Resident and Family Physician Perspectives on Billing: An Exploratory Study.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Within revenue cycle management, billing is an important activity for physicians with financial implications across remuneration models. We assessed the self-reported billing confidence of residents and attending physicians practicing at an academic family health team in a single payer setting. Methods: All residents and attending physicians working or who had worked at the team were invited to complete a 20-question electronic survey on their exposure to billing education and their self-reported confidence with various billing activities. Results: Twenty-five percent (n=40) of eligible physicians completed the survey. There were statistically significant differences between attending and resident physicians' billing experience (median 117.5 vs. 7.5 months). Analysis of free text comments revealed the positive impact of early billing exposure and opportunities for longitudinal feedback. Conclusion: Despite the small sample size, findings suggest that early exposure of family medicine residents to billing with standardized training contributes to a more positive experience during residency.