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Guide to the Best Medical Billing Software

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedMay 20222 min read

Businesses of all kinds need to find the best way to handle their finances, whatever the industry. However, this becomes even more essential for healthcare practices, when the main focus should be on patients rather than accounting and administration. Software can help to avoid some of the most common medical billing issues, so you can concentrate on delivering great care.

For those unfamiliar with accounting software, the options can be overwhelming. There are so many different medical billing services for small practices that it can be difficult to know where to start. There are a number of different factors that might influence your decision, from pricing to the different features on offer. Keep reading to find out more about medical practice billing software.

What is medical practice billing software?

Put simply, medical billing softwareis any software that automates invoices and payment collection. You can also make use of accounting software that will help you to keep records of different incomings and outgoings, so that you have a better picture of your practice’s overall cash flow.

Any medical billing software that you use should integrate with your accounting software. This means that payments can be automatically recorded as they are made, cutting out administration work and saving you both time and money.

Features of medical billing accounting software

There are a number of different possible features that you should look out for when choosing medical billing accounting software. Some are essential, whereas others may depend on the specific needs of your practice. These include:

Payment processing, which should be an essential feature of any medical practice billing software.
The best medical billing software includes integrated insurance claims processing. This can be useful for patients who either have private health insurance plans or are covered by their place of work.
Reports and analytics to help you get a better picture of your practice’s financial health and how you could improve this.
Use of diagnostic codes such as DSM or ICD that can be automatically added to the patient invoice.
Integration with appointment scheduling to record attendance and automatically submit invoices after the event.

Make sure to carefully consider exactly what is needed for your practice before you compare options.

On-site vs cloud deployment

As in many different industries, medical billing is moving more and more towards a cloud-based accounting model. The essential difference here is that on-site software stores data physically at your practice (for example, locally on your computer), whereas cloud software stores this remotely.

There are a number of advantages to using cloud-based accounting. In particular, this allows you to access data from any location, offering you greater flexibility on where you work. In addition, on-site deployment often requires additional hardware and therefore ends up being more expensive.

Medical billing accounting software and security

As with any accounting software, security should be a central concern. With healthcare practices, since the data is particularly sensitive, it’s important that you take a look at the steps your accounting software takes to protect data. Ensure that any communications and patient data are encrypted to keep them safe.

Using GoCardless for medical billing

GoCardless offers a convenient way for all kinds of businesses, including medical clinics, to collect invoice payments directly from patients’ accounts. They simply need to give authorisation and payment details once, and then payments can be automatically collected on the day that they are due.

On average, businesses that use GoCardless for their payment collections get paid 47% faster. Success+ payment intelligence automatically attempts to recollect any failed payments, which helps businesses to recover around 70% of failed payments. This saves you time chasing up late payments, leaving you free to focus on providing great healthcare.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.