Impact of COVID-19 on medical billing and healthcare insurance in 2020

COVID-19 has insidiously affected almost all the countries across the world. With a rampant increase in the number of affected individuals, the world economy has nearly come to a standstill. The spike in the COVID-19 cases of affected people has urged the government to ask people to stay indoors, thus affecting the economy of the country adversely.

While the economy of the country has hit low, the healthcare facility has become more active. However, the revenue generation at medical practices has dipped conspicuously.

On the contrary, the expectations of the patients are discouraged from going to health care facilities until it is an emergency, to avoid the risk of transmission of the coronavirus.

In short, the pandemic has severely affected many healthcare practices. Several reforms have been made during the COVID-19 over the course of time that has affected medical billing and health care. Some of such changes that made a marked impact on medical billing and healthcare insurance during the pandemic includes:

Revision of medical billing codes because of COVID-19:

The impact of Covid-19 had been massive on healthcare and medical billing services. Significant changes and updates have been made on the billing front because of this Especially in the International Classification of disease. New SARS-CoV-2 related CPT codes were approved and published for the 2021 CPT code set along with other changes. The changes can be manually uploaded in the EHR (electronic health record) system. However, these CPT codes will arrive in the data file for 2021 later this year.

Keeping track of the new codes included is essential, as one must be aware of the updates made in the coding system.

Reduced revenue generation:

With the outbreak of the pandemic, the dental practices anticipated more patients. Although, due to the fear of contracting infection, patients were discouraged from visiting the clinic/hospital. With a significant decrease in the number of patients visiting the health care practice, the income generated has decreased notably. This reduced revenue generation has stagnated healthcare practice, both at provider and patients’ end..

Outsourcing of billing collection, IV, and credentialing services can aid healthcare professionals. By outsourcing your billing facility, you not just ensure proper reimbursement, but we also provide to take care of all your medical billing needs.

Cross-check medical codes before submission for claims:

With a remarkable reduction in revenue generation, medical practices must cross-check each code before making a claim. Every rejected claim decreases your chance of reimbursement. To reduce the chances of claim denial, cross-examination of medical codes is critical.

Outsourcing RCM services can really boost revenue generation and reduce denials.. Further, by outsourcing medical bills, you can eliminate the chances of denial of the claim and reduce your stress too. Outsourcing billing services help you bring down the denied claims; thus, you can work without any stress while they take care of reimbursement of funds.

Protection against surprise medical billing:

Surprise medical bills have caused quite an uproar as patients were made to pay bills for medical facilities, they availed, which they thought were covered under insurance. Surprisingly, the prevalence of surprise medical bills continues to increase. With protection against surprise medical bills, the health care provider must ascertain that they are appropriately reimbursed after the treatment. With a robust medical billing service provider, we ensure that mostly all your claims get approved.

With the COVID-19 pandemic around, your medical practice must generate appropriate revenue. Considering the benefits provided by the medical billing services during such unprecedented times, a medical practice must reconsider outsourcing their billing services to enhance their chances of appropriate revenue generation in the long run.