When you decided to open your own medical practice, your primary objective is probably to deliver the highest quality of care to your patients. The other priority high on your list is to run a profitable and thriving practice. For that, you want to make sure that your practice gets a steady stream of revenues. Most patients who come to you are covered by their medical insurance plans. Besides any type of copay from the patient, your primary revenues will come from the insurance companies based on the contract negotiations that you made with the insurers.
Medical insurance is extremely complex and can be overwhelming to medical professionals who do not understand exactly how it works, but who must rely on the insurance companies to pay them. If you feel apprehensive about dealing with this yourself, you should hire a healthcare consulting firm that can take care of the payor contract negotiations on your behalf.
What adds to the complexities is that because medical insurance standards are regulated by the government, lawmakers often change healthcare policies based on public demand. In response to that, insurance companies adjust their policies and coverage. Insurance reimbursement rates might need to be adjusted. For your medical practice to negotiate contracts effectively with the insurer, you must stay apprised of these changes. The problem is that you are not likely to have time to keep up with the developments. However, if you use a healthcare consulting firm, the consultant can do all of the negotiating on your behalf and make sure that you get the most favorable terms in your contract.
Each insurance company has its own contract for your practice. The contact is usually very long and detailed and full of legal jargon. If you want to accept insurance from ten different companies, you must read, understand, and accept the terms of ten different contracts. Imagine the enormous amount of time you would spend on this and the risk that you might miss a detail if you were not reading it carefully. When you let your healthcare consultant negotiate on behalf of your practice, you can let go of this burden.
When you place payor contract negotiations in the capable hands of an expert who has in-depth experience in dealing with insurance companies, you can focus your time on patient care. You can have peace of mind that the negotiation expert will help you get the most favorable terms.