Important Factors to Consider When Selecting Medical Billing Service SoftwareThere are many factors that medical billing services must consider when choosing the best medical billing system for their business.Perhaps one of the most important factors is to partner with a medical billing software company that does not offer medical billing services themselves. Billing software companies that do not also serve as billing services will never approach your billing service customers in a competitive way. This creates an unparalleled level of partnership between the billing software provider and its billing service clients.These days, it can be difficult to find such billing software companies, but it is worth the effort. It is one of the first questions that billing services should ask of their potential billing software providers.

Additionally, billing services should seek medical billing software that has stayed at the forefront of billing technology throughout its history. The software should function seamlessly with electronic billing standards. System users should be able to follow a logical workflow that enables them to perform all billing functions without ever having to leave the software.Even though ICD-10 implementation has been delayed, the systems you evaluate should have already been ICD-10 compliant in order to have met the previous 2014 deadline. Systems that are not already ICD-10 compliant may have underlying structural problems that will make future ICD-10 compliance difficult if not impossible. Since ICD-10 codes are dramatically different from ICD-9 codes, it is also helpful if the billing system that you are evaluating has tools to assist the biller in converting the old ICD-9 codes to new ICD-10 codes.In addition to these factors, to select the best medical billing service software, companies should also look for the following features:

Seamless access to fully integrated Real-Time Eligibility allowing direct online verification of patient’s insurance policy validity.

The ability to easily import patient data directly from their clients’ EMR/EHR systems reducing manual keying requirements.

An automatic built-in scrubber which provides immediate feedback alerting medical billers when a charge is in violation of medical billing rules, helping them bill claims correctly the first time.

A robust and fully integrated and automated electronic billing features, enabling billing service staff members to send claims and receive ERAs without having to interact with any third party systems, such as external databases or clearing houses.

A flexible and complete reporting module that allows billing services to provide valuable data to their clients through hundreds of easy-to-configure reports.

When researching medical billing systems, it is handy to compare different companies’ offerings against a list of important features, such as the ones mentioned above. There may be additional requirements that you need to include on your list, such as the ability to access the billing system through Mac computers. With so many medical billing systems available, conducting a thorough and detailed evaluation will produce excellent results.