There are more than 8,400 regional hospitals in the U.S., which is down from about 9,000 a decade ago, but slightly up since 2020. Regional and rural hospitals face a harsh set of circumstances different from major metropolitan areas.
Medical billing is complex and there’s always the potential for mistakes to happen. Any problem can be costly for a federally qualified health center (FQHC) as it uses its scarce resources to serve medically underserved populations.
Staffing is one of the healthcare industry’s most frustrating challenges. The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) reports that 68% of U.S. health centers have lost between 5% and 25% of their workers within the past 6 months. Another 15% have lost 25% to 50% of their workers during the same period.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are making big changes in the medical field, reshaping how healthcare happens in the United States. A nationwide study found that 90% of healthcare companies had an automation strategy in place by the year 2020, up from 53% the year prior. Today, almost every healthcare organization is actively planning its future with AI.
Why are billing and coding such significant aspects of the AI discussion? It’s because they fit naturally into the skillset of automation.
How efficient is your community health organization’s mental health billing? The community healthcare model presents a different set of challenges from the traditional healthcare billing process.
Below, we’ll explain this model in more detail and share five best practices you can use to improve your billing for mental health services.