Introduction
For many healthcare practices, hospitals, and medical offices, managing the rising costs of business operations while maintaining a healthy billing cycle can seem challenging. You may know that many healthcare providers handle medical billing and coding on their own. This is why healthcare providers and clinics must utilize high-quality medical billing software. The right medical billing software and tools allow healthcare practices to automate and streamline their billing processes. Whether you run a medical practice, pediatric clinic, or a medical billing firm, having the best medical billing software platform helps organize and simplify your work, making your office more efficient. Medical billing software uses various integrations with current healthcare systems, such as EHRs and practice management software, to optimize and streamline operations. Core features and functionalities in medical billing software include claims processing, claims management, clearinghouse integration, and electronic claim submissions. If you would like to handle medical billing in-house, make sure you consider the top functions and features to look for in medical billing software. After that, consider our list of the best medical billing software solutions, so you can make an informed decision for your practice.What is Medical Billing Software?
A medical billing software platform is an application or tool that aims to provide healthcare providers, such as hosspitals, emergency care centers, and clinics, with a solution to automate workflow and streamline the payment process. Medical billing software assists healthcare practitioners and medical billing specialists in submitting and managing claims to insurance companies or other payers for medical services rendered to patients. Medical billing software is valuable to your practice as it helps prevent mistakes, improves your patient experience, and offers a streamlined and convenient interface for managing your expenses. Some of the fundamental features of medical billing software include the following:Electronic Claim Submission
The medical billing software allows healthcare providers to submit medical claims electronically to insurance companies, reducing the time and effort required to oversee paper-based billing.Patient Management
This includes key features such as scheduling appointments, storing and maintaining patient information and demographics, and tracking patient visits.Billing and Coding
Medical billing software automates the process of assigning medical codes to services and procedures, ensuring accuracy and compliance with insurance regulations. Also, medical billing software helps maintain patient privacy, making it simpler to keep up with regulatory and compliance changes.Best Medical Billing Software in 2023
When choosing a medical billing software solution, you must consider the unique needs of your medical practice. The best billing software manages schedules, processes payments, automatically enters patient information, and has scrubbing functions that boost insurance acceptance rates. Here are our top picks.DrChrono
A pioneer in the Electronic Health Record (HER) space, DrChrono provides an integrated and intuitive practice platform with high-end multi-location features, such as practice management, revenue cycle management, or medical billing at the practice level. DrChrono is cloud-based billing software, and practice management software and boasts a live claim feed for medical billing and payment processing, e-fax integration, and superbill generation. DrChrono’s reliable billing service promises to assist you with income stability while freeing up more time to care for your patients with its dynamic front-end EHR billing platform as well as an add-on back-end internal team. One thing that differentiates DrChrono from other EHR solutions and billing software is that it provides native telehealth features built into the EHR system, making it seamless. As a result, you don’t have to rely on a third-party telemedicine solution. Did you know that DrChrono was also the first EHR company to develop a native iOS application for the iPad/iPhone?Pros
- Transfer your current EHR information at no cost.
- Serving more than 17 million patients.
- Portable, functional iPad use when integrated with Apple TV.
- Provide a comprehensive and reliable suite of services and solutions.
- Integrated clinical chart and medical billing.
- Built-in telemedicine application.
Cons
- Complaints that the system can be slow sometimes.
- The Apple-centric design might not appeal to all customers.
CareCloud
CareCloud’s billing software is an all-in-one solution that minimizes the inefficiencies of the medical billing cycle, making your Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) process as seamless as possible. The software accomplishes this with nifty features, including claim scrubbing and submission, denial resolution, coding, centralized billing, payment processing, and advanced analytics. With a user-friendly design and intuitive interface, you can integrate the software easily integrated into your office with little training to streamline and optimize all administrative duties. This makes it a highly recommended medical billing software solution. The medical software provides a workflow designed for almost any practice. The system is also ideal for a busy healthcare practice or clinic with a few employees. CareCloud Concierge is CareCloud’s dependable RCM tool. It combines real-time data analytics and a team of professionals that will improve profitability, and manage administrative burdens. You will like how the platform offers a quick view of all billing information, helping you view and analyze collections data in minutes. This also ensures that you don’t have to dig through multiple portals and hubs to find crucial information. CareCloud also integrates with various scheduling and patient experience software tools, as well as clearinghouses and payment processors for preparing, scrubbing, verifying patient details, and processing and tracking submitted medical claims. With an analytics and reporting hub, you can benefit from attractive graphs and metrics that show you whether and how to improve your practice. The billing platform comes with an intelligent CollectiveIQ, or rules engine with its unique compilation of advanced billing rules, helping you avoid mistakes and get paid faster.Pros
- Offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface
- Fully customizable medical billing services
- Comprehensive platform with EHR, patient management, and RCM
- Cloud-based
- Also offers consulting services
Cons
- High implementation cost
- Users complain of slow phone support
Kareo
Designed for new and independent medical practitioners, Kareo’s amazing billing functionality helps healthcare providers and billing companies automate and track payments, easily submit to clearinghouses, and collect outstanding patient bills. The cloud-based medical billing system offers enhanced accessibility via its mobile apps and web. Kareo also allows healthcare providers and medical professionals to collect payments using automated text and email statements. Kareo also boasts an intuitive dashboard where medical billing firms and healthcare providers can directly perform an eligibility check on patients qualified for insurance claims. You can use the dashboard to check coding, enter charges, and send patient statements and insurance claims. You can also use it to process credit cards, print reports, automatically post payments, and manage denials. You will be pleased to know that Kareo’s billing capabilities integrate well with its patient and EHR portals, allowing you to see all medical billing-related information in one view. If you choose Kareo, you’ll also get complete access to Kareo’s EMR system without any additional cost.Pros
- Offers a practice management solution
- It has robust web and mobile apps
- Assigns a Success Coach when you sign up
- Affordable pricing
- Supports in-house billing system.
Cons
- Does not provide claims follow-up in the basic pricing plan
- You have to buy managed billing separately
athenaCollector
athenaCollector is a cloud-based medical billing solution that offers patient scheduling, claims management, and payment collection features and tools. Athenahealth provides this reliable and intuitive cloud-based billing platform for medical practices to easily manage their EHR, RCM, patient coordination, and so much more from almost anywhere on any device. It is one of the best medical billing software solutions for new medical practices as its medical billing portal is intuitive and simple to use. Also, the system is designed to ensure that your practice is optimizing operations and maximizing revenue, laying the groundwork to expand your business. The software is great at helping small practices easily navigate their clinical and financial results. The medical billing software is reliable and flexible and you can use it with EHR or on its own. Along with a slew of customizable reports, athenaCollector also delivers real-time analytics. This will help you compare your performance against athenahealth’s expansive network of over 150,000 healthcare organizations so that you know how to improve and streamline your practice. However, keep in mind that athenaCollector doesn’t code your insurance claims, but it does scrub claims for coding mistakes with human reviewers and a rules engine. After the codes have been checked and corrected, they will be sent to relevant insurance companies. athenaCollector is perfect for startups, small practices, and individual practitioners looking for a convenient and simple solution for payment processing and bill management. The best thing is that the vendor also coaches and guides you on how to get closer to the ideal level of optimization, making it ideal for healthcare leaders who want to learn and improve.Pros
- Simple navigation and interface
- The system leverages the athenahealth network to update its billing rules engine
- Robust reporting and data analytics features
- Offers a free demo on request.
- The vendor’s software and professional consultants offer insight and visibility into your clinical and financial performance.
Cons
- Doesn’t code insurance claims
- A low first-pass insurance claim rate
- Charges a small fee for denied medical claims
CureMD
CureMD is one of the leading and most comprehensive healthcare billing tools. CureMD is a cloud-based medical practice management and billing software that offers medical billing tools, customizable EHR, and enterprise scheduling. The billing platform streamlines scheduling, appointment management, billing, charting, e-prescribing, claims management, patient management, and treatment plans. CureMD’s sophisticated and reliable medical billing service includes an iPad app, a patient portal, and even a vaccine management system to meet your needs. With the CureMD billing system, physicians can also share their patient's prescriptions with nearby drug stores. The electronic prescription feature is valuable and connects thousands of pharmacies across the US, which is ideal for everyone as they will have more options when picking up medicine.Pros
- Relatively inexpensive and simple to use
- HIPAA compliant
- Cloud-based solution
- Customizable and simple dashboard
Cons
- No free plan
