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Chandana Basu, HBSGI CEO

While doctors across the country are feeling the agony of expenses that slash their revenues, California-based Healthcare Business Services Groups, Inc. (HBSGI), has found something to ease the pain.

HBSGI has launched AutoMed® automated medical billing suite, which helps take a big bite out of operating costs and increases revenue. While HBSGI and AutoMed guarantee a 30 percent increase in revenues, some physicians already using the software have reported a 50 percent increase in revenues, and a 70 percent decrease in operating costs.

Headquartered in Las Vegas, AutoMed creators took more than five years to develop the practice management application. Working with HBSGI, AutoMed spent an additional 30 months perfecting the system to make it workable for all types of medical practices.

And not a minute too soon.

The MGMA's 2005 Cost Survey Reports for Single-Specialty Practices, based on 2004 data, found that total median revenue after operating costs declined between 1 percent and 6 percent per full-time family and internal medicine physician. Multispecialty practices also saw their costs exceed revenue. Although the percentage may sound small, relatively speaking, what it means in dollars is staggering. And operating expenses aren't the only factors eating away at profits.

Consider these figures: Each clinic averages five employees; staffing represents 31 percent of the total operational cost of a medical practice. An estimated 10 to 20 percent of collectible dollars get logged incorrectly and are lost. Charges that never get billed can account for as much as 20 percent of total revenue loss. Denial of claims can add up to as much 30 percent of all claims submitted; 50 percent of these denials never get resubmitted. It is estimated that the average physician loses $60,000 each year due to under coding.

That's where AutoMed steps up to bat, scoring a much-needed home run for medical practices.

Chandana Basu, CEO of HBSGI, said one advantage of using the new AutoMed® 5.0 is that there is no more need for data entry personnel; therefore, human error and down time is removed from the equation.

"No one has to look up coding or take care of the billing, so you don't have to worry about things getting miscoded or failing to be followed up on and losing money. This software does all of that," Basu said.

With AutoMed, registration forms are scanned into the software, which has a character recognition component that turns handwriting into digital images. If the computer can't recognize a character, it triggers that character so it can be corrected right there.

After seeing the patient, the completed AutoMed superbill is automatically coded for claims processing. The program then electronically submits HCFA-1500 (CMS 1500) and UB92 claim forms instantly to the insurance provider listed on the patient file. If an insurance company doesn't allow electronic billing, a paper bill is printed. AutoMed also creates appeals, posts electronic payments, tracks open appointment times as well as drugs and supplies, alerts staff if the bill remains unpaid, and completes comprehensive management performance reports to optimize profitability. It also automatically sends out delinquent notices at 45, 60 and 90 days.

"It's not possible for a doctor to follow up on all of these unpaid notices," Basu said. "Doctors are losing money because things aren't getting followed up on or coded correctly. With this, they don't have to worry about any of it."

Memphis ENT Dr. C. Allan Ruleman Jr., of Ear, Nose & Throat Group, Inc., has reviewed the material, but doesn't have the software — yet.

"I think this could create a substantial savings in overhead," Ruleman said. "In the ENT business, we have … thousands of small individual billing codes. This would be extremely advantageous. I definitely think we need to look at it hard."

Bob Whiddon, AutoMed southeast franchise owner in Memphis, said a software update expected early next year will add an EMR component.

"The whole thing is trying to, at the point of care, eliminate all manual steps possible," Whiddon said. "EMRs are the next step to doing that."

The AutoMed suite is a ready-to-use system customized for each practice. The estimated cost is around $1,000 per physician per month for five years, with ownership of the suite at the end of the five-year period.

"It's a small investment," Whiddon said, "because it will save you so much."


November 2006

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