Common Business Challenges for Orthopedic Practices
Due to the complexities involved in the procedures and the use of different advanced medical equipment, orthopedic billing can be quite complicated compared to any other medical practice. Of course, taking care of patients and managing the business side of the orthopedic practice can be cumbersome for orthopedists.
At the same time, they need to manage both aspects if they want to keep their practice running. Therefore, it can be valuable for you to hire a high-quality orthopedic medical billing service provider, like the one you can find here, to ensure you can do your best and delegate the rest to the professionals.
Nevertheless, we have listed some common business challenges for orthopedic practices in this article which you should keep in mind. Keep reading to learn!
1. Inaccurate Coding and Billing
Coding is key to ensuring your cash inflow is smooth and undisrupted to keep your practice running. However, under-coding can lead to underpayment; this way, you won’t be able to recover the actual cost, and you will only make a loss.
On the other hand, over-coding can become a significant compliance problem for you with heavy penalties. Therefore, you should hire certified professional coders who can bill your patients in the best way possible.
Moreover, regular audits should be performed by medical billing auditors, so they can analyze and suggest ways to prevent you from over- or under-coding. Your billing team can get trained optimally and bill your patients appropriately for a consistent cash inflow.
2. Managing Administrative Tasks
Orthopedists can start feeling overwhelmed with managing and handling many tasks daily. That’s why you will notice that they seldom have enough time.
An orthopedist is supposed to and wants to only deliver the best treatment to their patients. When they are handed over other administrative tasks such as managing appointments, coding and billing patients, insurance claims, and different operational management needs, their quality of service can get a bit compromised.
That’s why it’s better to recruit business-minded administrators who also have experience in the orthopedic practice so that you can focus better on your patients only.
3. Problems Collecting Payments
To keep your orthopedic practice operational and profitable, you must collect payments timely. However, the issue here is that many orthopedists struggle with managing payments from their patients due to denials of insurance claims or merely patients refusing to pay the full amount.
Hence, you should invest in a tool that helps you keep your account receivable balance healthy. Moreover, you can hire a few professionals so they can follow up with debtors.
4. Financial Challenges Which Lead to Inadequate Care
The financial challenges discussed above can prevent orthopedists from delivering the best patient care.
For instance, if costly orthopedic implants are required, many patients aren’t able to pay the entire cost after the procedure, or you may face denials from insurance claims. Some insurance providers may even dispute charges, so you have to handle all the paperwork and deal with the hassle.
This can not only have an adverse impact on the orthopedist’s practice but can also lead to more business challenges.
