Bulk billing doctors refers to the practice of billing for multiple services to the same patient at the same time. This practice is called a multi-visit billing arrangement (MLBA) or a multi-visit bill consolidation service. It can also be referred to as a coordinated bill consolidation system (CBCS) or a provider network billing system (PNBCS). In the past, a practice might have had to bill for one service from a patient and then send all of their bills out in different envelopes.
Nowadays, it is possible to bill for all the services that a doctor provides in a single trip, so the practice uses the term “bulk billing” to describe this new way of billing. The practice of bulk billing means that a single physician will bill insurance companies for all of his services in one bill. Instead of billing for each individual service, a single bill will be sent out for each service, and that single bill will have to be paid by the insurance company.
When a physician first begins bulk billing, it is common for him to receive billing statements that will have the name and address of the patient and the insurance company on them. These billing statements can be used for other purposes, including keeping track of how many times a particular service has been billed, and for keeping track of which insurance companies pay out on what types of services.
Physicians who have started to bulk bill their patients are able to save some money because insurance companies no longer have to pay for all of the services that they provide to patients as part of their office visits. Some patients don’t need more than a few services a year. So, in many cases the cost savings that are achieved by bulk billing are much greater than the cost savings that are achieved by using a single visit for all of a patient’s services.
Since insurance companies no longer have to pay for all of a patient’s health care services, they can pass the savings on to patients in many different ways. One of the biggest savings that can be seen is in the form of lower rates on health insurance premiums. Because the practice of bulk billing means that doctors are now able to bill for a larger number of services, they tend to have a better relationship with their insurance companies, and they can get lower premiums on policies that cover more services than they did before.
In general, bulk billing is a great option for patients, because they can make more use of the insurance company money than they would without the practice of bulk billing. There is also less paperwork involved with bulk billing. Because there are fewer doctors, there are fewer records to keep for, and there is less duplication of work to get completed.