10 amazing advantages of web-based software
More and more billing providers and services are investigating the benefits of web-based software over older server-based inquiry management systems. After running a medical billing business with server-based software for fifteen years, we decided it was time to look at some of the newer features.
The field of medical billing is always changing and improvements in the capabilities of our software should be expected. As technology develops, we should find that our software does more work for us in less time and deals with regulations and coding changes in real time. Of course we want all of this to be available to us at a reasonable cost. We found that with the newer technology of web-based practice management systems you can really save time and money.
The newest software offers amazing features that create shortcuts that save time, money, keystrokes, denials, and improve cash flow. With a web-based practice management system, you can log into a secure web-based program on any computer, not just the one with the software installed. Here are ten amazing benefits of some of the best new web-based medical billing software.
1. Save time – The development of new technologies has automated so many processes that previously relied on employee input that incredible amounts of time can be saved. Electronic payment entry, one-click printing capabilities, problem claims stored in a queue instead of searching electronic reports, and one-click playback of the latest claim codes are just a few of the great shortcuts available now.
Imagine the time saved just by not having to enter payments. EOBs can now be scanned and converted to an 837 file that electronically enters insurance payments and automatically bills the secondary insurance carrier or patient.
In our server-based system, we had to open a box and choose whether it was printing primary insurance, secondary insurance, or a patient statement. When you clicked on one of them, it asked you which form you want to use. After clicking on the appropriate form, a box will ask you which printer you are using. Then, if the printer had more than one drawer, you would have to click properties and choose the drawer with the correct paper type for the form you are printing. If one of my workers printed just 25 paper claims or patient statements per day, a one-click print job would save over 100 commands per day. As a billing service, we receive hundreds of electronic reports each week that we must open, read, and address problematic claims. This task was daunting with the server based program. The new web-based program we now use simply submits problem claims to a queue. We now go to the queue and check only the issues instead of going through all the accepted claims to find the rejections.
These are just a few of the time-saving systems now available with some web-based programs. These systems have allowed us to increase our workload by 50% without hiring more employees or increasing our hours.
2. Save money – With so many time-saving benefits of web-based software, we were able to accept additional accounts without increasing our payroll. We put our employees to much more productive work. Web-based software can also save you the initial costs of purchasing server-based software along with the necessary licenses, support, and updates. The web-based program we chose charges a small monthly fee. That is. No additional charges for electronic submissions, support, provider scheduling, delivery of a super bill, online patient payments, ICD9 and CPT codes, code lookup, setup fees, or backups. No startup costs. This not only costs less, but works better.
3. Eliminate many errors that create rework. Automated methods used with newer web software take a lot of work previously entered manually by billers and now eliminate human error through automation. A simple typo can cause a claim to be rejected or denied, slowing down the payment cycle and creating a lot of extra, unnecessary work. Rework is one of the most costly problems in an office. As long as you can eliminate rework with better systems, you’ll save money.
Four. Work in “Real Time” – When you are used to working on static server based software, you have no say in updating a process until a new version is released which you must purchase if you want to be able to update to these new requirements. This can be a problem when you have an outdated code you want to change or there are new requirements, such as NPI numbers, the addition of taxonomy codes, or changes to the workers’ compensation form. A web-based program can provide these changes as they are needed. Instead of spending thousands of dollars to buy the latest version of server-based software, the web-based program is updated as needed to make any changes. As diagnostic codes and CPT codes are added or removed, the web-based software can handle these changes immediately, not with the next update. This feature can remove insurance claim coding denials due to changes in CPT or ICD9.
5. Purification of claims – Claims cleanup can go much further than simply informing you that a patient’s date of birth is missing. A small example of how useful an effective claims scrubber can be is when a chiropractor bills a claim to Medicare where Medicare requires the AT modifier. If the modifier is not on the Medicare claim, it will be denied and if the AT modifier is on a claim from another insurance company, that claim may be denied for an invalid modifier. A good claim debugger will flag the claim if you have used the modifier incorrectly.
6. Capable of invoicing UB04 forms as well as CMS 1500 forms – Small facilities, such as rehab clinics and mobile surgical centers, are sometimes required to file their claims on UB04 forms, depending on whether they are accredited as a facility or provider with the insurance company. We found web-based software that will allow for the submission of UB04 and CMS 1500 claim forms, eliminating the need for two separate billing programs if you are billing for an installation. This is a great option for a billing company that can take on a small facility and has no way to print UB04 forms, as well as for the small facility that needs to bill UB04 forms.
7. Preloaded ICD9 and CPT codes for your specialty – Our server-based medical billing software did not have the codes pre-loaded. We are constantly adding Diagnostic Codes and unfortunately some invalid Diagnostic Codes were added. When an invalid code was used, the claim for an invalid diagnosis code was generally denied. The claim was then corrected and resubmitted, a good example of the review I talked about earlier. The web-based program we chose has all the diagnostic codes and procedure codes for the provider’s specialty already preloaded. There are no unnecessary codes, but you can add codes. As WADA updates, adds, or removes codes, they are automatically changed in the program. This will be especially useful when we go to the ICD10 codes.
8. Automatic updates from the insurance company – You don’t have to keep up with insurance company address changes or electronic payer number for your clearinghouse. Our favorite web software preloaded all the insurance companies that could go electronically with the correct payer number. If an operator changes their payment ID, the web-based software updates it automatically. You do not have to worry about that. How many of us have suddenly had all the claims for a particular provider fall into a black hole and find out it was because they changed their payer number and only notified the providers in a little sidebar on their website? With good web based software this would not happen. Because they work in “Real Time”, insurance companies and their electronic identifiers are added or updated as they are added/updated by the clearinghouse.
9. Eliminates the need for accounting software – A billing service finds a need for accounting software like Quickbooks to keep track of their providers’ billing for their services. With new technology, a billing service can now bill its vendors, print statements, send due notices, run reports, and enter payments all on the web-based system, eliminating the need for Quickbooks. The web-based software we think performs all the functions we once used Quickbooks for.
10 Multiple practices, eligibility and electronic submissions at no additional cost – This makes a big difference in a billing service. When we started looking into web-based software, we feared that it would be cost prohibitive for a multi-vendor billing service, since most companies charge based on the number of providers. We were delighted to find an app that not only had more technical features, but charged not by the provider or the practice, but by the user.
After thoroughly researching the advantages of web-based software, we found that we couldn’t afford to ignore the advantages of web-based software. The next thing was to find an app that was affordable for a billing service.
We found that a company using the SaaS (Software as a Service) concept could offer a much more reasonable product than a typical licensed product. Most web-based programs charge per provider or practice, so if you’re billing 60 providers, it can get very expensive. Using the Saas concept, web-based medical billing software could now be offered to medical offices and billing services for a reasonable monthly fee and no setup costs.
Xena-Health software quickly showed us a superior product with a host of benefits we didn’t know existed, resulting in cutting our data entry time in half. We never dreamed of all the possibilities that new technology could provide and at such a reasonable cost. With many medical office costs increasing each year, it was a wonderful surprise to find a cost-saving product that actually increased our efficiency. Xena has been great working with and we are delighted with the results.
Copyright 2009 – Alice Scott – Medical Billing Solutions Inc.