We recently conducted a survey of both practices and medical billing companies to learn about the status of a variety of medical billing and medical billing software issues. The respondents were a random selection of both Kareo customers and non-customers, with a total of 218 responses from medical practices. The results of the medical practice survey are shown below, with the medical billing company results to follow.
The medical practice survey provided some insights we found interesting, and we think you will, too. Among the results:
- 52.9% of respondents reported doing insurance eligibility verification, with 42% doing the verification when the patient arrives at the office
- 44.6% check claim payments against payer contracts for all payers
- Average days in accounts receivable was less than 40 days for 39.1% of respondents
- 17.1% of respondents report a net collection rate of 92-96%
- The biggest concerns in practice management, in spite of EMR incentives and Medicare audits, are 1) reductions in Medicare payments (58.2%) and 2) patient payment collections (50.8%)
- 22.1% of respondents report using an EMR/EHR for more than a year, with 75.9% of those using it for electronic charting by the doctor
- 28.4% of Kareo customers responding to the survey reported billing with 2-6 days of signing up
You can see the full results below. We hope that you find this information useful, and review your practice’s current procedures against the industry.
Medical Billing Survey–Responders in Practices
218 Responders
1. Are you currently a Kareo customer?
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| Yes | 62.8% | |
| No | 37.2% | |
2. How long after signing up with Kareo were you billing?
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| 2-6 days | 28.4% | |
| 1 week | 14.2% | |
| 2 weeks | 17.9% | |
| 3 weeks | 10.4% | |
| 4 weeks | 8.2% | |
| More than 4 weeks | 20.9% | |
3. What type of practice do you have?
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| Medical | 64.2% | |
| Chiropractic | 1.4% | |
| Ophthalmologic/Eye care | 0.5% | |
| Physical therapy | 13.5% | |
| Multi-specialty | 2.8% | |
| Other | 17.6% | |
4. If Medical or Other, please further identify your specialty:
| Specialty | Response Percent | |
| Audiology | 2.0% | |
| Cardiology | 0.7% | |
| Cath Lab | 0.7% | |
| Dermatology/Internal Medicine | 5.3% | |
| DME | 0.7% | |
| Family Practice | 13.9% | |
| Gastroenterology/Hepatology | 0.7% | |
| General Practice | 1.3% | |
| General Surgery | 2.6% | |
| Geriatrics | 2.0% | |
| GI | 0.7% | |
| Imaging | 1.3% | |
| Independent Diagnostic Testing Facility | 0.7% | |
| Infectious Disease | 0.7% | |
| Internist | 9.3% | |
| Mental Health | 8.6% | |
| Nephrology | 1.3% | |
| Neurology | 4.6% | |
| Neuropsychology | 1.3% | |
| Neurosurgery | 0.7% | |
| OB/Gyn | 2.6% | |
| Oncology-Hematology | 1.3% | |
| Orthopedic Surgery | 1.3% | |
| Orthopedics | 1.3% | |
| Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine | 0.7% | |
| Other | 4.6% | |
| Otolaryngology (ENT) | 2.6% | |
| Pain Management | 2.6% | |
| Pediatrics | 7.9% | |
| Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation | 2.6% | |
| Podiatry | 4.0% | |
| Practice Management | 0.7% | |
| Primary Care and Cardiology | 0.7% | |
| Speech-Language Pathology and Occupational Therapy | 4.6% | |
| Urgent Care Clinic | 1.3% | |
| Urology | 0.7% | |
| Vascular Surgery | 0.7% | |
| Women’s health | 0.7% | |
5. How many providers are in your practice?
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| 1 provider | 51.4% | |
| 2-3 providers | 26.0% | |
| 4-5 providers | 9.1% | |
| 6-8 providers | 4.3% | |
| 8-10 providers | 1.4% | |
| More than 10 providers | 7.7% | |
6. Does your office do real-time insurance eligibility verification?
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| Yes | 52.9% | |
| No | 31.4% | |
| Planning to start within 6 months | 15.7% | |
7. Does your office do insurance eligibility verification as a standard practice:
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| When the appointment is scheduled | 33.0% | |
| Before the appointment reminder call | 24.0% | |
| When the patient arrives in the office | 42.0% | |
| Not at all | 2.0% | |
8. Do you check your claim payments to make sure you’re being paid the full amount based on your payer contracts?
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| Yes, for all payers | 44.6% | |
| Yes, but only for my top 3-5 payers | 13.8% | |
| Yes, but only for Medicare | 2.6% | |
| No | 20.0% | |
| I don’t know/not sure | 19.0% | |
9. What is your practice’s average days in accounts receivable? (By this we mean the average number of days from the date you bill to the date you are paid.)
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| Less than 40 days | 39.1% | |
| 41-45 days | 17.2% | |
| 46-60 days | 13.5% | |
| 60-75 days | 7.3% | |
| 76-90 days | 5.2% | |
| I don’t know/not sure | 13.1% | |
| My practice doesn’t track | 4.6% | |
10. What is your practice’s net collection rate? (Note: This is the percentage of charges you collect net of contractual insurance adjustments.)
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| More than 96% | 7.3% | |
| 92-96% | 17.6% | |
| 87-91% | 7.8% | |
| 82-86% | 7.3% | |
| 77-81% | 4.7% | |
| 76% or less | 10.4% | |
| I don’t know/not sure | 36.3% | |
| My practice doesn’t track | 8.6% | |
11. Who handles the billing for your practice? (Check all that apply)
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| Billing manager | 31.4% | |
| Office manager | 34.0% | |
| Receptionist | 5.7% | |
| In-house biller | 24.7% | |
| Practice owner | 13.4% | |
| Billing service | 16.0% | |
| Other | 5.2% | |
12. Have you experienced a Medicare audit by a RAC?
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| Yes | 7.2% | |
| No | 92.8% | |
13. How concerned are you about these issues in future practice management?
| Answer Options | Very | Somewhat | Slightly | Not Concerned | Not Aware | |
| Conversion to 5010/ICD-10 | 29.1% | 35.4% | 14.3% | 10.1% | 11.6% | |
| EMR incentives | 31.9% | 31.9% | 13.3% | 16.0% | 8.0% | |
| EMR penalties | 28.2% | 27.7% | 16.0% | 19.7% | 9.0% | |
| Medicare RAC audits | 20.1% | 27.5% | 20.1% | 22.2% | 10.6% | |
| Medicare ZPIC audits | 17.2% | 24.2% | 15.1% | 21.0% | 23.1% | |
| Reduction in Medicare payments | 58.2% | 20.1% | 6.9% | 10.6% | 4.8% | |
| Patient payment collections | 50.8% | 33.2% | 12.3% | 3.2% | 1.6% | |
14. What is your practice’s status regarding an EMR/EHR?
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| We’ve been using an EMR/EHR for more than a year | 22.1% | |
| We adopted an EMR/EHR 6-12 months ago | 9.4% | |
| We adopted an EMR/EHR within the last 5 months | 16.0% | |
| We are planning to adopt an EMR/EHR within 3 months | 9.9% | |
| We are planning to adopt an EMR/EHR within 6 months | 7.0% | |
| We are planning to adopt an EMR/EHR within one year | 10.8% | |
| We are undecided whether to adopt an EMR/EHR | 17.4% | |
| We are not planning to adopt an EMR/EHR | 7.5% | |
15. To what extent are you using your EMR/EHR system? (Check all that apply)
| Answer Options | Response Percent | |
| Electronic patient records (storing patient records electronically via scanning, etc., but doctor is not using EMR to chart patient visits) | 43.8% | |
| Electronic charting (by doctor) | 75.9% | |
| Electronic charting (by an assistant) | 38.4% | |
| E-prescribe | 54.5% | |
| Electronic medical lab interfaces | 29.5% | |
| Document management | 58.0% | |
| Interfacing with patient health record (PHR) such as Microsoft HealthVault, Google Health, etc. | 9.8% | |
How do these survey results compare to your own experiences? What do you think the future holds? We’d love to hear your comments and feedback.
