Are you a small medical practice or health care provider struggling with the high costs of medical billing software? Fear not, for there are free medical billing software solutions available to help you manage your billing and revenue cycle management processes without draining your bank account.

Compare Top Medical Billing Software Leaders

Best Free Medical Billing Software

We know how challenging it is to select a free medical billing software solution. To make your software selection journey relatively easy, our analysts have curated a list of the best four solutions below.

Compare Top Medical Billing Software Leaders

Practice Mate

Developed by Office Ally, Practice Mate is a medical practice management solution that helps health care providers streamline claim submission, payment posting and billing processes. It caters to organizations of all sizes.

Attach claim forms to patient accounts with Practice Mate. Source

Pricing

• Office Ally offers Practice Mate for free. You can buy its EHR 24/7 product for $39.99/provider/month.

Top Benefits

• Improve Billing Accuracy: Capture and track patient services and treatments to reduce invoicing mistakes. Generate and send superbills to clients within minutes.
• Streamline Workflows: Automate tedious tasks like invoicing, claim submission and payment posting to focus on high-impact activities. Integrate with practice management tools and electronic health record (EHR) software to avoid manual data entry errors.
• Submit Accurate Claims: Eligibility verification and claim scrubbing tools enable you to determine patients’ insurance coverage and identify claim errors to help you reduce denials and rejections.
• Increase Revenue: The vendor provides a free clearinghouse service granting access to over 5000+ payers and insurance companies.

Primary Features

• Insurance Eligibility: Verify patient insurance coverage using the patient lookup tool. Generate eligibility reports that include insurance details and verification results to identify coverage issues.
• Claims Management: Submit electronic claims to payers with just a few clicks. Claim scrubbing technology lets you detect coding and formatting errors, helping you reduce rejections. Track claim statuses in real time. Create custom claim rules based on plan types and procedure codes.
• Superbills: Create and customize superbill templates based on your specific needs, such as specialty-specific CPT and ICD-9 codes or billing rules.
• Accounting: Accounting tools help you post payments and generate statements. Send automated payment reminders to patients to get paid on time. Produce payments, deposits, transaction summaries and A/R aging reports to assess your company’s financial health.
• Credit Card Processing: Enable patients to make payments using credit cards. Integrate with payment gateways such as Authorize.net and PayPal to securely process online transactions.

Limitations

• Doesn’t provide radiology or lab integration.
• Charges an additional fee for automatic eligibility verification.
• Charges fees for generating invoices.

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ChARM EHR

ChARM EHR enables medical practices to manage their finances more efficiently. It provides claims management, payment posting and insurance eligibility verification modules to help you reduce denials and rejections. It caters to small- and medium-sized companies.

Submit claims to payers directly from ChARM EHR. Source

Pricing

• Free: The vendor offers a free plan with a limit of 50 encounters per month.
• Encounter Plan: The encounter plan starts at $0.50/encounter (monthly minimum of $25).
• Provider Plan: The provider plan starts at $350/provider/month.

Top Benefits

• Improve Accuracy: Extract claim data from invoices and print them on the CMS-1500 form to include all the necessary information to avoid rejections.
• Save Time: Use customizable templates for SOAP consultations, prescriptions, lab orders and referral reports to save time manually creating documents and scripts.
• Access Data Quickly: Upload and store patient and practice documents like handouts, consent forms and X-rays in a central location. Access files from remote locations using Android and iOS devices.

Primary Features

• Billing: Generate and send invoices to patients directly from the system. Insurance verification tools enable you to determine benefits coverage, helping you submit correct claims the first time.
• Superbill: Use customizable templates to create superbills in minutes. Add guarantor details, such as their names and addresses, to superbills.
• Recurring Payments: Create recurring payment schedules to charge patients’ credit cards periodically to receive consistent payments over time.
• Flowsheets: Record and track patients’ health details, review lab results, view data in graphical format and flag abnormal values to improve patient care and outcomes.
• Appointment Scheduling: Create, view, modify and print appointment schedules and check provider availability to reduce no-shows and cancellations. Patients can book and cancel appointments via the web-embedded calendar.

Limitations

• Can print only 50 claims per month.
• Doesn’t include multi-facility support.
• Can’t create billing profiles.

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OpenEMR

OpenEMR is an electronic medical record (EMR) software that provides billing and practice management tools to help medical practices streamline processes. It allows you to customize your workflows to match your specific needs and preferences. It’s open-source and serves small companies.

Choose a user interface according to your needs with OpenEMR. Source

Pricing

• OpenEMR is a free, open-source software. You may need IT staff to support your current installation.

Top Benefits

• Cut Down on Expenses: It’s an open-source solution — it’s free to use and helps you save money.
• Access Free Support: The user community helps you connect with other users, share ideas and get support from experts in the field, including the developers responsible for writing the code. It offers resources such as the Project Wiki and forums to help ensure the security, reliability and adequate backing up of your data.
• Modify the Source Code: It enables you to make changes and customize the software according to your specific requirements, eliminating the need to request customized modifications.
• Generate Accurate Bills: Invoicing and claim management modules help you ensure that billing records are accurate, reducing errors and minimizing claim denials.
• Ensure Clear Communication: It allows you and your teams to use over 25+ languages, including French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and many more, within the same clinic, ensuring that staff understand your practice’s billing workflows clearly.
• Achieve Interoperability: Integrate with clearinghouse software, such as Office Ally, ZirMED and ClaimRev, for electronic billing.

Primary Features

• Encounter Fee Sheet: Create new encounters, check the problems list, and view, review and update all encounter contents.
• Claims Management: Create, manage and submit insurance claims electronically. The system supports a range of claim types, including CMS-1500 and UB-04. Send claims to clearinghouses with just a few clicks.
• Insurance Verification: Electronically record and display patients’ insurance eligibility, submit insurance eligibility queries to public or private payers, and receive eligibility responses.
• Patient Invoices and Payments: Auto-post payments received from patients or insurance companies directly into the system. Generate invoices for the remaining amount within minutes. Enable clients to make payments using patient portal software.
• Reports: Produce clinical, collection and patient ledger reports to improve care delivery.

Limitations

• Maximum file upload capacity of only 65 MB.
• No native mobile application.
• No pre-built integration with third-party entities such as e-Prescribing tools and health information exchange systems.

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billrMD

billrMD is a cloud solution that helps health care providers streamline billing and revenue cycle management processes, improve billing accuracy, and reduce claim denials and rejections. It serves all companies.

Track bill statuses with billrMD. Source

Pricing

• Free: The vendor offers the solution for free with limited capabilities.
• Basic: The basic plan starts at $149/provider/month.
• Growth: The growth plan starts at $199/provider/month.
• Premium: The premium pricing option starts at $229/provider/month.
• Enterprise: You need to contact the sales team to request a quote.

Top Benefits

• Streamline Workflows: Create, view and modify daily tasks. Monitor progress to stay organized and ensure that your team completes all billing tasks on time.
• Reduce Confusion: You can add your practice logo and other branding-related text or visuals to statements to highlight essential details and ensure patients receive clear and accurate information via mail, email, text or fax.
• Save Time: Receive electronic remittance advice (ERAs) directly from insurance companies and automatically upload them to your practice’s account. This saves you time and effort by reducing the need for manual data entry.
• Protect Patients’ Financial Data: Manually key in credit card information or swipe the card through a USB swiper attached to the computer to process transactions securely.
• Create Unlimited Non-provider Accounts: Generate separate non-provider accounts for each employee working in your organization at no additional cost. This allows you to manage access to sensitive information and ensure that each employee has the appropriate level of access and permissions.

Primary Features

• Eligibility Checks: Send eligibility requests to clearinghouses in real time as you schedule appointments to determine patients’ benefits coverage. Keep track of each eligibility check you made and sort them based on their statuses.
• Claim Submission: Create and submit claims to payers electronically. Review and modify claims before sending them to health care insurance companies to avoid rejections and denials.
• Superbills: Produce superbills with just a few clicks. Incorporate information from superbills like billing codes, copay details and service dates into claim forms to reduce data entry errors.
• Charge Posting: Record charges and generate claims based on the information you enter, such as CPT and ICD codes, place of service, bill type and other details.
• Dashboard and Reporting: Create custom reports that include detailed summaries and analyses of client/patient information, schedules, statistics and payment data. Gain a real-time snapshot of your practice’s financial performance via the dashboard.

Limitations

• No integration with EHRs or other third-party apps.
• Limited storage capacity.
• Only one user can access the platform.

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Medicaid and CHIP Coverage

Medicaid provides health coverage for individuals and families with low incomes, as well as those with disabilities, pregnant women and seniors. It covers a wide range of medical services, including doctor visits, hospital stays, prescription drugs and long-term care.

Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides health coverage to children in families with low incomes who don’t qualify for Medicaid. It covers a range of medical services for children, including doctor visits, vaccinations, dental and vision care, and hospitalization.

The federal government and individual states jointly fund both Medicaid and CHIP. Eligibility and coverage policies can vary by state.

Now you might wonder why these programs are important for medical billing.

Firstly, as a health care provider, you need to understand the services covered by these programs and how to bill for them properly to ensure your patients receive the necessary care and you receive appropriate reimbursement for your services.

Secondly, being aware of the specific coverage policies and requirements in the state(s) where you practice is important because Medicaid and CHIP coverage may vary by state. This will help you avoid potential billing errors or denials, which can result in delayed payments or even revenue loss.

Finally, familiarity with these programs helps you better communicate with your patients about their health care options. By providing accurate information about their coverage and benefits, you can help your clients make informed decisions and ensure they receive appropriate care at an affordable cost.

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FAQs

Should I opt for paid medical billing software?

Whether or not to opt for cheap medical billing software depends on your specific needs and circumstances. Here are some factors to consider:

• Practice Size: If you have a small practice with a low patient volume, a free or low-cost billing solution may be sufficient. However, a paid system may be more efficient and cost-effective if you have a larger practice with a higher volume of claims.
• Features: Consider the features you need for your practice. Paid software often comes with advanced modules such as automated claim scrubbing, real-time eligibility verification and comprehensive reporting. If these functionalities are important to you, paid software may be worth the investment.
• Integration: Consider how the software integrates with other systems you use, such as EHRs or practice management systems. Subscription-based software may offer more seamless integration, which can save time and reduce errors.
• Customer Support: Consider the level of customer support the vendor provides. Paid software providers may offer more comprehensive support, such as phone or chat support, whereas free software vendors may only offer limited email support.
• Cost: Consider the software cost and whether it fits within your budget. Paid solutions typically require an upfront or ongoing cost, whereas free software may be more cost-effective.

What free medical programs should I know about?

As a health care provider, it’s important to be aware of free medical programs so you can refer patients who may be eligible for them. Here are some of the most common ones:

• Free Clinics: Provides medical care to uninsured and underinsured individuals who can’t afford health care. These clinics may be run by volunteers and offer services such as primary care, preventive care and chronic disease management.
• Prescription Assistance Programs: Provides free or low-cost medications to patients who can’t afford them. These programs may be run by pharmaceutical companies, non-profits or government agencies.
• Immunization Programs: Provides free or low-cost vaccines to patients. These programs may be run by government agencies or non-profits and may offer vaccines for a range of illnesses, including influenza, HPV and COVID-19.
• Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program: Provides free or low-cost medical care and support services to individuals living with HIV/AIDS who don’t have sufficient health insurance or financial resources to pay for care.

What free medical coding and billing courses should I encourage my billing staff to enroll in?

Encouraging your billing staff to enroll in free medical coding and billing courses can be a great way to improve their skills and knowledge and, ultimately, improve the efficiency and accuracy of your billing processes. Here are some free medical coding and billing courses you could recommend:

• CMS.gov: Offers MLN web-based training on a variety of free resources and training materials on medical billing and coding. This includes webinars, fact sheets and manuals on topics such as diagnosis and procedure coding and billing guidelines.
• American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC): Offers medical coding links on free webinars and courses on various medical coding and billing topics.
• Udemy: “What is Medical Coding and Billing?” is a course available on the Udemy platform that covers various topics related to medical coding and billing.

How can I select a free medical billing solution?

Choosing a free medical billing software can be a challenging task, but here are some steps you can follow to help you make an informed decision:

1. Identify Your Needs: Consider factors such as your company size, patient volume and the types of services you offer.
2. Research Available Options: Look for software that’s specifically designed for medical billing and includes the features you need, such as claim submission, payment tracking and reporting.
3. Check for Compatibility: Make sure that the free medical billing software you’re considering is compatible with your existing practice management software, EHR system and any other tools you use.
4. Consider User-Friendliness: Choose free medical billing software that’s easy to use and has a user-friendly interface. This will help reduce the learning curve.
5. Check Reviews and Ratings: They can give you insights into the software’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as feedback from other users.
6. Consider Support and Training: Look for a solution that offers adequate support and training to ensure that your staff can get help when they need it and can quickly learn how to use the software effectively.

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Next Steps

Free medical billing software can help you reduce costs, streamline billing processes and provide better care for your patients.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to cut costs, there’s a free medical billing software option out there for you. But how do you select one? Check out our free comparison report to evaluate systems and make informed buying decisions.

What features do you look for in free medical billing software? Let us know in the comments below!