An Introduction to electronic billing

Written by Peter Connor Thursday, 09 June 2011 00:00

How do you manage the invoicing for your practice? If you’re a consultant, specialist or medical secretary working in a small private practice, the chances are you’ll be relying on various bits of software such as Word and Excel, backed up by a manual system of diary and paper files for chasing overdue invoices. You might feel that this is a working solution that meets your needs. But could your billing and payment collection be managed more effectively?

Most larger practices use electronic billing to send invoices to insurers and this can have a big impact on the business bottom line. Could your practice benefit too? Put simply, electronic billing helps your practice keep track of invoices and get paid faster. It can save you time and money and it is easy to use. So how does it work?

It’s a fairly simple concept. Invoices are sent by a practice to the insurer via a secure online system. The major system in the UK is operated by Healthcode and has been used for several years by insurers and hospitals in the private health sector to clear and validate electronic bills.

The Healthcode system is web-based and encrypted to online banking standards. This means it can be accessed from any computer with a connection to the Internet – a major benefit to doctors working for various practices and hospitals.

Using the Healthcode system, consultants, specialists and medical secretaries can create an invoice and submit it to the insurer online. There’s a useful diagnosis and procedure code look-up tool and you can also generate paper bills for your self-pay clients.

Electronic billing results in significant reduction in the time spent on getting invoices out and payments in. The credit and debit control features provide a robust system for tracking payments and chasing overdue invoices.

You may be wedded to your old systems, feeling that they work and don’t need to be fixed. But cash flow is king and can you really afford not to switch over to a system that guarantees you getting paid more quickly?