In-house billing seems cost-effective on paper—just hire a biller and you're done, right? Wrong. The true cost includes salaries, benefits, training, software licenses, compliance monitoring, backup coverage, and the opportunity cost of management time spent on billing issues instead of patient care.
When your biller goes on vacation, gets sick, or quits, your revenue stops. When regulations change, you need training. When software updates, you need support. When audits happen, you need expertise. These hidden costs often make in-house billing more expensive than outsourcing.
Bottom line calculation: Factor in all costs—direct and indirect, obvious and hidden. Include the value of your time spent managing billing operations. Many practices discover that outsourcing provides better results at lower total cost, with the added benefit of predictable monthly expenses instead of variable staffing costs.