated as well as possible. Any inefficiencies detract from both of those goals.

The art of management lies in finding that balance – in delegating the right tasks to the right people. Effective outsourcing lets you assign each of your in-house staff to the most complex and demanding tasks they can handle while freeing them from the routine tasks that do not require their skills and experience. And a good outsourcing partner can help you find that balance and help your company perform at a level that you, your clients and your employees demand – and deserve.