A Navicure survey reveals even though more than half of patients prefer electronic medical bills, 77 percent of providers still send bills through the mail. Researchers also found while only 28 percent of providers keep a patient’s credit card on file to make paying easier, the number of patients who would be willing to use such methods is much higher. Electronic medical billing is a faster, easier way to deal with medical billing. Computerizing medical bills and billing records have many benefits that affect healthcare providers and patients.

Eliminates Hassle

Paper medical billing creates a large amount of hassle for medical providers. They need to keep them all in the same place and organized. Losing a single page of a medical billing document could
drastically affect a patient’s payment or bill. Because of the large amount of money that medical procedures often amount to and the need to communicate with insurance companies as well as patients, excessive care needs to be given to watching over physical documents.

With electronic medical billing, there is no need to guard hard copy forms. There is no risk of misplacing a bill, losing a bill, or even damaging the paper in any way because of simple human error.
It eliminates the need to worry about physical copies.

Creates an Automatic Process

As soon as data is entered into an electronic medical record system, it becomes linked up to the billing system. Healthcare workers do not need to worry about delivering physical copies to the necessary companies or completing other small tasks that accompany billing. The steps that workers must take to complete the billing process are reduced immensely because the process becomes completely automated and they do not need to worry about small duties that waste important time.

Ability to Perform a Check in Real-Time

Electronic systems give doctors and other healthcare professionals the ability to check patient’s insurance immediately. Instead of having to wait extended periods of time, the healthcare professional will know right away if the patient is eligible for the necessary procedure. Instant information saves both the patient and the professional time so they can begin the treatment quickly and not have to wait around before beginning because they have not received the necessary billing information.

Accuracy in Reports

With paper billing, hospital managers are only able to access information that is in close proximity without having to wait long periods of time. A computerized system gives them, and other healthcare professionals, the ability to get to exponentially more pieces of patient information in a very short period of time. By using electronic medical billing, they can access a large number of reporting charts and directly connect them to the billing system.

Cost Effective

Electronic medical billing is a much less expensive option for healthcare providers. Physical copies of information require extra work, which requires hiring more people to be in charge of the documents. With electronic medical billing, all the information is kept safely on a computer system, so the healthcare organization does not need to hire extra people to take care of it, saving money on salaries and employee costs. Paper billing also requires more physical space. If the information is on a computer there is no need to make accommodations to be able to keep large amounts of paper around and accessible.

Allows More Time for Professionals to Focus on Patients

Healthcare is all about being able to focus on patients and what they need. The added hassle of paper billing required more medical professionals to devote attention to keeping track of and tending to the bills themselves, taking away from the focus and energy that should be saved to work with the patient directly about their treatment. With all of the needed information already on a computer, healthcare professionals do not have to worry about manually dealing with extensive amounts of paperwork and can save large amounts of time. More time working directly with patients will reduce some of the stress that healthcare professionals commonly experience and improve the healthcare system as a whole.

Information Can Be Customized to Each Patient

With electronic systems, the options for forms are exponentially larger than with a hard copy. Electronic bills are no exception. For physical bills, there are only a certain number of categories that you can provide for each patient, requiring some patients to need to omit or adjust their medical and insurance information to fit the options on the form. Every patient is different, with different
circumstances and diagnoses that apply to them. It’s easier and more efficient to treat them quickly and effectively with accurate documentation. The software that comes with electronic medical billing systems gives healthcare providers extensive options, promoting information that is specific and customized to each patient. This saves time that the healthcare professional would have to spend discovering important details not included on the forms.

Reduced Time Due to Government Regulations

Federal regulations about healthcare are changing constantly. Every year lawmakers create new laws in an effort to improve the medical system in the United States. Medical billing, especially, is constantly being adjusted to try to fit the needs of the largest number of Americans and simplify the process for medical professionals, patients, and insurance companies. Healthcare professionals often have to spend precious time making any adaptations that are necessary according to new regulations. Because they are dealing with immediate billing issues at their facility and working with insurance companies and performing other billing necessities, any lost time due to federal regulation changes be extremely costly. Electronic medical billing has the ability to automatically adapt to new legislation or changes that the government makes to healthcare insurance and billing and making the necessary changes so that the system can be current with regulations.