Outsourcing Medical Billing Services to India

by Tammy
(USA)

Has anyone had experience with their providers medical billing services to companies based in India - or any other country? One of our clients is considering outsourcing their billing to save money and I'm trying to educate them on the issues this may have on their revenue.

Evidently a salesman or "consultant" for one of these off-shore billing service companies has been working hard to convince them how much they can save.

My concerns with using a billing service in a country like India is how knowledgeable they can be with American coding and insurance reimbursement. And what about HIPAA compliance. Another question is how well do they work the accounts receivables?

Just wanted to post here in hopes someone has some advice or experience in outsourced billing to a company in another country.

Thanks!

Response:
Thanks for your question. We haven't encountered a situation where a client has decided to use an off-shore billing service - yet. But I have heard stories of this happening.

Another concern for us would be who would a patient call when there is a problem with their bill. And how well would the off-shore billing service understand the problems and be able to correct it? There are a lot of issues that require close coordination and communication with the providers office.

There is also the language barrier concern. I'm sure many of you have tried to resolve customer service issues with an overseas service. Unless they are very fluent in English and American culture, that may not end well - for both the patient and practice.

I certainly understand your concerns and invite our visitors to comment or share their experiences by clicking the link below.