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Entrepreneurship
If you’ve guessed it’s a challenge to learn how to sell medical billing services to doctors, you’d be right. They are busy and they are approached by various representatives trying to sell them something on almost a daily basis.
By Patrick Phillips, Founder and CEO
American Business Systems
Originally Published in BC Magazine June 2014
One of the reasons they are hard to engage is that they are simply practicing what they know: triage. As you know, this is used in medicine to help determine the priority of patients’ treatment, based on the severity of their condition.
In determining who to speak to or what to concentrate on in their practice, physicians prioritize based on their perceived need at the moment. If they feel they need to speak to a financial advisor they will set an appointment to do so. If they are looking at new equipment, they will agree to meet with a medical device rep.
But if they are presently doing their own insurance claims filing in-house, using their own staff, they may not see a need to meet with someone who is offering an outsourced solution.
And even if they are presently having their billing done by an outside company, they may feel that their billing and cash-flow are under control and, again, have no need to research other solutions.
However, as the founder of the nation’s largest network of independent medical billing companies, I see doctors signing up with our Licensees continually. The question remains: how to sell medical billing services to doctors if they are happy with their present billing situation?
One word: positioning. If you want to gain the trust and business of a doctor, you must learn how to position yourself in such a way that they want to do business with you.
For example, they may think their revenue cycle is what it should be because they get checks every week from payers and patients. So why talk to anyone about their cash-flow when it seems to be fine?
What they don’t realize is that their revenue may only be a fraction of what it could be. Maybe they do get checks on a regular basis (after all, they must have some cash-flow or they would not be able to stay in practice); but is their revenue maximized?
Are they collecting every penny that is due them from their payers and their patients? And would they know this with their present billers?
Are their billers using technology that is dated and does not have all the features that allows them to maximize their revenue?
Are their billers trained professionals whose sole focus every day is collecting the absolute most for the practice?
Here’s where positioning comes in: you, as a professional biller, must place yourself and your company in front of the practice as the “expert” in medical revenue management. You must be the individual and the company they think of when they have doubts about whether they are collecting the maximum amount from payers and patients.
And this is why it is important to realize the physicians’ tendency to triage. They obviously do not think that their revenue is hurting or they would focus on fixing it. Their entire life is focused on helping patients get well. Their training, their education, their internship were all focused on patient treatment. And most of them had very little, if any, training in business and managing their practice and reading financials. So the revenue cycle is not at the top of their list of things to focus on today.
So how do you position yourself as the “expert” who can increase their revenue and/or cut their costs? How do you keep your name at the “top-of-mind” for this practice so that when they do decide they need to make a change in the way they handle their billing, they think of you and your company?
We’ve have been teaching people how to sell medical billing services to doctors over the 20+ years we have been in business. A dozen or so methods that have been tested and perfected over the years. These are proven ways to position you and your company with medical practices so that you are the one they look to for solutions to their cash-flow challenges.
First, you must position yourself as the Educator. This means that you must provide ongoing education to the practice in the way of newsletters, handouts and direct mail pieces.
Any news item you find on the Internet relating to healthcare can be copied and pasted or forwarded via a link to the web page.
Here are some websites that you should visit often to find relevant materials for your educational materials:
medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com
On Facebook, search for “physicians news network” and “Medical Revenue Managers Association of America (MRMAA)”
And, of course, this publication’s website:
Many of these sites have email newsletters you can sign up for and whitepapers you can download.
Anything can be shared nowadays as long as you give credit and provide a link to the website, as this provides more traffic for the author of the article or the publication.
Next, you must continually touch base with the practice/physician via email, direct mail and personal contact. Giving something of value with your name and contact information is crucial to keeping your name at the top of their mind.
These could be emailed newsletters, reprinted articles, marketing postcards, educational flyers and ebooks you have created using your word processor and saving as a PDF file.
And don’t forget the wide variety of customized promotional materials available that are specifically for the medical industry.
Try these websites, but be sure to compare prices as some items are available on several sites and are the exact same items:
Remember, people don’t buy anything when you are ready to sell… they buy when they are ready to buy. And they are not ready to buy until they feel a need for what you are offering.
Just as the doctor won’t recommend a medication or therapy until they have determined exactly what is wrong with you, you must find out where the gaps are in their revenue before offering a solution. You can do this by asking a series of questions that will give you the data you need to make a proposal.
Questions you can ask could include:
- How many hours each week are devoted by all staff members to doing your billing?
- How many insurance claims are you filing per week?
- What is the total dollar amount billed each month to insurance companies?
- How much, on average, is collected per month from insurance companies?
- What is your average percentage of claims filed that are rejected for one reason or another (national average is 34%)?
- How many days, on average, does it take for payments to be received from payers?
By gathering information from the office manager or physician, you will be able to see where their gaps are in their revenue and propose solutions based on what you know you can do for them in improve their situation.
Another way you can position yourself in the medical community is to find a medical association in your area and join it as a “supporting member”. You don’t have to be a medical doctor to join many medical societies. They have a special membership just for individuals and companies that want to support the organization. People like financial advisors, attorneys, CPAs, medical equipment salespeople and others who provide products and services to the medical community, like you!
The membership fee will vary, but it could be the best investment you could make in your marketing to physicians. Imagine being at a conference or a dinner and rubbing elbows with doctors and their spouses. How to sell medical billing services to doctors? You get to know them as people. You will be on the “inside” and, yes, at one point, they will ask about you and you will be able to share with them what you do for doctors. They love people who support their association or society and the medical community, and they will consider you a part of their inner circle.
Don’t ignore the power of being a part of a tribe. I have seen some of my students get billing clients just by joining and attending these functions. Clients that they have had for years, with continuing revenue for their company.
In summary, you need to start thinking of yourself, and your company, as a solution to the challenges that doctors are facing in the era of Obamacare. They are scared and many of them are being absorbed by large hospitals.
This is not what they want. They want to be independent owners of their own private practice. But the reality of lower Medicare reimbursements, higher rejection rates on their insurance claims and higher operating costs cause many of them to fall for the lure of being an “employee” for some large medical group.
You are in a unique position. You can be the savior of the private practice in your area. All you need to do is look at your higher calling and position yourself as the knight on the white horse that can save them from the changes coming in healthcare in the next few years. You can be the Expert they want to do business with.
Adam Phillips, president of ABS and Eric Ogea, head of R&D explain how it’s possible to start a low cost medical business in only 5 days.
The live training is only the beginning you see. We’ll put you on a fast track to getting your first client in about 30-60 days after the live training. You will continue your education through out private support and training website.
The funny thing is, after our 5 day class, you will know more than about 80% of office managers (and doctors!) about revenue cycle management!
Looking for a low cost healthcare business? Look no further!
Patrick Phillips, Founder and CEO of American Business Systems interviews successful medical business owners Brandi and James Johnson, recent graduates of the ABS medical billing training workshop. James and Brandi are Franchise Consultants, helping people find the perfect business. They ran across ABS and decided that it was the best Low Cost Healthcare Business for them. This is their story.
They have been able to secure 3 clients in their first 2 months with several doctors expressing interest and will be signing up soon. Listen as Brandi describes how she will definitely see ROI in a year and how she is filling up her pipeline with practice analyses, software demos (done by ABS) and proposals.
She almost shares TOO MUCH information about the best way to market to doctors!
When evaluating Medical Billing Software, Practice Management Software, or even Electronic Medical Records Software, there are key features you need to look for and there are some things you need to avoid.
(This recent article discussing the amazing growth of the Revenue Cycle Managment (RCM) industry also lists web-based or cloud based software as the way most doctors are going these days. The article states that “web and cloud-based RCM solutions are growing at double digit CAGR from 2016 to 2021.” So, we felt it appropriate to re-publish this article.)
By: Patrick Phillips, Founder/CEO American Business Systems, LLC
(Originally Published in BC Magazine – Oct 2013)
Having worked with some of the major technology companies to find the ideal software to maximize the revenue of a medical practice, let me share with you, first, a warning about server-based software systems.
Server-based refers to software that is literally installed from a CD or DVD onto the hard disk of your computer-the “server.” This is old-school technology and should not even be considered for a modern medical practice. Especially in light of the HIPAA rules for patient privacy.
Imagine having a computer in your office, with all your patient records, stolen and sold on the open market! Even if you had a backup (another problem with server-based software!), your patient data is now in the hands of someone who could post it all on the Internet for the whole world to see (or sell it to some nefarious individual wishing to market some medical quackery to the patients).
And then there is the problem of hardware failure. It is not a matter of IF your hard disk will fail, but simply WHEN it fails. Then what? How many people make regular (read daily) backups of their hard disk data? And when a computer crashes, there goes all your patient history, including balances owed, and all your claims history, including insurance information.
And, if you are using a scheduling program, now you do not know which patients will show up when. It is a nightmare not worth even considering in today’s cloud-based environment.
There is even server-based software that can be installed on a VPN (virtual private network) to share the data between an outside medical billing company and your office. A piece of software is used to bridge between the medical biller and your computer. This is a huge HIPAA privacy risk, as well as a synchronization nightmare. Bottom line: Don’t even think about server-based software if you are currently shopping for practice management and Medical Billing Software.
And if you are currently using server-based software, you need to start shopping for a cloud-based practice management system that is hosted on a software provider’s server and accessed via the web using any browser. If you are looking for a billing company, make sure you ask if they use a server-based system or if you can access the system through an Internet connection from anywhere, 24/7.
Here are some other things you need to check before outsourcing your billing or buying a practice management system for your office:
First and foremost, ask about the security of your data. If your patient and billing data is out there in “the cloud,” how secure is it compared to having your data stored on your own computer or server?
What you want to ask the Medical Billing Software provider is this: “Are your servers HIPAA-compliant?” If the answer is yes, ask for proof. If the answer is “not sure,” run as fast as you can.
Most systems that are cloud-based are HIPAA-compliant. Which means, they are in a secure facility with redundant backup servers (the data is stored on more than one physical server). These servers may be in the same physical location, so make sure there is at least one other physical location (preferably in a different electrical grid somewhere else in the country). That way, if one server crashes or there is an electrical outage, the other server will kick in, and you, the user, will not even be aware there was a problem.
Make sure that the data on all the servers is backed up, daily, onto other media and stored in a separate, secure location. This is something that needs to be automated and happens “behind the scenes” at least once a day. Again, what if the server in one location blows up or the building it is in burns down, and the other server malfunctions and the hard disk crashes? Your provider needs to be able to restore the backup data to new servers and get you up and running within 24 hours. Ask specifically for their backup protocol.
Next, ask about specific features.
System Features. Is the system truly cloud-based? That is, can you access the system from any computer with an Internet connection? (One way you can tell is to ask if there is any software that needs to reside on the computer you are using in order to access the system.)
Is the system accredited by EHNAC (www.ehnac.org)?
Is the system connected to a certified CAQH COR Phase 1 Clearinghouse? (Google any of these terms you are not familiar with.) Is the system totally integrated with a clearinghouse, the billing system, scheduling, and clinical (including EHR)?
Is the EHR compliant with the data standards that are mandated by Meaningful Use?
Does the system automatically post payments and adjustments to the patient ledgers from electronic EOBs (ERAs) from payers?
Does the system have a Patient Portal that is integrated (all data entered by the patient is immediately available in all parts of the system)? Will the software provider assist with seamless data interchange with other healthcare systems?
Some of the standards that assist with integration and that you should ask about include Health Level 7 (HL7), ANSI X12 (the HIPAA Standard), Secure FTP (File Transfer Protocol), and HTTPS. You may not understand what all these mean (Google them!) but your software provider will know.
System Users. How many users can you put on the system? Is there a charge for additional users? Can each user be assigned limited access to certain parts of the system? You may have a data entry clerk who only needs to be able to add patient and insurance data. Another may just need to process the insurance claims. Another may be in charge of patient billing. And, of course, you will need full access for any person authorized to administer the system (adding and deleting users, setting their access level, running reports, etc.).
Billing. What is the average claims rejection rate from all payers (some systems average less than 2% rejection)? Can you place a claim on hold if more data is required? Can you print in PDF format or directly to CMS 1500 forms? Can you track your claim (like you can a FedEx package)? Can you create secondary claims to payers? Can the system email you if a claim is rejected? Can the system automatically, on a periodic basis, report on the first pass of all claims, total rejects, rejection categories, reworked (resubmitted) claims, and transaction summaries? Does the system have the ability to show reports as multi-colored bar charts, suitable for printing?
Reporting. What specific types of reports can be generated? Can you create your own reports? If not, can the software developer create reports for you, and, if so, is there a charge for this? Can the reports be exported to Excel or PDF format as well as being viewed on the computer? Can the reports be restricted to certain users only?
Eligibility checking. Can the system run eligibility checks on any patient at any time? Is this done in real time, checking the insurance company’s database and reporting back to your system immediately and accurately? Can the system automatically re-check the patient’s eligibility a day prior to every patient’s visit? Is there a charge for each eligibility check or is this covered in the monthly access fee for the system (or included in the percentage charged by the billing company)? Upon a successful eligibility check, does the patient data import from the insurance payer directly into the system?
Scheduling. Does the system have a web-based scheduler, available from any web-connected device, including smartphones, iPads, and tablets? Will it accommodate multiple providers and their appointments? Is it integrated with the eligibility feature?
Codes. Are all CPT and ICD-9 codes built into the system? How often are they updated, and is there a charge for updating the codes? Is the system ICD-10 ready?
Training. Is there live training available via GoToMeeting or live on-site training? How many hours of training will be given to our practice? Can as many staff members be trained as needed or is there an extra charge for additional users or hours of training? Are there recorded training modules available via the Web? Can all users access this training?
Support. Is support available 24/7, and, if not, what hours is it available? Is support by phone, live chat, email, or all three? How many support personnel are available and at what times? Is support available to all users or just the Administrator? Has the company won any awards for their customer support? Are there any references I can call to verify the level of support they get?
In summary, ask lots of questions, even if you don’t know exactly what they mean. Your Medical Billing Software rep will know what they mean and will get you the answer if they don’t know the answer. Write these down and hold them to getting you the answers or tell them you are not going to consider their software/system.
Learn how you too can become a successful medical business owner!
Join ABS Founder and CEO Patrick Phillips as he chats with a licensee from Alabama, Tim Warren. Tim launched his medical business mid 2012 and with our help, has signed multiple dermatology and gynecology clinics as clients. Tim’s wife quit her full time job at Coca-Cola in January 2013 to work full time with him and they are expanding their business by hiring sales reps.
Tim has nearly DOUBLED revenue for some of his doctor clients! It goes without saying that his clients are never going anywhere else for their revenue cycle needs.
Even though they have around 15 clients, they still work from home and want to keep it that way! Tim explains that each of his doctors that he signs up is worth about $2,000 – $5,000 per month in gross revenue for his business! Can you do the math on that?
This is a healthcare business made easy, with a solid marketing and support team to help you as you go.
In this webinar, Patrick Phillips, Founder and CEO, & Eric Ogea, Business Coach walk you through our foolproof process to build a business helping Doctors using Analysis, Demo, Proposal, Agreement. (Hint: We’re with you every step of the way)
The technology can make all the difference! Doctors and their staff LOVE using our iClaim & EMRx systems in their practices. We will show you the online patient portal, our electronic medical records system, real-time eligibility, the online scheduler and more.
Let our experts guide you by providing full demonstrations for your potential clients. You can get involved with ZERO experience. That’s right, you don’t need any medical background of any kind.
Patrick and Eric, also answered questions from the audience during the webinar, so if you are looking at starting your own business, this is the webinar you don’t want to miss.
About ABS
Traditional jobs take up too much time and pay too little, and conventional franchise opportunities can be risky and expensive.
American Business Systems offers aspiring individuals another option – business ownership with minimal downside and maximum training and support, so that hard-working people can achieve success on their terms.