A Beginner’s Guide to Outsourcing Radiology Billing

Touseef Riaz

October 7, 2022

Outsourcing Radiology Billing

Running a radiology practice can be an overwhelming responsibility. Many doctors handle radiology billing themselves, but this can lead to errors and delays in payment. To ensure your practice runs smoothly and efficiently, outsourcing radiology billing is a brilliant idea for small or large conventions. Here are some reasons why it’s important. But before that, you should understand what is medical billing and how it works

Outsourcing Radiology Billing

What is medical billing? 

Medical billing is collecting, preparing, and submitting payments for health care services. It includes providing medical services, collecting money from patients, processing insurance claims, and billing health insurance companies. Here are the key benefits that you would get by hiring the billing services: 

Helps in developing a plan:

The medical billing company helps develop a plan for each patient’s healthcare needs. 

Collects patient information:

It helps in collecting patient information such as name, address, phone number, and insurance information. 

Prepare claims:

A billing company will help you prepare reimbursement claims by insurance companies or private payers. 

Provides professional advice:

Since the medical company is composed of a professional team, they always provide professional advice on managing chronic illness or disabilities. 

What is radiology billing? 

Radiology billing is sending the billing of patients’ tests and procedures performed in the radiology department to insurance companies. In other words, it is collecting payments from insurance companies. This type of billing is a highly specialized area within the medical field, and you must have a firm grasp of how it functions before you start doing it yourself.

How does radiology billing work? 

Radiology billing is collecting a patient’s medical information and submitting it to the insurance company. The procedure starts when a patient goes to a radiology center, where a radiologist examines them. Once the examination is completed, the radiologist completes an MRI report and sends it to a radiologist at the insurance company. The insurance company then reviews the MRI report and decides if further testing or treatment is needed. If so, they send out follow-up reports requesting additional tests or treatments. The patient typically receives a notification about their payment within two weeks of submitting their MRI report. For most insurance companies, this can take up to six weeks.

Radiology CPT codes:

CPT coding radiology is used to calculate the costs associated with performing a radiology procedure. Outsourcing billing is broken down into two groups: diagnostic and therapeutic. Diagnostic codes include those used to calculate fees for both imaging tests and diagnostic procedures performed on an outpatient basis. Therapeutic codes are used to calculate costs for procedures performed in an outpatient setting, including those performed by an emergency room physician or surgeon. So these codes range from 70010-79999, a set of medical principles kept up to date by the American Medical Association.

70010-76499—Diagnostic Radiology (Diagnostic Imaging) Procedures

76506-76999—Diagnostic Ultrasound Procedures

77001-77022—Radiologic Guidance

77046-77067—Breast, Mammography

77071-77092—Bone/Joint Studies

77261-77799–Radiation Oncology Treatment

78012-79999 –Nuclear Medicine Procedures

Why is radiology billing a complex task? 

You may think that running a radiology practice is an easy task, but in reality, it can be pretty complex. The field of radiology billing is highly specialized and requires much more than basic computer knowledge.

Radiation medicine has become increasingly important in modern society as we’ve learned how to treat various diseases using radiation therapy or other treatments such as chemo-radiotherapy and surgery. However, to provide these services efficiently and effectively, you’ll need to know how much each procedure costs to charge patients accordingly.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always obvious when dealing with complex billing issues—even if it was easy enough for anyone at any level of experience. 

Incomplete and inaccurate documentation:

The first reason is that radiology bills are often incomplete and inaccurate. This is because many providers do not have the time to complete the documentation. The second reason is that since radiology billing is a complex task, it’s difficult for people to keep up-to-date with policy changes, coding guidelines, and carrier requirements. This makes it very difficult for them to bill accurately.

Keep top of Policy and Regulations Changes:

Because so many regulations and policies affect radiology billing, keeping track of all these changes can be very challenging. You must also follow carrier requirements as they change over time. You’ll need to make sure carriers approve your claims before submitting them so that they can process your payments correctly.

Updates in Coding Guidelines:

Changes in coding guidelines make providers need to update their coding software and their billing system to charge patients for their services accurately. This means you’ll need to ensure that your medical billing for radiology software is up-to-date with the latest versions available so that it can be used on any given day without any problems.

Outsourcing radiology billing— is a brilliant idea:

It is always an excellent idea for small or large practices. It allows you to focus on what you do best, patient care.

No longer must you be concerned about billing, so more time and energy can be spent on what matters most: getting your patients better!

Benefits of hiring radiology billing:

There are several critical benefits of radiology billing.

  • Reducing costs: By moving to an outside billing service, you can reduce costs by eliminating the overhead associated with running a radiology clinic and hiring full-time staff. Outsourcing radiology billing allows you to focus on other aspects of your practice, such as patient care or marketing.
  • Improving efficiency: With outsourced services like Radbilling for Radiology (RAR), you can swiftly get all your bills completed and for a low price that would have been required if you were doing them yourself. This will help improve efficiency so that more time can be spent providing better care for patients who need it most!
  • Increasing revenue: When companies outsource their accounting needs along with other administrative tasks like payroll processing and managing receivables accounts receivable (RACR), they often find themselves with increased revenues as well! This is because businesses can cut costs by outsourcing specific tasks explicitly related to financial management. But they still have access through web-based technology platforms such as RAR,, where they receive timely updates and enjoy greater security when sharing sensitive information between departments within their organization.”
  • Flexibility: Outsourcing radiology billing gives you more options regarding how you want to run your practice. Whether that’s having different types of imaging performed at other times or sending more patients your way by offering different kinds of imaging services than what’s currently being done in-house, for example, if all of your current employees are technicians, none are radiologists.
  • Make sure the billing company is reputable: If you’re going to pay someone else for something, Someone with experience is what you need. A good way of finding out if this person has experience working on similar projects before hiring them would be by checking out their website or social media accounts (if they have any). If possible, talk directly with previous clients who’ve worked with them so they can give recommendations based on those experiences–this gives potential customers confidence knowing there won’t be any surprises when dealing with them later down the line after signing up initially as well!

Therefore, it is an excellent idea to get outsource radiology billing services as it is done correctly and quickly. Many companies offer this service, but choosing one with a reputation for providing quality artistry is essential. Reliable companies ensure that the customer is happy with their experience with the company, which can lead to repeat business.

Medicare covers radiologists:

Yes, Medicare covers diagnostic and radiology services; however, they must be carried out or overseen by a licensed radiology physician. Obtaining Medicare payment for these services requires a certified radiology physician to evaluate the results of the tests or scans performed. The physician determines if the test or scan was done correctly and if it is safe to interpret the results.

How do you code radiology reports?

Here are the radiology billing guidelines: 

  • The code should match the header of the report. If it doesn’t, go back to the title and make sure everything is there.
  • Look at the technique of how it was coded. Is it appropriate?
  • Check whether any more modifiers are required (for example, 59, 76, 77, or X modifier).
  • Then code the CPT.
  • Look over the report to quickly understand the exam’s purpose. 
  • If there are any discoveries, assign ICD-10-CM codes based on your impression. Reasons for the exam, if not code

Conclusion:

Outsourcing radiology billing is a good idea for small or large practices. There are several key benefits you would get from hiring these services. First, it helps you ensure that your billing is done correctly and quickly. Therefore, if you’re looking for a trustworthy company, you can hire U Control Billing. We are a leading Radiology Billing company providing professional billing services for many years. So do not waste time; call us directly now and get the best services. We assure you that spending money on us will never make you regret it. 

 

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