It’s unfortunate, but yes … health claim errors happen way too often, even by the big-name companies. As Strategic Finance Magazine reported in September 2015, billing errors are estimated to be as high as 21%. That’s a pretty high number, isn’t it? Also reported is the estimate that the health care industry puts nearly 12% of its revenue toward the costs of billing and collection.

So, what’s the solution for fixing these billing issues? There’s no magic answer, but I believe that a lot of these excess errors come down to the need for a single, transparent set of processing and payment rules. Until that time arrives, a big part of our role is diligence. We need to be checking our health claims more carefully and more often. Scrutinizing them line by line.

The numbers tell the story – these costly mistakes are happening all the time. The more we are able to catch by being proactive, the fewer dollars out of everyone’s pockets.