Must-Have Skills of an Anesthesia Billing Service
Anesthesia billing and coding is a challenging business and tends to be more complicated than medical billing for other specialties. For instance, anesthesia services include start and end times of the surgery, but also need to include the pre-operative evaluations of patients, monitoring of physiological parameters, and other surgical support services. What’s more, new medical billing and coding guidelines come into effect often, necessitating an anesthesia billing service that understands how to be up to date and compliant at all times.
It’s important for an anesthesia billing service to understand the ins and outs of anesthesia billing and have critical documentation skills to ensure successful billing, but there are some other soft skills that are must-haves for any anesthesia billing service professional to possess.
Let’s take a look at some important anesthesia billing skills a qualified professional should have.
Communication Skills
An anesthesia billing professional acts as a liaison between medical providers, insurance payors and the patients. They have to deal with patients, healthcare administrators, and insurance companies on a daily basis. Because of this, they need to have the communication skills necessary to pass information to all parties involved and even resolve any disputes between the parties.
There is a misconception that medical billers work invisibly behind the scenes, but this is far from the truth. Anesthesia billing professionals have to manage difficult conversations every day. They act as a bridge of sorts between the insurance company, medical provider, and the patient – parties that have different interests and understanding of medical jargon. As such, it’s crucial that they know how to receive and relay information as clearly and accurately as possible while tailoring the message to the audience at hand.
Problem-Solving Skills
Denied claims and delays can lead to frustrations for all involved. An anesthesia billing service has to remain patient when filing appeals and dealing with patients. It’s also inevitable that they will run into some snags that require some top-tier problem-solving skills to resolve. Usually, solving these issues comes down to identifying inconsistencies in procedures, codes, or billing. Anesthesia billing is not a job for the faint of heart. It’s one that requires a great deal of critical thinking and no short amount of resourcefulness.
Industry Knowledge and Attention to Detail
Anesthesia Medical Billing specialists must know all the anesthesia codes established by the AMA. They also require excellent organizational skills to keep track of medical records, invoices, and all other documentation required by insurance. It’s a job that demands an attention to detail. This is the only way to ensure that all payments and invoices match records and that payments are made in a timely manner.
How Do You Know If Your Staff Has the Must-Have Anesthesia Billing Skills?
Anesthesia coding and billing skills go far beyond the technical. It’s important to analyze their interpersonal as well as their critical thinking skills. Medical billing requires knowledge and skill. For this reason, it’s important to analyze a person’s educational background, work experience, and clinical skills. The longer they’ve been in the industry, the better.
Hiring an anesthesia billing service who does not have the necessary skills can prove disastrous. For one, it could lead to inaccuracies and discrepancies in billing, which often leads to claim denials. In the long term, this could be result in loss of revenue and patients who complain.
If you are experiencing this with your current provider, then let us help you determine if it is time to change vendors. At Medi-Corp, we’ve developed all these skills over the years and have the know-how to handle discrepancies or insurance denials. Contact us today at 877-684-9114 or send us a message at https://medi-corp.com/contact-us/ .