Medical technology has advanced by leaps and bounds over the past few decades; shouldn’t your billing system reflect that? Every aspect of your practice is equally important, and patients expect quality healthcare all around. Billing via paper claim submissions is an antiquated method that only slows down the process, inflates the total cost, and requires more work by more people. By using a behavioral health billing company, mental health providers can cut down on cost, paperwork, and human error, reducing the stress put on patients, insurance companies, and medical office staff.

The American Medical Association (AMA) reports that the average cost of processing a paper claim is $6.63; however, the same claim costs only $2.90 when sent electronically. The AMA found that eliminating the use of traditional paper claim submissions can save over $9,000 per physician. Electronic claims have a much faster turnaround time, as well; while only 29% of paper claims are processed within 7 days, a whole 69% of electronic claims are processed in that time.

Working with a behavioral health billing company isn’t just cost-efficient. Mental health billing software provides a health practice with other useful services, including:

• A web-based management system that can be accessed from any location, any time
• Up-to-date reports regarding billing and insurance
• Patient appointment reminders and clinical notes
• A management system that is HIPAA compliant, will secure and back-up your practice information, and protect your information from a security breach

In 2012, 70% of mental health providers reported that they received a portion of their payments electronically. The convenience of paying electronically is attractive to many patients. With this becoming the norm, a practice that does not offer this service is sure to lose business to those that do. Payment is a part of a customer’s experience with any type of business, whether it be a doctor’s office or a grocery store. People do not want to spend more time thinking about bill payments than they have to, so by making the process easier, a mental health practice is demonstrating that they care about their patients and wish for them to have a comfortable experience. Find more on this here.