What is Medical Billing Software?

The medical billing software market has grown rapidly over the last few years. In fact, it’s on track to grow by 12.3 percent by the year 2026.Are you using medical billing software at your clinic or practice? If not, now is a great time to start.Read on to learn more about what medical billing software is and how it works, as well as how you can develop your own custom medical billing software for your practice.

What Is Medical Billing Software?

Medical billing software is a specially designed computer program. It automates the healthcare billing process and streamlines your medical practice.

How Does It Work?

All kinds of healthcare companies, from small family clinics to major medical practices, rely on these programs to simplify their billing strategies and provide a higher level of service to their patients.The following are some specific ways that you and your team might use medical billing software:

• Check a patient’s insurance eligibility
• Set up automatic appointment reminders
• Send information automatically from the electronic health record (or EHR) to the billing software, allowing for easier communication between the front desk and clinic staff
• Improve claim acceptance rate for billers
• Generate reports for billers to gain insight into revenue cycles
• Submit claims through a centralized interface
• Understand and manage billing operations at all levels across the entire clinic (even if you have multiple locations)

When you consider how much the average medical billing software is capable of, it’s no wonder so many clinics across the world rely on them.

Benefits of Medical Billing Software

Are you still on the fence about using medical billing software at your practice? If so, perhaps understanding more of its benefits will change your mind.Here are some of the top reasons why you might want to invest in a new software program:

Less Paperwork, Fewer Errors

Medical billing software digitizes many aspects of the medical billing, insurance approval, and claims filing processes. If you’re looking to reduce waste in your office, investing in software can make a big difference.Medical billing software reduces human error, too. It handles a lot of the processes you and your team used to do manually. This frees you up to focus on other things and worry less about issues like calculation errors or writing down information incorrectly.

Increased Information Accessibility

After you invest in medical billing software, the days of spending several minutes or even hours digging through files to try and find the information you need will be long gone. Are you tired of wasting time and resources looking for patient details or insurance information? If so, the right software will make all of your processes significantly easier.

Easier Claim Tracking

Medical billing software will make your and your team’s lives a lot simpler when it comes to tracking and processing claims.This software allows you to quickly check patient coverage and receive alerts about denied claims. It will also guide you through the process of resubmitting claims, too, and provides alerts regarding coding errors, patient file inconsistencies, and other issues that could result in a rejected claim.

Easier Financial Reporting

The best medical billing software will provide real-time, detailed financial reports with very little work from you.You can use these reports to manage patient health records, monitor practice or clinic performance, increase efficiency, and improve the patient experience. However, you don’t have to go through the time and effort of putting them together because the software does the heavy lifting for you.

Simplified Medical Coding

You and your team know how challenging it can be to keep up with ICD (short for International Classification of Diseases) coding. It’s in its 11th revision, after all.If you need help keeping track of all aspects of the coding and charting process, try using medical billing software.With assistance from AI technology, this software streamlines and automates coding and charting. That way, you and your team can speed up your processes, focus on other things that matter, and reduce errors at the same time.

Improved Payment Collection

Finally, medical billing software makes it easier for you to collect payments from your patients. When you streamline payment collection, you create a better customer service experience. You also increase the likelihood that people will come back to your clinic or practice in the future.

Should You Get Custom Software?

Are you convinced that medical billing software is a good choice for your clinic? Now, the next decision you need to make is whether you’ll use ready-made software or a custom one.There are plenty of ready-made options you can consider. However, there are also some key benefits to investing in custom software, including these:

Designed for Your Needs

Custom medical billing software is designed for your practice and your patients. The developers will take your specific needs and goals into account and make sure they create a product that helps you to accomplish all of them.

Ease of Use

Because it’s designed with your team and patients’ needs in mind, you’ll likely find that custom medical billing software is easier to use and navigate.Have you been hesitant about using software because you worry about the learning curve? If so, taking the time to work with a developer and create a custom product will help you to overcome this obstacle and get a finished product that works well for everyone on your team.

Tailored and Accessible Support

Partnering with custom developers provides you easy access to a support team that can guide you through any issues you might face with your new medical billing software. These people will understand the ins and outs of your product, and they will be able to guide you through any challenges you might run into.

Increased Security

Custom medical billing software also features custom security features.Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to patient and data security (which you’ll get if you opt for a ready-made solution), you will enjoy features that are specifically designed for your clinic and that address your unique concerns. This can give you and your team greater peace of mind and allows you to provide better service and care to your patients.

What to Include in Your Custom Medical Billing Software

If you’ve decided to take the custom software approach, it’s time to decide what kinds of features and design elements you want your program to have.When you work with a developer, they will guide you through the process and ensure you don’t forget anything important. However, these are some key features you’ll definitely want to include in your custom medical billing software:

Claims Processing and Financial Management

Claims processing and financial management are essential features for any custom medical billing solution. These features allow the software to automatically send and receive claims (including claim resubmissions), as well as code and charge entry.Claims processing and financial management features also provide remittance advice when bills are paid, help with claims scrubbing, carry out dunning management, and assist with compliance tracking.

Patient Billing

Naturally, medical billing software also assists with the patient billing process.Your custom software should bill clients, track and process payments, and keep a detailed history of invoice and payment activities. Your billing software should also send automatic patient reminders to let them know about expired insurance coverage, unpaid bills, and more.

Automated Insurance Verification

Let your developer know you want your custom medical billing software to integrate with well-known insurance carrier networks and provide automated insurance verification. This speeds up the patient admission process and decreases your patient denial rate — both of which create more time in your clinic for actually caring for patients.

Secure Data and Information Storage

Security is a must at any medical clinic— whether you have a few dozen patients or a few hundred.Talk to your developer about your information storage and data security options. That way, you can feel confident that you’re being HIPAA compliant and preventing data breaches at your practice.

Custom Reporting

Custom reports are a lifesaver for team meetings and evaluations of your clinic or healthcare practice.Make sure you work with your developer to create software that offers custom reporting. This makes it easy for everyone on your team to find the information they need and understand how the clinic is performing, where improvements are needed, and more.

Integrations

Do you use other tools or technologies to run your practice? If so, talk to your developer about creating software that integrates with these existing products.This allows for a smoother software adoption process. It also creates a smaller learning curve for your team.

Layout and Navigation

Make sure your medical billing software features a simple, easy-to-navigate layout and design. Talk to your developers about your design options and preferences so you can create a product that looks nice and is simple to use.

How to Choose a Software Developer

To experience all the benefits of custom medical billing software, you need to work with the right software developer. Here are a few tips that will help you to choose the best developer for the job:

Consider Your Needs and Goals

Start by thinking about the kinds of challenges that you and your team are currently facing when it comes to medical billing and coding. Then, think about the changes you want to make and what your long-term goals are for the clinic.Keeping these needs and goals in mind will allow you to get software that makes everyone’s lives easier.

Ask About Experience

When reaching out to different developers, ask about their experience with medical billing software.Have they created these kinds of products in the past? How often do they work with healthcare clinics and medical practices?Working with a development team that knows the general requirements for medical billing software simplifies the process and increases your confidence in the finished product.

Check Out Their Portfolio

Be sure to review the developer’s portfolio, too.What do you think of the previous medical billing software products they’ve created? Do they look nice? Do they seem to be easy to navigate? The answers to these questions can help you decide if a particular developer is a good fit for your team.

Read Reviews

It’s also a good idea to read reviews from past customers and clients.Are people generally happy with the products they’ve received from a specific developer? Would they recommend them to another practice owner or manager?Read through a variety of reviews on various platforms to get a well-rounded idea of what each developer offers.

Consider the Development Process

Once you have a few development teams in mind, reach out to them and ask about their development process.How long, on average, does it take for them to complete a medical billing software product? What steps do they go through to ensure you’re happy with the finished product?

Ask About Ongoing Support

Find out about the support the development team offers along the way as well.How accessible are they if you run into trouble? Can you reach them by phone or email? Are they available at all hours, or only from 9 to 5?Even the best medical billing software programs run into trouble from time to time. Make sure you have easy access to support so you can get these problems resolved right away.

Get a Quote

Finally, ask for a quote from each developer before you make a final decision. This will provide a clearer idea of what the software will cost.You may want to ask about financing options, too. That way, if you can’t afford to pay for your software all at once, you’ll still be able to cover the cost over time and get the product you want and need.

Start Working on Your Medical Billing Software Today

Are you ready to invest in custom medical billing software for your practice? If so, use this guide to create the perfect program from the ground up.If you’re looking to partner with an award-winning software development team, we can’t wait to work with you at Alpha Bravo Development. Reach out to us today for more information or to get a free quote.