You want to know if the company is working out of a basement somewhere using third party software. Is it just someone wanting to work from home, or are they established with a long-term commitment to the business? Do they answer the phone when you call!
Do they truly know your business, did they work as a biller in a practice, or do they really know the "business" of healthcare? Have they ever owned a practice?
This will allow you to quickly assess whether they can perform. With a "mom-pop" staff, you are subject to performance/cash flow delays when someone gets sick, quits, or goes on vacation.
Here again you want to understand if one person will be doing your billing, or if a team be assigned to provide you better coverage.
This is key, and the single piece that most billing companies and in-house billers don't have time to do, or don't have the staff to dedicate to this function. This is where you differentiate between who is just "pushing" claims out, vs. those that are aggressively chasing them for you.
This should be part of your fee because it is a standard reality of the billing process.
Most good billing companies should be able to accept your claims, either by mail or secure electronic methods, regardless of their location.
You should not have to do any of this in-house, otherwise, you might as well do it all yourself.
This will give you closer access to your billing activity.
This will ensure security of your data and maximum efficiency.
This will ensure your claims are sent as per current CMS/Medicare rules and standards. Also ensuring your practice processes are per industry regulations.
Coding is being scrutinized more and more. Up-coding and improper coding will flag your practice for potential audits.
Providing detailed reports, reporting revenue, productivity and other financial needs ensures practice profitability.