Health IT Universe
You know it is complicated to run a medical practice, try to follow the innumerable rules and regulations and supervise the medical billing staff all by yourself. The administrative task of a well maintained medical group takes away the valuable time of practice administrators, physicians and CFOs.
The change to ICD-10 codes has made things even more complex. For most medical providers most of the time is now spent to search for the precise diagnostic codes for your patients. The complexity of using the ICD-10 codes creeps into your medical profession and that is one reason why physicians are hiring medical billing companies for support. Medical Billing companies are on the verge of certain major changes and here is what is ahead for medical billing and health IT companies:
Widespread use of EHR
According to National Center for Health Statistics only 55% physicians used electronic health record system in 2011. In 2014, the number stood at 83%. The use of IT in healthcare reveals a worldwide change towards the use of EMR. In the U.S., medical providers use new electronic health records to replace outdated technology and to gain financial incentives from CMS’s MU incentive programs. This is a sign that the world of healthcare is becoming paperless and more connected though interoperability is a big question. The aim of EMR is to interconnect clinical, operations and financial software systems with ease between medical groups. Interoperability will increase the efficiency of the software while simplifying and speeding up the payment process for medical billers, providers and payers. Interoperability will increase the accuracy and speed of information transfer for clinical research and public health projects.
Advancement in Coding
The transition to ICD-10 has created a great deal of dialogue about cost and administrative burden, however, these refined codes are helpful to streamline the claim submission process. ICD-10 has given importance to payers, providers and policy makers by giving better information that leads to proper reimbursement. The decrease in the number of grey areas makes it easy to compare codes with clinical documentation to verify consistency with diagnosis and procedure codes and make it difficult for fraudulent practices. Coding specialists fear that the integration of EMR with coding software may create uncertainties for their jobs. So let us see the job prospects for coding and medical billing professionals in the next ten years.
What will be the scope of jobs?
Job prospects for coders and billers are on the brighter side in the next decade. ICD-10 aims more accurate coding and medical billing, which means there will be more jobs and high salaries. There is already a high demand for skilled medical coders, especially those who can carefully use ICD-10 and solve all the problems that arise out of it. The rate of employment for health information technicians is likely to grow more than 22 percent and much faster than job prospects for other occupations. The reason is the aging of the population now at work. The employment opportunities for medical transcriptionists will grow only by 8% because their duties will be set aside by the advancement in technology.
Therefore medical coders and billers have a better future in terms of their job to support the US healthcare system, to save money and improve patient care and thereby increase the efficiency of the system.
Do you want to outsource your Medical Billing process? Contact the blueEHR Team for more details at https://bluebrix.health/contact-us/ or call us at +1-855-936-3367