If you read through your copies of First Aid for the USMLE, parceling through all the information you desperately crammed into your brain for the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2, you probably won’t find any information on medical billing. Correct coding or procedures and diagnoses is a large part of any good physician or surgeon’s day, yet represents 0% of the United States medical school curriculum. Whilst that’s not surprising (I mean, who needs to remember the 70,000 odd billing codes provided in the ICD-10), it does overlook how important the entire process is. In fact, in some cases, doing it incorrectly could land you in hot water.
Medical billing services often tell you the positive changes they bring about in your business – e.g., the improvement in cash flow and a better, more reliable revenue stream that helps you focus on treating patients. After all, you trained as a doctor and not an accountant. However, these services often don’t tell you about another important service they can provide. The industry can provide excellent defense against fraud charges filed against the practice.
How does this work? Having a poor understanding of how medical billing and coding works could leave you entering incorrect billing codes. This, down the line, may lead to lawsuits. The most recent example was a plastic surgeon in New York who found himself in hot water over incorrect billing. The Board for Professional Medical Conduct is set to hear the case and decide on the doctor’s medical licensing status. Misrepresenting your work — even in situations where this was not intentional, is deemed a severe grievance by the board and should be taken very seriously.
Can you lose your license over medical billing? The answer, unfortunately, is yes. How can you prevent this? Get in touch with reliable medical billing service providers like One Source Medical Billing.
