Billing made faster with mobile technology integration
May 04, 2018
By Gregg Timmons
Take a second to look at your billing process right now. What does it look like? Is it backed up? Is it a daunting tower of documents for your billing department to quickly and accurately process? What percentage of deliveries result in revisits due to incomplete or inaccurate documentation? 20 percent? 30 percent? Complaints from your billers about work-life balance?
If your answer to these questions is “yes,” it’s time to consider a mobile solution that better integrates with your workflow. Not only should this solution expedite the billing department's processes, but also eliminate unnecessary expenses and ensure you’re prepared in the event of an audit.
Consider the traditional approach: the night before or morning of a delivery, customer service representatives print delivery tickets and all other necessary forms, which can amount to nearly 10 sheets of paper per stop. Additionally, delivery technicians load their trucks full of equipment for all deliveries prior to leaving the warehouse each morning. At the end of the day, the delivery technicians submit their completed documents to dispatch. Given the vast volume of paper, these documents may take up to a week, if not longer, before making their way to billing. From there, the biller reads through the files, sorts them as necessary and enters the information into the system by hand, and the confirmation process begins.
Industry statistics suggest upward of 25 percent of all paper-based deliveries result in write-offs due to missing or illegible forms, requiring a revisit by the delivery technician. Let’s say each patient visit takes 35 minutes – that's an hour and a half every day spent in revisits for forms compliance, or approximately 375 hours per year, per delivery technician!
A mobile solution takes the stress and guesswork out of completing patient orders, and ensures effective, foolproof processes for the billing department. In fact, not only does real-time electronic documentation save time, it can also increase revenue and reduce Day’s Sales Outstanding (DSO).
This type of software integration allows dispatching the ability to efficiently schedule and monitor all deliveries and ensure the proper forms are reviewed for each unique delivery along with the appropriate signatures and legible delivery notes. Time for confirmation is drastically reduced, as all forms and signatures are transmitted immediately following every delivery, guaranteeing the billing department automatically receives all necessary documentation. This mitigates daunting stacks of post-delivery paperwork, making it faster and easier for billers to complete outstanding orders and improve DSO by days, or even weeks. It also gives technicians more time to focus on patient care as opposed to worrying about collecting the appropriate signatures.
Additionally, gone are the days of sifting through piles of paper to find a missing signature, only to realize the page your biller is looking for was never turned in. Less paperwork equates to fewer errors, which means the amount of time and money the company spends on overtime hours and unnecessary write-offs will reduce significantly.
Lastly, in the event of an audit, providers can easily retrieve files at any given time with just the click of a button. As all files are stored electronically, providers are significantly more prepared for potential questions. Not only are all documents well-sorted and effortlessly accessible, but providers can rest easy knowing nothing is missing or out of place.
Using a paper-based system for your billing needs might have been the way it’s always been done. But that method should be put in the past, as it is not worth the frustration it causes your billers. Trust me when I say the future is mobile and it can reduce time, increase revenue and leave the very important billing department happy, which can be key to an organization’s success.
About the author: Gregg Timmons, president and CEO of Apacheta Corporation, is a veteran software executive who has 30 years of experience building successful high-growth software businesses spanning Fortune 500 companies, startups and turnaround ventures. Prior to Apacheta, Timmons served as president and CEO of MedAct Software, a healthcare software company. He has also held key executive roles at BorderWare Technologies and Netscape Communications. Timmons serves on several company boards of directors and is a frequent speaker, panelist and author covering healthcare IT and internet security. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Texas, San Antonio.
Take a second to look at your billing process right now. What does it look like? Is it backed up? Is it a daunting tower of documents for your billing department to quickly and accurately process? What percentage of deliveries result in revisits due to incomplete or inaccurate documentation? 20 percent? 30 percent? Complaints from your billers about work-life balance?
If your answer to these questions is “yes,” it’s time to consider a mobile solution that better integrates with your workflow. Not only should this solution expedite the billing department's processes, but also eliminate unnecessary expenses and ensure you’re prepared in the event of an audit.
Consider the traditional approach: the night before or morning of a delivery, customer service representatives print delivery tickets and all other necessary forms, which can amount to nearly 10 sheets of paper per stop. Additionally, delivery technicians load their trucks full of equipment for all deliveries prior to leaving the warehouse each morning. At the end of the day, the delivery technicians submit their completed documents to dispatch. Given the vast volume of paper, these documents may take up to a week, if not longer, before making their way to billing. From there, the biller reads through the files, sorts them as necessary and enters the information into the system by hand, and the confirmation process begins.
Industry statistics suggest upward of 25 percent of all paper-based deliveries result in write-offs due to missing or illegible forms, requiring a revisit by the delivery technician. Let’s say each patient visit takes 35 minutes – that's an hour and a half every day spent in revisits for forms compliance, or approximately 375 hours per year, per delivery technician!
A mobile solution takes the stress and guesswork out of completing patient orders, and ensures effective, foolproof processes for the billing department. In fact, not only does real-time electronic documentation save time, it can also increase revenue and reduce Day’s Sales Outstanding (DSO).
This type of software integration allows dispatching the ability to efficiently schedule and monitor all deliveries and ensure the proper forms are reviewed for each unique delivery along with the appropriate signatures and legible delivery notes. Time for confirmation is drastically reduced, as all forms and signatures are transmitted immediately following every delivery, guaranteeing the billing department automatically receives all necessary documentation. This mitigates daunting stacks of post-delivery paperwork, making it faster and easier for billers to complete outstanding orders and improve DSO by days, or even weeks. It also gives technicians more time to focus on patient care as opposed to worrying about collecting the appropriate signatures.
Additionally, gone are the days of sifting through piles of paper to find a missing signature, only to realize the page your biller is looking for was never turned in. Less paperwork equates to fewer errors, which means the amount of time and money the company spends on overtime hours and unnecessary write-offs will reduce significantly.
Lastly, in the event of an audit, providers can easily retrieve files at any given time with just the click of a button. As all files are stored electronically, providers are significantly more prepared for potential questions. Not only are all documents well-sorted and effortlessly accessible, but providers can rest easy knowing nothing is missing or out of place.
Using a paper-based system for your billing needs might have been the way it’s always been done. But that method should be put in the past, as it is not worth the frustration it causes your billers. Trust me when I say the future is mobile and it can reduce time, increase revenue and leave the very important billing department happy, which can be key to an organization’s success.
About the author: Gregg Timmons, president and CEO of Apacheta Corporation, is a veteran software executive who has 30 years of experience building successful high-growth software businesses spanning Fortune 500 companies, startups and turnaround ventures. Prior to Apacheta, Timmons served as president and CEO of MedAct Software, a healthcare software company. He has also held key executive roles at BorderWare Technologies and Netscape Communications. Timmons serves on several company boards of directors and is a frequent speaker, panelist and author covering healthcare IT and internet security. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Texas, San Antonio.