Mistakes in medical coding and billing can negatively affect your practice in various ways. They can disrupt your cash flow and take your attention away from your core function of providing high quality care to patients. They can even possibly lead to fraud charges, which will harm your reputation and practice. Making a mistake and actually engaging in fraud are two entirely different things, of course. However, if the mistakes seem habitual and claims are always getting rejected, suspicions may arise.
Health insurance frauds happen when a practice intentionally submits incorrect claims with the intention of getting paid for services that weren’t actually performed. Physicians who bill excessive charges, submit a huge number of claims, and perform unnecessary services may be charged with fraud.
Investigations on fraud charges can take years. They can also cost a lot and result in the revocation of a physician’s license. Hence, it’s prudent for doctors and other healthcare professionals to always be careful when submitting claims. All activities must be well-documented and all rules and regulations should be strictly followed.
The truth is that committing errors and being fraudulent are no different from each other; you may still face charges whether your mistakes were honest or you actually engaged in fraud. Medical coding and billing should be taken seriously, and any errors should be quickly acted upon. At the same time, it is also important to evaluate and correct the factors that are causing these mistakes to happen.
To make sure that errors are minimized and fraud charges are avoided, it will be best if you just outsource medical billing and coding duties. That way, you will have access to trained and experienced professionals as well as a comprehensive range of services. Outsourcing healthcare services is more efficient and will help you save money. When you outsource to a reliable company, you and your staff will be able to focus more on providing quality health care to you patients.