Facing new challenges is simply a part of the everyday reality for healthcare organizations. However, regulatory changes and the challenges of the radically different post-COVID-19 world have put intense pressure on those organizations.

Some of this pressure is related to the need for organizations to achieve goals in quality, compliance, and reimbursement. One essential area within these concerns is coding. The compensation of health organizations relies on efficient and accurate coding.

Medical coding is complex and time-consuming. Errors can easily translate into serious delays that disrupt your organization’s bottom line. For this reason, many organizations have embraced the benefits of outsourcing coding.

Outsourcing coding 101

When your organization chooses an outsourcing option for its coding needs, it can benefit from an expert support team who can ensure accurate capture of health information. This team can tackle coding initiatives remotely or on-site and can supplement or substitute for your in-house coding initiatives.

An outsourcing team is responsible for ensuring its coding professionals are up to date on the latest skills, requirements, and regulatory changes. This is crucial for coding; for instance, consider the updates issued to manage COVID-19 coding needs. This team can also:

  • monitor experts and their processes, shaving days – even weeks – off urgent timelines
  • provide a strong and consistent sense of accountability
  • ensure high levels of productivity and quality from experts working on your organization’s initiatives
  • alleviate common concerns that come with the processes of hiring and training

outsourcing team

In short, your organization gets highly trained subject matter experts who are ready to tackle your projects and the right outsourcing team who tackle any and all operations and onboarding issues.

Let’s look at 4 helpful benefits of outsourcing coding and how they can position your organization for long-term success: 

#1) Optimized financial accuracy

Coding is the backbone of healthcare financial performance. When done accurately, it can:

  • protect against exposure to compliance risk and financial penalties
  • provide precise capture of principal diagnosis, co-morbid conditions, and POA indicators
  • improve outcomes data
  • provide a defense for regulatory compliance reviews

Working with an outsourcing team can lead to greater peace of mind when it comes to accuracy. From hiring to providing high quality training to managing the partnership between coding professionals and your organization, the right outsourcing team can help you reduce the number of errors and maximize future revenue for your healthcare organization.

#2) Improved transparency and compliance

Your outsourcing team will provide you with detailed reports on performance metrics including quality and productivity. With these reports, you can gain better insights into how your projects are progressing without investing more time and effort into project management or coding audits. 

You’ll also gain an added layer of compliance when you choose the right outsourcing team. Coding consultants for that team will have the expertise needed to prevent cyber incidents and data loss and to adhere to HIPAA regulations and other forms of compliance.

coding challenges

#3) Decreased training costs 

Hiring, training, and managing an in-house coding team can be costly. Your organization can reduce overhead costs such as salaries, benefits, taxes, equipment, and supplies by collaborating with the right outsourcing partner

With outsourced coding, you’ll be charged a rate that doesn’t include such outside costs. This will undoubtedly be more cost-effective than an in-house team of coders.

#4) Increased adaptability 

In healthcare, change is constant. That includes the volume and flow of your coding projects as well as your team’s needs. Members on your on-site team will face illness, have vacations planned, and experience lags in productivity and increased volume from time to time. While expected, those situations can easily create backlogs as well as delays in payment.

Working with an outsourcing team can increase how your coding department is able to adapt and respond. It can provide you with expert support to rotate in, allowing you to adjust to your organization’s evolving needs and volume of work. In turn, your organization will benefit from a speedy turnaround time and the ability to stabilize revenue opportunities. 

Looking ahead 

Ensuring accurate and complete coding is imperative, especially as healthcare continues its shift toward value-based care. Outsourcing medical coding can improve accuracy, save your organization time and money, and provide peace of mind in how your projects are managed. It can also help your organization keep its focus on patient care and minimize its exposure to risk. 

What more can outsourced coding solutions do for your organization? Reach out to our team today to learn more.




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