Importance of Accounting in Healthcare

For many years, investors have expressed a desire for audit reports to provide more Especially during this pandemic, we will tend to spend more on our healthcare. Thus, managing and organizing finances during this time is crucial. The type of audit in healthcare is called medical audit. Medical audit provides the framework to improve the quality of patient care in a collaborative and systematic way. Through Audit we can identify emerging trends, which enables us to identify risks and implement actions before it becomes a bigger issue.

1.     The irrelevant coding or coding errors will lead to the claim denials, medical auditing helps to find out and correct the issues before the insurance or government payers challenge inappropriate coding.

2.     The unnecessary billing will either affect the healthcare providers or the patient. Medical auditing is one of the ways to prevent such fraudulent claims and medical billing activity

3.     Under coding happens when patients are not charged for all the treatment or administrations rendered. These fraudulent activities can result in audits and investigations. Medical auditing helps to avoid this kind of problems and to bill appropriately for documented procedures

4.     It’s medical coders’ responsibility to research any new or reorganized codes as they arrive out, and use them correctly. Additionally, auditing helps to stop the use of outdated or incorrect codes for procedures and start with the new coding process.

5.     Medical auditing determines outliers before large payers find them in their claims software and request an internal audit be done.

6.     It helps to identify reimbursement deficiencies and opportunities for appropriate reimbursement.

7.     Medical auditing helps to verify ICD-10-CM and electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use readiness

Auditing medical records may seem to be a long process but it is very important and at the very least, your practice should be internally audited at least once a year. The data contained within these charts can be very useful for improving healthcare efficiency and ensuring patient satisfaction. It’s important to use all of the resources at your disposal to provide the best possible experience for your patients.