How Medical Billing Trends Affect Optometry Billing Solutions

Applied Medical Systems

Medical billing is an ever-evolving industry. New technologies and regulations have completely transformed the way medical billing professionals perform their day to day activities. In recent years, optometry practices have been forced to alter their medical billing procedures to comply with certain medical billing trends. Here are several of the latest medical billing trends that have impacted the way medical billers provide optometry billing solutions:

Optometry Billing Solutions

  1. ICD-10

On October 1st, 2015 the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, also known as ICD-10 came into effect under the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act or HIPAA. It replaced ICD-9 and contains 71,924 procedure codes as well as 69,823 diagnosis codes. Medical coders were forced to learn these new codes and hindered the productivity and workflow of many medical billers as a result.

The inception of ICD-10 has disclosed the inefficiency of many optometry practices and prompted them to outsource medical billing and coding to ensure complete compliance with this new regulation. Outsourcing optometry billing services has made it easier for them to place more focus on patient care and less on the implementation and adaptation of ICD-10.

  1. ACOs

An Accountable Care Organization or ACO is a voluntary group of healthcare providers that work together to coordinate care to their Medicare patients. The main goal of an ACO is to ensure that patients receive the right type of care at the right time while avoiding service duplication and preventing errors. Optometrists involved in an ACO must ensure that they are meeting compliance standards and have therefore, taken advantage of outsourcing optometry billing services.

  1. EHR

Although many optometry facilities have adopted an Electronic Health Record software or EHR, some are lacking in billing integration. EHRs that feature billing integration make it possible for optometrists to streamline the way they get paid. They eliminate the need for optometrists to spend a great deal of time filling out forms in order to collect payment. For help with this administrative burden, optometrists have turned to to outside companies for optometry billing services.

As new technology and regulations continue to change the world of medical billing, more and more optometrists will invest in optometry billing solutions from a dependable provider. If your optometry practice has found it challenging to keep up with the latest medical billing trends, contact Applied Medical Systems today.