Medical Billing & the Cloud
Medical billing has traditionally been a paper based industry. Even today there are many claims that are filed in a paper system, However, many medical billing companies realized that by switching to electronic claim filing, they could get rejections handled in a more timely manner and were able to receive payments in a much quicker manner. Electronic claims submission were handled by clearinghouses.
Software companies realized they must change with their products to adapt to the changing need in the medical billing market. The next phase of medical billing software came application service providers (ASP). ASP models downloaded a program onto your computer and you uploaded your protected patient information and stored that information on the software company’s servers. Many companies branded this model as “web-based”.
The next phase of medical billing is access to the cloud. What this means is that medical billing software will no longer need to be stored on your business computer or server and will not be dependent on what type of operating system you have. An operating system is usually either Microsoft Windows or Apple Macintosh. When you move to the cloud you can update patient information on a Mac in the morning and a Windows system in the afternoon. This means that if your computer crashes, you will not loose any of your work and can simply pick up where you left off.
But how secure is the cloud? Medical billers must be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The Act is divided into 3 sections: physical, administrative, & technical. Cloud security would fall under the technical component of HIPAA security requirements. Under a cloud based model, where the security focuses on the encryption of data and security between the client (medical biller) and the vendor (software company), the requirement for the security falls on the shoulders of the vendor or software company. What this means is that there is one less worry that a medical billing company has and they can focus on maximizing their profits in their business, not on information technology concerns.
