HHS says billing rule will cut red tape for doctors, save up to $9B

Officials say the interim rule, published Tuesday, will streamline electronic billing for doctors and save time and money.

CQ HealthBeat: HHS Says New Rule On Fund Transfers Will Cut Red Tape For Doctors
Doctors, hospitals and health insurance plans will be able to more smoothly coordinate electronic claims payments and adjustments under an interim final rule the Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday. HHS officials said that despite the proliferation of electronic payment transfers of funds throughout the business world, many doctor practices and hospitals continue to receive and deposit paper checks for paid claims from insurers and manually record the payments in their accounting systems. Making this into an electronic process will save money and administrative time, HHS officials said (Norman, 8/7).

The Hill: HHS: New Rules Will Save Up To $9 Billion
HHS said in a statement that the average doctor spends three weeks per year on billing and dealing with insurance companies. By streamlining those processes and making billing more efficient, HHS said, the new rules will save somewhere between $2.7 billion and $9 billion. "These new rules will cut red tape, save money and ensure doctors spend more time seeing patients and less time filling out forms," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement (Baker, 8/7).