This article posting is from “The Profitable Practice” website and has some great information about medical billing.

Medical billing reports are essential for diagnosing the health of a medical practice, and can save practitioners significant time and money. Reports can give insights into how a practice is performing on important revenue cycle metrics, whether its claims are being paid in a timely fashion and and how insurance carriers are reimbursing practitioners for various procedures.

A recent report from medical billing software review website Software Advice delves into three key medical billing reports that practices should be running regularly.

Accounts Receivable Aging Report
Although the Accounts Receivable Aging Report is one of the most basic, it’s also one of the most critical. This report tracks claims in detail; it can be used to find and confront payment issues.

For example, a practice can look at historical data in the report to determine an average time it takes their claims to be paid. They can then find “red flags,” or claims still unpaid after the average number of days. A user looking at the report can delve deeper into problem areas to shed light on what’s causing problems and what recurring issues may need to be addressed.

Key Performance Indicators Report
A Key Performance Indicators Report will track a practice’s most important metrics, such as number of procedures, collections and charges. This is the report that provides the best high-level view of a practice’s overall financial state. Tracking key metrics over time will allow practices to make appropriate projections and identify growth opportunities.

Because it tracks collections by CPT code, the report also allows practices to identify their most profitable encounters and CPT codes. This knowledge could even shed insight into how and to whom practices should market themselves.

Top Carrier/Insurance Analysis Report
A Top Carrier/Insurance Analysis Report tracks collections, payments and CPT codes from a practice’s top ten carriers. This lets practices compare reimbursement across carriers, an important way to monitor the financial health of a practice in terms of its top revenue sources.

This report can also be a useful tool in negotiating contracts with payers. And, if a practice identifies a carrier that is paying significantly less than others for the same CPT codes, they may even choose to drop that carrier. Though this is option seems unattractive to many practices, experts suggest dropping under-paying carriers can save a practice as much as $50,000 per year.

Medical billing software that can generate these reports automatically can save a practice tremendous time and effort as well as shedding invaluable insights into its financial goings-on. Running these three key reports will allow practices to keep a finger on the pulse of its financials, and ultimately bolster its bottom line.