Looking for a better return on investment? Health care practice’s medical billing departments may be able to realize a significant return on investment by implementing an electronic document management solution (EDMS) with integrated workflow technology, according to a new white paper.

Medical billing departments are tasked with maximizing revenue per claim and minimizing cost per claim processed, which is often more difficult than it sounds. The administrative cost of processing a medical claim can be as high as $10, but on average, 30 percent of medical claims sent to insurance companies never get paid. Plus, many insurance companies take up to three months to process paper claims.

Billing managers who use technology to improve the billing process may be able to dramatically improve collection amounts and times. According to a white paper from Laserfiche^®, “ROI for Medical Billing,” with an investment in digital document management and workflow technology, medical billing departments can save anywhere from $145,000 a year in annual operational costs for a single-facility billing department to upwards of $1,500,000 for a large billing organization.

Some entities have already started down that path. For example, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) shows that three-quarters of all health insurance claims are now submitted electronically, up from 24 percent in 1995. As a result, 98 percent of claims are processed within a month of receipt (and many within a week).

One more technology that can streamline billing and coding processes, thereby shortening the revenue-collection cycle, is an electronic document management solution (EDMS) that includes workflow technology. A best-of-class EDMS can automatically take files received in different formats including paper and fax, convert them into a single electronic format, automatically name the documents, and route them to the appropriate staff. Advanced EDMSs can even monitor network folders for faxes or FTP uploads and immediately process the files without staff intervention. Scanned documents are then stored in a secure, HIPAA-compliant repository.

Savings, according to the white paper, arise from the reduced labor hours of batch and file creation, as well as reduced office supply requirements. Even more dramatic savings can be achieved when scanning is done at the source, such as a remote office, which eliminates the cost of transportation.

The white paper is available here.