Medical Billing - Data Problems

About 98% of all the work done inside of a medical billing program involves data entry. Medical billing databases can reach massive proportions. A company with thousands of clients can have databases that are tens of gigabytes in size. Unfortunately, as databases grow, so do the problems. We'll discuss some of the more common data entry and database problems and how to fix them or even avoid them, when possible.

One of the main causes of database problems is with the data entry personnel themselves. Each database program has a certain level of tolerance. Some are more tolerant than others. Those that are less forgiving can come to an abrupt halt when a data entry person types in data that is invalid. We're not talking about typing in a wrong address. We're talking about typing in alphanumeric characters in a numeric field. Most well made programs won't allow this to happen. But the ones that do invite serious trouble because this invalid data can corrupt a database, especially if it happens often. At the very least, the program reading the data will get so confused that it will cease to operate correctly.

The best way to avoid this problem is to train data entry personnel properly. Of course, it helps to spend the few extra bucks to get a program that is more forgiving of invalid data or, better yet, a program that won't allow it to happen.

Another common and more serious problem is the size of the database. As was mentioned above, large companies can have databases that are very large, especially if they are dealing with thousands of patients. Most programs will have a separate database for patient files, doctor files and so on. So getting a good program is the first step to avoid problems. The reason a large database becomes a problem is because as data increases, along the way, data is also deleted and modified. This constant process causes the database to become unstable. Compressing it often, if the software has that option, is one way to prevent this from happening. Another thing you can do is break up your patient and other files. Maybe have all patients A to M in one database and all N to Z patients in another. Most software programs will give you a way to do this.

Another cause of data problems is the hard drive itself. As this drive is constantly being written to, over time, it will begin to wear down. Eventually it will start to lose data. When this happens, the integrity of your database will begin to deteriorate. Bad network connections will also cause data to be written poorly. This will also cause the data to corrupt.

By running regular backups, doing maintenance on your equipment, keeping the data entry process simple and by doing what you can to lighten the load on each database, you'll be doing all that you can to prevent your database from turning into dust. The extra work, in the long run, will be more than worth it.

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Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Medical Billing

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