The True Cost of In-House Technology

One of the largest costs to medical billing companies are costs related to technology.  The IT costs, server costs, security measures, and constant updates can cost more than $10,000 per year for a small to mid-size business.  This cost can be accelerated especially if there are security breaches to the data housed on the servers you maintain.  Added costs also include technology updates and hardware updates.

So what is a billing company to do?  One solution that has not been available until the last couple of years is to upgrade your billing software to the cloud.  The cloud is the term given to programs and storage that you can access through a URL.  A URL is the website address you type into your favorite internet browser.  The internet browser can be Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or a range of many other browsers.

Many people wonder if the cloud is secure enough to meet stringent HIPAA patient privacy rules.  The short answer is yes, the cloud does have the ability to meet those rules.  This is due to the secure protocol called HTTPS which provides a secure connection between your computer, the internet, and the software you are accessing.  To read more about HTTPS, you can read the wikipedia page here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Secure

Accessing biliing software via the cloud can cut your IT budget in half or more.  Although there are data integrity issues that you have to deal with when making the shift from your traditional software program, with appropriate quality controls and adequate process measures, you can start saving today!