The split usually follows the tools. Eligibility is automated in the practice-management system, so the front desk sees it. Benefits verification means payer portals, policy lookups and phone calls, so it drifts to whoever has time, which in a busy practice is no one. Billing companies are typically engaged for claims and follow-up after the visit, and do not take on pre-visit verification unless it is explicitly in scope.
The practical fix is to give pre-visit verification and the estimate to one role, give that role a tool that returns procedure-level benefits without the phone work, and measure it on estimate accuracy and upfront collection rather than on the number of checks run.
