Medical Biller: Salary and Everything You Need to Know
For practice managers or decision-makers, growing the practice should be their top priority. One of the many ways to accomplish this is to maximize all the job roles they hire for, including medical billers or medical billing assistant. Because the job title is very descriptive, most practice leaders would consider it very familiar, but there’s more to medical billers than just processing patient payments.
To maximize the medical biller position, practice managers or decision-makers must better grasp its different facets, including its different types, such as in-person and virtual medical billers. Despite the two serving the same core purpose of streamlining the practice’s payment process, in-person and virtual medical billers still have differences that can make one a better fit for the practice.
How different are they?
In-person or virtual medical billers?
As their job titles suggest, the primary difference between an in-person and a virtual medical biller is where they perform their tasks. An in-person medical biller goes to the practice’s actual location so they can report for duty, making them a tangible asset because they can physically interact with the rest of the practice’s team members. On the other hand, virtual medical billers are healthcare professionals who fulfill their responsibilities remotely.
When it comes to managing them, most practice leaders would think an in-person medical biller is easier to manage because of how they work – they can easily be tapped on the shoulder when necessary, unlike virtual medical billers, who practice leaders can’t see physically working. However, this shouldn’t discourage practice managers or decision-makers from considering virtual medical billers because they have advantages that practices can’t enjoy with in-person medical billers.
When it comes to cost, there is a stark difference between an in-person medical biller salary and that of a virtual medical biller. On average, the former earns about $34,340 annually [1] – that means practices need to spend about $2,431 monthly to pay an in-person medical biller, on top of usual job benefits such as PTOs, 401(k), health insurance, and the sort [2]. In comparison, practices only need to pay a flat-rate fee for virtual medical billers that can mostly be 70% less than of an in-person medical biller, and that’s it; providing employee benefits is okay but not necessary.
Regardless of the job role, tedious and time-consuming payment processing is an unavoidable part of hiring in-house team members. When opting for an in-person medical biller, practice managers or decision-makers have no choice but to either process the payment themselves or onboard another team member to do it on their behalf, which is an added cost.
Most of the time, virtual medical billers work with a virtual assistant company that has a dedicated payroll team who processes the payment. By opting for a virtual medical biller, practice leaders get more time to focus on other tasks because they no longer need to worry about regularly ensuring their biller gets paid on time.
Similarly, virtual medical billers associated with a virtual assistant company often get a dedicated industry manager whose primary responsibility is supervising and guiding them to be a better fit for the practice. When choosing a virtual medical biller, practices can be more passive in managing them because someone else does it on their behalf – the same doesn’t apply to in-person medical billers.
On top of having an industry manager, virtual medical billers are often very independent because they know the perks and caveats of working remotely. This means they secure their primary work resources such as a good PC or laptop, a reliable internet connection, and a productivity-inducing workspace. The advantage is that practices can save even more money and effort because they don’t need to provide these valuable assets.
Moreover, virtual medical billers are more accustomed to learning the ropes in as little time as possible because they know how competitive the outsourcing industry is; being a fast learner increases their competitive edge.
All in all, incorporating a virtual medical biller into the existing team can enhance the efficiency of medical practices without requiring a significant amount of money, time, and effort.
Medical biller job description
To maximize the job role, practice managers or decision-makers must look deeper and ask what does a medical biller do?
Both in-person and virtual medical billers are responsible for managing the financial aspects of a healthcare practice. They create and submit medical claims to insurance companies, follow up on them, and ensure that the practice gets the appropriate reimbursement for their services. Medical billers also help resolve billing disputes, handle billing-related patient inquiries, and maintain accurate records of all financial transactions.
Practice leaders need to hire a good medical biller to ensure that their practice remains financially viable and that patients get an accurate bill. With a competent biller, practices avoid financial losses due to underpayments or denied claims, ultimately promoting their ability to provide quality care to patients.
Qualities of a good medical biller
Another question that practice leaders need to ask when maximizing a medical biller position is how to become a medical biller. Hence, they know what qualities and requirements to look for in a potential candidate.
The basics include either a healthcare-related educational background or experience, but a good medical biller possesses several vital qualities that help them succeed. They should have good organizational skills and be detail-oriented because they usually juggle multiple tasks and deadlines. In addition, they should also be able to communicate effectively because the role is bound to have many interactions with patients, insurance companies, and healthcare providers.
Moreover, they should be technologically competent because most, if not all, of the work is digital. Ideally, an excellent medical biller also has certifications in various coursework related to the job.
Where to post and find medical receptionist jobs
Whether in-person or virtual is their ideal choice, practices have a couple of options where they can look for and recruit the best possible candidate for the job, specifically;
Online Job Sites
The internet can be valuable for healthcare providers seeking medical biller positions. There are a lot of job posting websites, such as LinkedIn, a social media platform designed with professionals and businesses in mind. Using LinkedIn, practices can search for candidates based on job titles, location, and other criteria. They can also put up their open positions so that candidates can send in their application letters and resume. Alternatively, practices can also go with either Fiverr or UpWork if they want to focus more on recruiting virtual medical billers. Like LinkedIn, these two online sites connect businesses with professionals, albeit “remote” professionals.
The advantage of using online job sites to recruit medical billers is that they are very flexible because practice leaders have more agency with the recruitment process. However, this flexibility also means that a lot of the recruitment efforts must be made by the practice leaders, which includes reviewing hundreds of job applications, filtering out unsatisfactory candidates, creating legally-binding contracts, and others.
Virtual Assistant Companies
More on the safer side, enlisting the help of a virtual assistant company is an excellent option for practices to find, hire, and onboard their ideal virtual medical biller. These companies provide a more comprehensive recruitment service, such as matching practices with the best virtual talent, spearheading interviews, thoroughly screening candidates, training, and generating contracts.
By hiring a virtual medical biller through a reputable company, practices have the security of getting more reliable talent than the ones they would find through online job sites. In most cases, virtual assistant companies provide HIPAA-certification courses and refresher training to the talent they deploy. Overall, practices get to focus more on being more productive with their virtual medical biller instead of finding one who can fit the bill.
At My Mountain Mover, we receive many applications, but only the top 2% make the cut because we implement a rigorous screening process that allows us to find the best of the best. Our virtual medical assistants commit themselves to our standard for quality and excellence. To learn more about how we can help your practice move mountains, we would be delighted to meet you through a 10-minute discovery call!
References
[1] “Medical biller salary in United States” indeed.com
[2] “Top Ten Most Valued Employee Benefits” forbes.com