Benefits of outsourcing

In today's world, it's a tough road for a small doctor's office with all of the billing and reimbursement nuances, says Steve Sullivan, founder and executive vice president of Advantedge Healthcare Solutions, a technology-enabled service provider that provides medical billing services to physician groups.

Dermatologists have several billing options.

"They can bring it in-house and do it all in their office; they can use an application service provider service (ASP), which enables them to have the computer technology in their office, but with none of the worries because the provider manages the system; or they can outsource billing," he explains.

With outsourcing, a dermatologist's office still can schedule appointments, do diagnosis and the coding, and have the option of entering the charges. Then the service deals with the insurance carriers, does electronic submissions and follow-up, and backs up the software.

A service can also help collect hard-to-get funds.

"Because of the complexity factors of billing, practices do not end up collecting all of the money they are entitled to. The practice literally leaves money sitting in the desk drawers where they have follow-up claims that no one can get to because they are too busy. A good billing service can end up collecting more money-sometimes up to 40 percent more -than the doctor was previously collecting when it takes over the billing for the doctor's practice," he says.