For many healthcare providers, billing health insurance plans can be a very difficult and confusing process. In fact, an unclear understanding is often the reason that $262 billion of insurance claims are denied. Even worse, 65% of denied claims are never reworked even though two-thirds of them are entirely recoverable. A lot of this inefficiency can be attributed to the way that health insurance information is taken.
Many providers utilize the traditional method of paper and a clipboard, but unfortunately this is highly susceptible to human error. You could also choose to take this information digitally, but this too is susceptible to human error. On top of that, digital intake is far more time-consuming than a written method, requiring 260 hours a week or 6.5 workweeks a year in just inputting insurance information. There is new technology like Optical Character Recognition (OCR), but this technology’s infancy is prevalent with its 60% success rate.
The issue between all 3 of these systems is that they are only the basic level of tools, and do not set you up for proper success. They enable you to intake their ID cards and process images but not much else. However, they don’t verify payer information, validate benefits, or identify payers and plans from images.
So how can you reliably, accurately, and efficiently capture someone’s health insurance information? The best way is to have a dedicated health insurance capture system. There are two main ways to go about this, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. You can choose to build your own insurance verification automation capture system or purchase one from a dedicated insurance capture company.
For the former, a large capital outlay is required to design, build, test, and implement a system, not to mention the amount of time as well. After spending multiple millions of dollars and several years, the job isn’t done yet. You need to pay an IT team, pay to train them, and pay to replace the new parts needed for the machine. This means there is a high upfront cost in addition to high lifetime costs as well.
Alternatively, you can choose to partner with an insurance card capture system. With this option, you don’t need any upfront cost outside the purchase and implementation of the system. The lifetime costs also get drastically reduced, as you only need to pay for API subscriptions and transactions. You also don’t need a dedicated IT team, as the vendor provides that for you as well. Unfortunately, introducing a vendor adds the risk of untrustworthiness and unresponsiveness which can harm your business.
Fortunately, Orbit allows a solution that merges creating your own system with a vendor-bought system. They read printed ID cards, digital wallets, screenshots, and other forms of documentation to verify the payer and plan information on the spot. In under 5 seconds, Orbit systems validate, verify, and map health insurance information in real time. Ultimately, whether you want to cut down on human error or enjoy the cost savings from insurance capture automation, Orbit’s systems have something of value for you.
Source: Orbit Healthcare
