In a healthcare surrounding, which delves into patient care, drugs prescription and medical billing and coding for claims reimbursement, even the smallest manual data entry error can have devastating consequences. Today, despite the advances in automation technology, many providers still fill out an average of around 20,000 forms manually each year.
Inefficiencies in filing claims run rampant across healthcare organizations, leading to hefty administrative costs. In fact, roughly 40 percent of healthcare costs go to administrative overhead. Manual data entry forces healthcare facilities to spend valuable time and resources on completing simple tasks and then rectifying mistakes. But now you have the power to avoid or eradicate these errors and inefficiencies with modern automation technology and billing software.
Let’s look at some of the pitfalls of manual data entry in healthcare and ways for reducing risk and improving productivity.
The expense of manual data entry error
If your healthcare organization relies on manual data entry, these costs are unavoidable. Medical errors through human data entry errors are common and unavoidable. When employees are exhausted or distracted, they can easily input the wrong numbers or data. Do keep in mind that medical error in documentation is the third leading cause of death in the United States. When doctors don’t have access to medical records or worse function on faulty information, patient lives are at stake.
Medical test reports can contain dozens of information points, and physicians make real-time clinical decisions based on these numbers. Physicians and emergency staff need accurate results to be able to correctly diagnose and treat patients.
- Overlooked results: Forgetting to record test results in the EHR system slows down a patient’s treatment process and can spell trouble for audits and compliance
- Inappropriate reporting: Healthcare facilities that base decisions on inaccurate information could make decisions that threaten patient safety and miss opportunities to improve care
Filing claims physically also lead to lost productivity when administrative staff loses track of documents. Healthcare units large or small on an average reorder three of every ten tests because they cannot find the results and are unable to locate patient charts on 30 percent of visits.
The paybacks of automating healthcare data entry processes
- Automating and integrating your healthcare claims filing systems lets you simplify monotonous data entry tasks, including:
- Electronic health records (EHR)
- Prescribing medications
- Patient check-in
- Financial reporting
- Scheduling medical appointments
- Medical billing and coding
Direct benefits of automated medical billing claims filing system include:
Following the rules
During an inspection, you’ll need to provide patient test results and logs for quality control. Incorrect or unorganized documents can make audits extremely stressful. And failure to meet rules/compliance requirements can lead to heavy fines or suspension. With modern claims filing and billing software, you’ll have peace of mind knowing your data records are accurate, secure and meet all compliance requirements.
Higher quality care and less administrative waste
Inputting, verifying and reporting on patient or healthcare data is timely and expensive. Automating the claims entry systems eliminates documentation errors and reduces the time involved in recording, entering and checking data entry processes. By increasing the accuracy of results and data entry efficiency, your staff can devote more time to caring for patients. Claims automation also enables you to predict staffing needs with greater precision.
Restored patient faith
No patient enjoys filling out the same paper forms and waiting long periods of time, especially patients who are in dire need of medical attention. Having the capability to schedule appointments, fill out forms and access test results online will severely cut down on long wait times and ease the frustration associated with the doctor-patient relationship.
We are a group of medical billing experts who offer comprehensive billing and coding services to doctors, physicians & hospitals. We provide end to end billing and coding solutions. Medisys Data Solutions RCM solutions ensure that the providers recover every $ they are entitled to. Our vision for the providers is “You Cure. We $ecure.”
