Medical Office Operations
Medical offices are established solely to assist people suffering from different illnesses. These individuals are patients that medical officers attend to in an attempt to treat them. Medical offices are also regarded as places of business that generate income in order to maintain their operation. In this situation, it means that medical officers have to charge patients for services they offer to them. Based on this consideration, medical officers undertake dissimilar kinds of income generating activities that need to be reviewed.
Medical officers handle billable revenue and collection, both of which bear distinctive meanings. Billable revenue is used to define charges that patients pay after receiving services in terms of treatment or care. Allen (2011) has identified billable revenue as the cost that is executed on customers who are obligated to pay. In this case, patients are the customers who pay for services rendered to them by physicians in the medical offices.
On the other hand, collections are described as money that is expected from patients who received services but did not manage to pay. This is because the patients were unable to pay for the services provided to them by a medical specialist. Medical offices handle billable revenue and collections in the course of their operations. Billable revenue is essential in that it ensures efficient running of the office. However, it becomes disadvantageous when it turns into collections which are full of uncertainty.
There is a disparity between receivables and collections that in turn may either be an advantage or a hindrance. A medical office faces a possibility of being hindered by disparity in these two mentioned areas. Since receivables and collections can only operate well when separated in two categories, the resultant occurrences would be of much strain to the available resources. Moreover, cost for running the medical offices in the same mode of separation would substantially increase. Another impediment would be experienced in terms of difficulty in separating them. In the mode of separation, smooth running of the medical office will prove difficult. Furthermore, processing receivables will be time consuming thereby delaying the collection process (Calabro, 2010).
When dealing a medical office is dealing with receivables and collections, some interference may arise that will consequently alter the normal operations of the business. Calabro (2010) observes that the speed of processes in the business will be slower if they are separated. Since the processes occurring in a separated mode consume a lot of time, they, therefore, prove to be more of a hindrance to the medical office than of any assistance.
In many situations, a medical office experiences bills that are past their repayment date. In such a situation, what counts is the method that the offices use to help them collect the bills. There are dissimilar methods that the medical offices apply for a successful collection of the same. The most common in this era involves selling the unpaid bills to collection firms (Konrad, 2010). After such a sale, the liability of the debt is transferred to the collection firm though the medical office sells the unpaid bill at a lower price than it is worth. Selling unpaid bills to collection firms affects the clients negatively as these firms report the bills to the Credit Score. Subsequently, some clients are flagged by banks and other financial institutions as not being creditworthy; in most cases the clients are not aware that it is their unpaid medical bills which affected their credit score once they are denied access to loans (Konrad, 2010). However, the recommended process for collecting such bills should involve first calling the client to inform them of their unpaid bill.
Medical offices, regardless of their size, make several financial transactions. According to Weller (2012), automation of these financial transactions helps minimize the administrative tasks in medical offices. Such tasks include payment of employees, where medical offices that have implement computerized banking can pay their staff using their online accounts given by their banks. Computerized banking also reduces time span between when a medical office is paid money in checks and the time that money is available to the office for use. Medical offices that use computerized banking just scan the checks they have received and the money immediately reflects in their accounts (Weller, 2012).
Disadvantages of using computerized banking for a medical office
Conversely, the use of computers lacks enough of service options. At the same time, it is relatively less versatile as compared to physical banking. Moreover, frequent charges that come about due to computerized banking show its expensive nature that not many individuals can afford. The use of computers is limited to those who have knowledge whereas those that are computer illiterate are not able to access the computer banking system.
Computerized banking and standard banking
Considering the above advantages that computerized banking entails, it, therefore, becomes a preferred means to standard banking. Usage of checks is quite cumbersome and lacks efficiency and accountability, as opposed to computerized banking. Computerized banking in medical offices also helps in reducing human errors which are common in standard banking (Humphrey, 2003). Keeping records in a medical office enhances accountability and competence by the medical offices that use them. Use of computers is associated with faster transfer of banking credentials that are legible and pleasant to the eye (Chron, 2012). In the banking systems, computers assure of better care of all the record of the patients as opposed to the standard means that are faced with a lot of insecurity.
Konrad, W. (2010). Protecting your credit score from the medical bill maze. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/18/health/18patient.html?ref=health
Weller, E. (2012). Advantages of computerized banking for medical offices. Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-computerized-banking-medical-offices-38460.html
Allen, K. (2011). Medical Billing Services: Percentage vs. Flat Fee Pricing Structures. Clinical Trials, Guidelines, and Research Reports. http://www.eupa2009.org/medical-billing-services-percentage-vs-flat-fee-pricing-structures.html
Calabro, A. (2010). Patients receivables management: The difference between profit and loss. Healio.com. Retrieved from http://www.healio.com/orthotics-prosthetics/internal-control/news/print/o-and-p-business-news/%7B4CDB4C0E-5A2D-45DA-8BF2-A78FD91399DC%7D/Patient-Receivables-Management-The-difference-betweenprofit-and-loss
Humphrey, D. (2003). Contemporary Medical Office Procedures. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=8GijOlQNybgC&dq=computerized+banking+in+medical+offices&source=gbs_navlinks_s
