With electronic remittance software, time and control are the elements at play. This technology will have claims processed and payments paid within days, as opposed to weeks or months.

"ZirMed is able to receive electronic remittance files from hundreds of payors nationwide giving the provider more power over the claims submission process," says Jim Lacy, CFO of ZirMed, which provides revenue cycle management solution software. "We no longer have the history of a clearinghouse; we're much more of software as a service. We facilitate the service of helping health care providers get paid."

Payments and Remittance

When one is making the move from a paper office to an electronic office, the upfront cost of a computer and hardware may scare people away. Plus, for older physicians who aren't comfortable with increasing technology, there is a learning curve that may not be worth their time.

"There is always a big upfront cost to build the systems to operate electronically, but most if not all hospitals have done this," Selwanes says. "Most hospitals receive electronic transactions from the big players. Reaching out to smaller payers is not always worth the effort. That said, reconciliation is the single largest issue precluding electronic migration."

Anderson says one challenge of finding new customers to use the electronic software is that many physicians are stubborn and don't want to make a change.

"Everyone was doing it by hand 10 or 15 years ago and many still don't use any software to help them so they continue to dictate," he says. "Dictating and transcribing is very expensive and time consuming. Our software will allow physicians to have the information done in a matter of minutes. Plus, physicians need to scan what the transcriber has typed, so it takes up even more time."

Turi knows one major provider that does 80% of their payments electronically, but the 20% that is still being done on paper requires 75 full-time people processing the paper remittance and checks. That's money that doesn't need to be spent.

Just think of the time saved. When you submit a paper bill, it has to be generated and mailed and received by the insurance company, then opened, processed and things could be lost.

"Plus, if you're maintaining paper records, available space is decreased so you won't have that space for another type of asset like an exam room. Or, you could downsize to a smaller office," says Muchmore. "Productivity will increase because you will be able to see more patients and not deal with the paperwork that comes with it all."

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