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Revenue Potential
Video summary
In this episode of the Franchise Wizards podcast, host Sheila talks with Adam Phillips, CEO of American Business Systems (ABS), and Jason Pettit, the company’s chief growth officer, about why medical practices struggle with billing, how ABS business owners help, and what the business looks like for the entrepreneurs who run it.
Click here for Apple Podcast version.
Key takeaways
- Adam and Jason say 20 to 30% of filed medical claims in the US are rejected, and they see denials rising as insurance companies use their own AI tools to find reasons not to pay. They say ABS business owners operate at less than a 2% claim rejection rate.
- ABS is a business opportunity, not a franchise: owners use their own business name, can sign clients anywhere in the US, and pay no royalties.
- The episode discusses a $35,000 one-time investment with a 30-day money-back guarantee that lets new owners finish the full training before deciding.
- AI tools speed up billing, but Adam and Jason argue the work still needs a “human in the loop” to check the results.
The problem: small practices, rising denials
Adam’s parents founded ABS in 1994 after his mother began doing claims for a friend who owned a durable medical equipment business. Small private practices rarely have dedicated billers, so claims get denied over wrong codes or patient details and often sit unworked. Jason says the dynamic has not changed in 30 years because insurers are driven by profitability, and both say denials are getting worse now that payers use AI to scrutinize claims.
How ABS owners help practices
Jason describes two levers: cutting the claim rejection rate, and raising what each approved claim pays. On the second, ABS partners with a company of certified coders who help doctors choose optimal codes and supply the documentation each procedure requires, so claims are not underpaid.
A business opportunity, not a franchise
Owners operate under their own business name, face no territory restrictions, pay no royalties, and file no financial reports with ABS. In the episode, Adam describes a $35,000 one-time investment and a 30-day money-back guarantee that lets new owners complete the full training before deciding whether to continue. He also explains that ABS earns a revenue share from the software subscription fees doctors pay ABS’s software partners, which he says keeps the company invested in helping owners sign clients.
AI and the human in the loop
Asked whether AI will take over the industry, Adam says no for the foreseeable future. The tools suggest codes and speed up the work, and ABS’s primary software partner builds them into its platform, but they still make confident mistakes, so a person reviews the output. Jason compares it to autopilot: the plane largely flies itself, but everyone still wants pilots in the cockpit.
Owners, earnings, and getting clients
Backgrounds vary widely, though Jason says people with sales, marketing, or healthcare experience tend to grow fastest. Adam describes typical fees of 5 to 9% of collections and says a single-doctor client can represent roughly $30,000 to $50,000 a year depending on specialty and volume, offered as illustration, not a guarantee. He says owners who follow the marketing plan full-time often sign their first client in 30 to 90 days, using about a dozen taught methods built around networking, referrals, and partnerships with local medical sales reps. Day to day, he says a claim takes about two minutes to process, and owners who want to scale can hire billers through ABS’s staffing partner. The episode closes with owner stories shared as individual examples: Deb’s eight clients in her first year, a retired corporate worker in Arizona who built a small lifestyle business around two podiatry clients, and a two-partner business that grew past 400 clients, which Jason stresses is far from typical.
Video summary
In this Wednesday webinar, American Business Systems Director of Learning Eric Oji walks through the 5 Secrets to Medical Billing Success – five principles drawn from more than 30 years of helping entrepreneurs launch medical billing businesses. The same five points appear in the free ABS guide, and Eric expands on each with stories from his own two medical billing companies and from current ABS business owners. Watch the full session to hear them all.
Educate to build trust
People do business with people they know, like and trust. Eric explains how ABS training gives new owners a deeper working knowledge of medical billing and revenue cycle management than many physicians have themselves, and how The New Thriving Medical Practice book – reprinted with the owner’s own foreword, name and company on the cover, then tabbed and highlighted for busy doctors – lets a new owner educate a physician instead of pitching them, including how to get it past the front-desk gatekeeper.
Become the expert
Eric describes how ABS positions each owner as the recognized expert: about two and a half weeks of live, instructor-led training across 10 modules, the Sales Link support team that can join meetings with prospective doctors, introduction letters to doctors from in-house physician advisor Dr. Vicki Rackner, lifetime access to the support portal, and certification as a Certified Medical Revenue Manager.
Stand out from the crowd
New owners choose from billing and practice management platforms (including iClaim and EMRX) and get professional flyers, brochures and a customized website under their own company name and domain. As Eric tells it, there’s no hard selling of software: if a doctor isn’t ready to switch systems, ABS works with the platform the practice already uses.
Harness the power of referrals
Networking is the number one way ABS owners land their first client, Eric says. He covers building referral relationships through chambers of commerce, BNI chapters, home health agencies, county medical societies and LinkedIn, and how the one-year Zoho One CRM subscription included with the package keeps those relationships organized. He also shares how one ABS owner’s short podcast on revenue cycle management grew her client base to around 100 doctors.
Nurture your contacts
Finally, Eric covers drip marketing: automated follow-up campaigns and services like AutoCard that send physical, personally signed cards to prospects. He tells how this approach won his own second client weeks after that doctor initially chose a cheaper competitor.
Ready to dig in? Download the free 5 Secrets to Medical Billing Success guide at https://absystems.com/5-secrets/, or join a free live webinar at https://absystems.com/webinars/. Questions? Call (866) 565-8413.
Video summary
How does ABS help you find doctors for your medical billing business? Through marketing training, business-building tools, and ongoing support that help you identify potential clients, start conversations, and follow up. The approach is about building relationships and understanding a practice’s needs, rather than relying on a purchased list of doctors.
In this webinar, Eric explains how American Business Systems helps new medical billing business owners develop those skills and put them to work.
Start with the practice’s problems
Before presenting your services, understand what the practice needs. Eric discusses billing errors, payment delays, staff workload, and other challenges that can open a conversation about outside billing support.
A practice that already has an in-house biller is not automatically off-limits. Eric shares how he worked alongside existing office staff in his own billing business. The goal is to understand where help is needed, not assume that someone must lose their job for outsourcing to make sense.
Look beyond physicians alone
Potential clients can include a range of healthcare providers. Eric discusses behavioral health practices, chiropractors, physical therapists, and other specialties, along with nurse practitioners who operate their own practices where state rules allow it.
Choosing a specific type of practice can help you make your outreach more relevant. Instead of offering a generic billing service to everyone, learn the concerns of the providers you want to serve.
Build relationships that can lead to introductions
Eric emphasizes warm marketing: starting with people you know and finding out who they know. He also discusses local chambers of commerce, BNI groups, healthcare associations, and other networking opportunities.
Your connections do not all need to be doctors. Accountants, attorneys, and people in other healthcare businesses may already have relationships with practice owners or office managers. Networking gives you a way to become known and build trust over time.
Give practices a useful reason to connect
The webinar covers several ways to begin conversations:
- Educational resources: Specialty-focused ebooks and books can introduce a billing problem and give providers something useful to read.
- Lunch-and-learns: Educational meetings can help you get to know a practice’s team and explain how your services may help.
- Direct outreach and follow-up: A relevant introduction is a starting point. Keeping track of contacts and following up helps you continue the conversation.
- Current marketing update: We now recommend AI market research instead of the employment-ad approach discussed in this recording.
Use tools and support, not guesswork
Eric explains the role of a branded website, marketing materials, a customer relationship management system (CRM), and ABS training and support. A CRM helps organize prospect information and follow-up so contacts do not get lost.
He also describes support for sales conversations and a practice analysis questionnaire. The purpose is to learn about a practice’s situation before discussing possible solutions, rather than giving every prospect the same pitch.
The main takeaway
Finding medical billing clients takes active work by the business owner. ABS provides training, tools, and support, while you build relationships, identify suitable prospects, and follow up. The webinar offers several ways to approach that work.
Explore the training, marketing resources, and support in the ABS Business Package.
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.