Medical billing is the backbone of building and maintaining a successful medical practice. After all, it’s procuring for all those hours of hard work caring for patients that keep the lights on and provides your office with ongoing security and profitability. The problem is that it’s increasingly difficult and expensive to find trustworthy, skilled medical billers. As such, top medical billers can charge a premium for their services, with the average salary hovering around $60,000 per year in the United States. With few candidates and excessive salaries, you may feel like you’re stuck with no options if you’ve been trying to hire a medical billing employee. Fortunately, that’s not the case. The biggest trend in medical billing and collections today is hiring virtual medical billers, which are in ample supply and cost a fraction of in-house medical billing employees.
What is virtual medical billing?
Covid wreaked havoc on our world, but one very positive aspect of the pandemic was that it showed businesses all over the globe that it is possible to have employees work remotely and still be as productive and efficient as they were in the office. And with that, the world of virtual medical billing got a tremendous push into the mainstream. Now, physician’s offices everywhere are using virtual medical billing to solve their billing and collection hiring headaches, and they’re enjoying a wealth of other benefits, too. Virtual medical billing is just like in-house medical billing, except it’s done remotely by a professional outside your office. Via remote, secure access to your office computer system, virtual medical billers can handle all your medical billing tasks without ever stepping foot through your practice’s doors.
Benefits of virtual medical billing
Not only will a virtual medical biller complete all your billing tasks as effectively and accurately as an in-house medical biller (and possibly more so), but when you bring a virtual medical biller onto your team, you’ll enjoy these great benefits, too:
Lower costs – Because of the high demand for medical billers and the low supply of high-quality candidates, in-person medical billers can charge a premium for their services. However, virtual medical billers are paid considerably less. At MedVa, our clients pay the hourly minimum wage for your state for our medical billers, a tiny fraction of what they’d pay for an equally qualified in-house medical biller. We’re able to charge this low flat rate because our medical billers are located in countries where the cost of living is considerably lower than in the United States. At present, we’ve found great success finding highly educated and experienced virtual medical billers in the Philippines. In the Philippines, 10 American dollars go a long way, making working for a U.S.-based practice a lucrative career for them, all while saving you money. It’s a win-win for both you and your remote medical biller.
Increased productivity – Research has shown that remote employees tend to be more productive than in-office employees for several reasons including fewer distractions, lack of commute, and better work-life balance. Our clients regularly and delightedly tell us that their MedVa virtual medical billers can accomplish more in a day that their previous in-house medical billers.
Savings on benefits – Because virtual medical billers are located in other countries, you are not responsible for paying for benefits like workers’ comp insurance, medical insurance, or dental insurance. This leads to even more savings versus hiring an in-house employee.
Flexibility – In the United States, if you want to hire someone for a medical billing position, most of the time, you’ll have to bring them on full-time because you have so much competition for their services. But if you don’t need a full-time medical billing employee, that’s a waste of money. However, with a virtual medical biller, you can adjust their schedule as needed so you are only paying for what you need when you need it. Some months, your practice may be much busier than others. If that’s the case, you simply adjust the work hours of your virtual biller, creating a more efficient use of your practice’s dollars.
Faster turnaround – Call it an intended benefit of working with someone across the globe: your virtual medical biller can work the “day shift” in their home country which means nighttime here in the United States. That means you wake up to billing tasks “magically” completed while your practice was closed. This benefit also applies to holidays.
Increased space in your office – Especially for small practices, fitting one more desk, computer, and chair into the office can seem like an insurmountable task. And a medical biller isn’t someone you can just stick anywhere you have a little space. Your medical billing employee needs to be able to concentrate away from the noise, distractions, patients, and hubbub of your office, all while having access to the internet. This can be a tough environment to create, even in practices with ample free space. A virtual medical biller, however, is already set up in their home with a full workstation with access to the internet. Your office space can remain dedicated to your medical staff and patients.
Quick startup – One of the most frustrating aspects of bringing on a new employee is the training period. Those training weeks can be drudgery for both you and the employee, as you pay for an employee who is not yet able to provide the services you hired them to achieve. But a virtual medical biller comes fully trained and ready to hit the ground running. All a virtual billing employee needs is a short introduction to your current billing software and office computer system, and they’re ready to start.
Is it time to add a virtual medical billing employee to your practice?
If you’d like to enjoy all the great benefits listed above, schedule your call with MedVa today. We’ll be happy to answer all your questions about virtual medical billing and help you get started on the most cost-effective and modern way to run your medical practice today.
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