Operating a DME (Durable Medical Equipment) or HME (Home Medical Equipment) medical billing business can be difficult, particularly during this current global scenario. Moreover, due to the industry-wide reimbursement cuts and increasing labor costs, HME providers are finding it difficult to provide proper care to their patients.
HME Billing/DME Billing: What’s the Difference?
Since these categories pursue similar procedures, there is a lot of overlap between DME and HME billing. Nevertheless, the key disparity is the kind of device ordered and provided to a patient. As a result, DME billing follows the same procedures as HME billing.
Types of equipment falling under HME medical billing:
- Air ionizer
- Air purifier
- Apnea monitor
- Artificial limb
- Bedpan
Types of equipment falling under DME medical billing:
- Oxygen tanks
- walkers
- blood sugar monitors
The Growing Concern:
- Employee billing issues
- understaffed teams
- heavy workload
All harm your DME and HME medical billing market. Confronted with such ominous signs, it’s time that you should outsource your HME medical billing market.
There are some indicators that it’s time to outsource your HME Company:
- Strain On Administrative Responsibilities
HME Medical billing in-house can be time-consuming and exhausting for the office workers. It not only necessitates ongoing training to remain current on improvements in guidelines and codes.
But it also requires time away from other administrative responsibilities. You can also find that you begin to delegate billing responsibilities to other members of your team, including clinical personnel.
- High Staff Turnover
A high staff turnover rate is another typical result of an administrative stress. When anyone leaves the practice,
You have 2 options:
- Divide the work to your already overworked staff members, many of whom have little or no knowledge of medical billing and coding procedures.
- Spend considerable time training someone new who might leave before their training is completed.
All of this will result in lower sales, more DME/HME billing and coding mistakes, and poorer care quality. By outsourcing your HME medical billing, you will devote your time and attention to the people who matter most: your patients.
- An Increase In Payment Delays
HME Medical billing and coding errors result in more work and overdue payments. It can be demoralizing to discover that your practice is receiving a large number of rejected claims and therefore losing valuable income.
Clerical errors, such as:
- Incorrect records
- Duplicate claims
- Billing for items that aren’t protected by insurance
- missed file dates
- incomplete codes
Are some of the common reasons for claim denial.
- A Decrease In Quality Of Patient Care
Quality of treatment will easily deteriorate if the staff is concentrating on medical billing and coding rather than patients. Receptionists, office managers, and other staff members are responsible for providing outstanding attention and treatment to patients.
It’s difficult for them to dedicate the time required for this crucial role while they’re concentrating on billing and coding. Outsourcing your HME medical billing and coding helps the staff to focus on their core duties by leaving the time-consuming billing and coding to the professionals.
- Not prepared for ICD-10
You will require training and improvements to your processes to ensure that you comply with regulations while enforcing the phases of ICD-10. The cost of educating current employees or recruiting experienced employees can be higher than you anticipate.
A DME billing or an HME medical billing service will take care of the latest legislation for you, saving you time and money. ICD-10 readiness and preparation are usually included in a respectable firm’s sales cycle management and billing services.
If your practice is experiencing one or more of these issues, it’s time to rethink how you handle your sales cycle. You get individualized attention, timely reports, and the assurance that you’re dealing with trained professionals who know how to get the job done right when you outsource HME medical billing services.
Sunknowledge Services Inc. – an ISO 27001:2022 certified, American-owned & operated company, headquartered in New York City – is a leading global provider of Business and Knowledge Process Outsourcing services in the US healthcare domain.
