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Hiring a Medical Billing Company vs. a Temp Agency – Everything You Need to Know

by | March 14, 2023 | 11:43 am
Category : Medical Billing
Medical Billing Company vs. a Temp Agency

For HME and DME provider businesses, the processes of meeting customer requirements and ensuring effective revenue cycle management (RCM) simultaneously can often prove challenging.

According to Grand View Research, the US durable medical equipment market size was valued at USD 56.3 billion in 2021 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7% from 2022 to 2030.

Yet, one of the biggest challenges HME/DME providers faces is delay in receiving payment.

To conquer this challenge one of the most effective ways is to ensure accuracy in all medical claims filed.

Medical Billing Company

Why is Medical Billing Complex?

Medical billing is a complex process. Whenever an HME/DME providers train in-house staff, there are still obstacle such as:

  • The business will need to ensure in-house resource devotes time to filing a large volume of paperwork. Oftentimes, accessing medical authorization documents may also become a time-consuming task that can potentially lead to employee burnout.
  • Even after spending significant time on reviewing and assessing documents, there can be errors in claim filling.
  • Any mistake or error in claim filing can lead to payment delays and sometimes even denials.
  • The business will face higher attrition rates with negative consequences, as a result of in-house staff burnout. Higher attrition rates result in loss of time and money investments made in hiring and training resources.

Because of the sheer volume of work involved, it can be challenging for HME/DME providers to ensure resources do not get exhausted. quickly. Assistance in the form of outsourced resources can help. Outsourcing partners can be either temp agencies or medical billing companies.  Here is a close look at both types of outsourcing firms.

Temp Agency or Medical Billing Company?

One of the major challenges that an HME/DME provider business may face with a temp agency is that it is still similar to, if not identical to, having in-house resources.

  • The business hiring temp agency will still need to help them understand all expectations, work rules, and processes.
  • The business will still need to deal with issuing payments to the resources.
  • Personnel hired from a temp agency may also not be able to stick around for the job or be able to invest the time and attention to ensure it gets done properly.

Entrusting the process to a medical billing company can be different:

  • The medical billing company has its own resources, including manpower, expertise, infrastructure, backup, etc.
  • The company is staffed well with resources that are trained in the different tasks associated with the medical billing process. 
  • When an HME/DME provider entrusts their medical billing requirements to a company, they also ensure better data recording, documentation, review of critical documents such as medical authorization, and insurance details.
  • This ensures that the information that goes into the claim is accurate and reliable. This accuracy also helps lower the risk of filed claims being delayed or even denied.
  • Hiring a medical billing company can help the HME/DME provider improve transparency and accountability for its work.
  • Any discrepancies, even unwitting, in the documentation or medical authorization submitted by the customer can be brought to light so that they can be corrected, and errors can be prevented.
  • If a claim gets delayed, the medical billing company can help the HME/DME provider correct errors wherever needed. This can help the company recover costs.
  • The medical billing company helps the HME/DME provider save on expenses related to hiring and training; they also have their own system set up for repairs and upgrades for the infrastructure required for carrying out medical billing services.
  • A medical billing company helps the HME/DME provider business streamline its processes while simultaneously freeing up time for in-house resources. This allows in-house resources to focus on other critical functions such as business building and aligning efforts with business goals.

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