Just over two months ago the newest medical billing cloud software designed for small businesses hit the market. Known as Kareo BillCo Edition, the software package is claimed by its namesake company to be the first of its kind in circulation.
Sponsored School(s)
Being cloud-based refers to storing important software, program information, and data on a server that is often remote (hence the cloud analogy), and which is easily accessible by multiple parties, such as billing and coding professionals, medical professionals, and patients. The cloud basically refers to a database that is accessible via the web with components that can also be modified.
Cloud software for medical billing companies isn’t an entirely new concept, however until now its price and complexity has made it only a reality for larger medical practices. The advantages of cloud-based software over traditional software programs are several, once the initial cloud software access package is downloaded:
- Important medical and financial information can be accessed in real-time by billing and coding professionals, healthcare professionals, and patients
- All that is required to access this information is a connection to the internet
- Medical billing form templates can be saved and modified
- Users have the possibility of real-time communication between billing and coding professionals, healthcare professionals, and patients
- Updates can be made directly by the software creators and need not be installed by those with a subscription to use the cloud program
- Billing and coding professionals, healthcare professionals, and patients can have greater confidence seeing real-time data such as billing histories and other archived information
The prices for the Kareo BillCo Edition start as follows:
- $74.50 per month for small billing companies with a limit of 50 claims per month
- $149 per month for small billing companies with an unlimited amount of claims per month
The Company Behind the Cloud
Headquartered in Irvine, Kareo also has offices in Indianapolis and Las Vegas. Since its establishment in 2004, the company has worked with more than 30,000 small businesses and handled billions of dollars in claims. To date Kareo has received approximately 90 million in funding and in 2014 was ranked on Forbes’ America’s Most Promising Companies list. Currently the company employs more than 500, with the majority of those jobs being added since 2011.
With exponential growth since its founding, Kareo is poised to climb the next rung up from a mid-sized company to become a national leader in medical billing software. Its most recent cloud-based software release is definitely a step in this direction which capitalizes on two important industry trends:
- Transition to more electronically-based medical records
- Transition to cloud computing
Market leadership among small billing companies is not a speculation either, but a stated five-year goal according to Kareo. In addition to software, the company also provides practice management services that include:
- Claim processing and tracking tools
- Insurance eligibility verification tools
- Live online support
Last and certainly not least, Kareo’s software comes pre-programmed to be ready for the transition to the ICD-10, scheduled for October 1st of this year.