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Medical Billing Basics

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Last editedMay 20222 min read

For those running a private clinic or offering medical services to paying patients, there are a number of different procedures that you need to be familiar with. In particular, learning how to write up a medical invoice is an essential skill to provide efficient services to your patients.

While there are many similarities with other types of invoices, there are also some things that make doctors’ invoices different. For example, you should include certain details such as the diagnosis code and procedure code, if applicable. Keep reading to find out more about medical billing basics and to see the medical invoice format.

What is an invoice?

Before getting into the particulars of medical invoicing, it’s useful to think about the purpose of invoices and the information that should be included in these. The medical invoice format includes much of the same information.

An invoice is essentially a request to a client (or in this case a patient) to make a payment for goods or services that they have received. Naturally, this means that a detailed breakdown of costs will be necessary, along with details of how payment can be made. This should always include a clear due date, as well as payment terms that indicate what action will be taken in the case of late or missed payments.

On top of these financial details, an invoice should also include basic information about both the company and the client. For example, a full address and name should be included for both parties.

Finally, it is helpful to include an invoice number and date that allows you to easily identify the invoice. This can be particularly important in cases where you have to dispute payment or chase up late payments.

Medical invoice format

While there are many common factors with general invoices, the medical invoice format has some specific information that you should include. Here are some of the details that should not be missed:

Your provider number or professional number, which is the unique number that is issued to eligible health professionals.
The specialty of the clinic, or of the procedure that was carried out.
Patient’s insurance policy number, or the details of the paying organisation (for example, if the patient has a medical plan that is covered by their workplace).
A diagnosis code and detailed description of the diagnosis. This is part of the industry standard, but many insurers will not actually require this. In any case, it’s best to include this to cover your bases.
The name of the consultant that was in charge of patient care, along with their professional or provider number.
The type of care that was given. For example, was this in-patient, out-patient, a day case, or other?

If you’re looking for more information, you can take a look at a medical bill template or consult the industry’s guide to medical billing. This document allows medical professionals to bill to a common standard.

Medical invoicing software

While not a specialised medical invoicing software, GoCardless offers a convenient way for businesses, including medical clinics, to collect invoice payments directly from your patients’ bank accounts. Patients will simply be required to give initial authorisation, and then payments will be collected automatically on the due date.

Automated online invoicing saves both time and money, and on average businesses that use GoCardless get paid 47% faster than other businesses.

GoCardless also offers a free template that can be adapted to create a fillable medical invoice. You can download this here. Alternatively, you can do a quick search on Google to find a medical bill template that is more specialised to your needs.

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.