The process of medical billing can be likened to a well-oiled machine, with its many cogs meshing together for the purpose of something greater. In this instance, the ‘something greater’ is the functioning existence of healthcare itself. In today’s world of cash-credit payments, the process of micromanaging transactions between two or more financial parties can become extremely convoluted. It’s not as simple as the two-way street it appears to be, between just a customer and the receptionist. A lot of people don’t know what makes medical billing agencies so valuable to their clinics. Here are three things you (probably) didn’t know about medical billing:

Certification is Required

Not just anyone can do the rigorous work that medical billing demands. A medical billing agency is not the same thing as having another receptionist or secretary. A collegiate level of schooling is required to become part of a medical billing agency. Technical colleges train people to be able to deal with reluctant insurance agencies throughout the process of handling financial transactions and the complicated medical codes and software that are involved as well. Medical billing agencies provide a specialized service that your receptionists won’t have been trained in.

Medical Codes are Used

Medical billing agencies are paid to deal with the complicated system of medical codes. Medical codes are the hundreds of thousands of codes associated with every patient’s medical history. Every doctor’s visit they’ve ever taken, every trip to the hospital, that one time they mistook the common cold for Ebola– everything has a medical code. And, just as the medical field itself changes, what those codes mean could be in flux, too. This is understandably complicated, and potentially problematic for your office to try to learn all at once– or at all. You have enough to worry about without having to sort through complex medical jargon. Fortunately, medical billing agencies are trained to remain up-to-date on the various medical codes used throughout the healthcare system.

Specialized Software Assists in Medical Billing

Specialized software– software that is sold to and uniquely used by medical billing agencies– aids in the process of making sense of the nigh-infinite amounts of data that permeate the modern healthcare system. This specialized software is complicated, and requires training in order to be used correctly. This software is something that medical billing agencies have already, so health clinics don’t need to purchase any of the esoteric software themselves. The purchase, know-how, and application of it is all handled by a medical billing agency.