Electronic medical billing makes life easier and collections more successful in a medical practice. Questions about medical bills can be answered before the bill becomes past due because of quicker response times. Complicated payment procedure for insurance companies will no longer overwhelm a billing office.

The increased productivity in billing can be directly linked to the different kinds of medical billing software. Client server (CS) and application service providers (ASP) make up two types. Management of a client server requires configuration, back up, restoration, and upgrades after it is initially installed. In addition it consists of a central server and terminals linked to a local network. For these reasons client servers are usually more expensive.

Application service providers assure the latest in technology. The central server is located with the vendor, and data is exchanged via the internet. This minimizes time needed for troubleshooting and downtime. Electronic medical billing training can also be conducted online. The vendor is responsible for managing the technology, recovery, restoration, installations, and upgrades.

Post-payment audits by insurance investigators are less frequent with electronic medical billing. Increased cash flows come with more accurate and easy billing. Cost and productivity savings, including fewer clerical errors reduced office workload, and improved coding come with electronic billing. And electronic billing software offers benefits such as compliance requirements, financial and work flow controls, and accurate procedure coding for patients.

Many medical offices choose application service providers instead of local client servers because IT staff and equipment expenses aren't necessary. Yet further reasons for choosing application service providers are because of greater flexibility. The lack of equipment to install means the system is faster to implement, and the training of necessary personnel can be done online.

Electronic medical billing makes the billing process accurate and less susceptible to penalties. Built-in compliance protection prevents electronic billing software from committing fraudulent billing or coding practices or issuing duplicate bills. Federal and state enforcement agencies have brought legal action against medical billing offices. For this reason the compliance protection feature is crucial in the event that a post-payment audit triggers suspicion and causes a penalty to be accessed. Proper billing procedures and post payment audits are much easier.

Since technology often becomes outdated every three years the replacement costs of a client server needs to be considered. There are tax advantages to purchasing the client server equipment, but these may be offset by the reduced front end cash flow. An application service provider will charge a monthly service fee, but this is small compared to the sizable upfront investment needed to purchase a client server.

Electronic medical billing is a cost effective way to increase cash flow and guarantee billing compliance. Once you have decided on electronic billing, the next step is to choose which methods best suits your office. Both client servers and application service providers are a great way to get electronic billing onto your office.