Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to start my own business with ABS?
There is a one-time investment fee to start your own medical billing business with American Business Systems, LLC. You can learn more about the fee and all that it includes here. 

What is the ongoing cost to operate a medical billing business?
This depends on the type of business you are seeking to develop and the services you may choose to offer to accomplish your goals. At ABS you have a wide variety of services to choose from and the ability to grow your business to whatever size you choose. For example, some Business Owners simply want a business they can run themselves at home, part-time. Others want to earn a full-time income by hiring staff and getting office space.

You also have the choice of marketing only to doctors and other medical providers or expanding your business to provide services to other industries such as government, education, and more. Learn more about all the services and solutions you will have access to.

In short, the number and type of clients you want will affect your marketing costs. However, our entire system is very cost-efficient, using tools that get attention and response. Many of the methods taught cost nothing but your time. Others involve sending out marketing materials that you get in your initial package, which you can reorder as needed.

Download our Research Guide to learn more about any potential operational costs you may incur.

What type of training is provided?
ABS provides an initial onboarding training that consists of 10 modules, presented by a live instructor over zoom. It takes about 2-3 weeks to graduate.

What type of support is provided?
ABS offers lifetime support at no extra cost. As long as you are in business, we will support you with technical and marketing support.

What types of billing/coding software are provided?
ABS partners with several top-rated software and technology companies. Currently, we are partnered with NextGen Office, Myriad Health, RXNT and Dentimax.

What types of EHR software are provided?
All ABS software partners include built-in EHR platforms.

What kind of hardware/software do I need to use iClaim?
Unlike our competitors, we utilize a true, cloud-based system, so all you need is a computer with internet access. Our systems run perfectly on any PC or Mac, any browser, tablets, smartphones, etc. You don't have to use iClaim. If the doctor wants you to use his/her existing system, we can help with that too.

Where and how is my data stored ... and is it secure?

American Business Systems' software partners leverage the power and scalability of Amazon Web Services (AWS) to deliver secure and reliable hosted solutions to its clients. AWS is a global leader in cloud computing, offering a wide range of services and features that enables us to design, deploy, and manage our hosted environment in accordance with the industry standards and best practices. AWS provides us with a secure and resilient infrastructure, advanced data protection, and comprehensive compliance controls that support our security and compliance objectives. 

Some of the key benefits of using AWS for our hosted solutions include:

• Secure and Resilient Infrastructure: AWS maintains a high level of physical and environmental security at its data centers, which are located in multiple geographic regions and availability zones. AWS provides us with tools and services to monitor, automate, and optimize the performance, availability, and scalability of our hosted environment. We also gain industry best practices  to protect our hosted environment from network attacks, malicious activities, and natural disasters.
• Advanced Data Protection: Through AWS we are able to encrypt data at rest and in transit, using industry-standard encryption algorithms and keys.
• Comprehensive Compliance Controls: AWS adheres to multiple security and compliance frameworks and standards, including HIPAA, HITRUST, SOC, ISO, PCI and DSS. 

We are confident that AWS offers the best platform to deliver secure, high-quality healthcare IT solutions that enhance patient care and outcomes. 

Our competitors require you to manage your own data backups. With ABS, your data is stored at secure AWS data-storage facilities. The data centers are custom designed with raised floors, HVAC temperature control systems with separate cooling zones, and seismically braced racks.

AWS offers the widest range of physical security features, including state-of-the-art smoke detection and fire suppression systems, motion sensors, 24/7 secured access, as well as video camera surveillance, and security breach alarms. Backup online storage and online backup account files are rigorously segregated. There is no intermingling of one account's files with any others on the servers used to host the data.

The data storage meets the level 5 RAID fault-tolerant disk arrays on proven Sun Microsystems Technology. Simply put, RAID technology efficiently writes and monitors multiple copies of data as it guards against disk failures and data loss.

Data is also backed up daily by our hosting facility and stored off-site. In addition, we replicate our data in a different geographic location (3,000 miles away from the host) as part of our disaster recovery plan.

If I run my business at more than one office, can I use iClaim at any location?
Yes, as long as you have access to the Internet and a Web browser, you can log into your ABS account from any location. You can work from home, a hotel, an airport... literally anywhere. The system is encrypted so security is not an issue.

And, if you wish, you can give the doctor and his/her staff access to certain parts of the system and they can log in from their office to view the status of their claims and use some practice management features. You are in complete control.

What happens with insurance carriers that do NOT accept electronic claim submissions?
Most major carriers allow electronic claims submission. For those that do not, the software will print your claim on a standard "1500 form" and mail it to the carrier on your behalf.

What kind of reports can I generate with iClaim?
iClaim offers a wide range of accounting capabilities so you can see who's paying, who's not, and how much. And since every report can be specified by date, provider, or location, the report you run is always the report you need, and, it is up-to-date and accurate, as all the data is in real time and accessible in our web-based system.

Can I use iClaim to bill patients?
Yes, you can use the system to print your providers' patient statements, or you can have iClaim print and mail them automatically, on your behalf. In your training, you'll learn how easy it is to provide this service. It also does paperless billing if the patient specifies this.

What do I have to do to submit claims electronically through iClaim?
Some government carriers (i.e. Medicare and Medicaid) require the provider to fill out separate enrollment forms for electronic claims submission. For all other carriers, you can take advantage of our electronic claims submission immediately. Your ABS training will guide you through this step-by-step.

Can I get a hard copy or a backup of my data, and do my clients own their own data?
Yes, the system is backed up on redundant servers automatically, but should you desire, you may also download data to your hard drive. The doctors can have access to this data anytime they wish.

Do I have to connect a clearinghouse, and are there extra fees for this?
No, we utilize the biggest, most widely used and trusted clearinghouses that are built-in to the system so they are already connected before you go live on the system. We are partnered with Waystar, Claim MD, Stedi, and Relay Exchange clearinghouse via Change Healthcare. There is nothing extra you need to do and there are no extra clearinghouse fees. Our competitor requires you to research and connect to a 3rd party clearinghouse and most of them have extra fees associated. 

Does your software have any AI tools built in?
Yes, several, actually:

• Ambient Assist (AI “ambient scribe”) — listens to patient–provider conversations (mobile), transcribes them and generates a structured SOAP note that can be reviewed and then automatically dropped into the chart.

• AI-generated patient summaries / “Patient Story” — creates concise, readable summaries of a patient’s chart/visit so providers can quickly grasp history and context.

• Coding / medication / order suggestions (decision-support) — the AI proposes likely ICD-10 codes, medications, labs and imaging orders based on the encounter and provider note to speed charting and charge capture.

• Macros / template triggers from voice or phrases — say a configured phrase and the system can launch favorite templates or charting macros to accelerate documentation.

• Privacy / HIPAA design choices (auto-deletion of audio/transcripts) — We advertise that ambient audio/transcripts are transient and not permanently stored; notes are integrated into the EHR after provider review. (positions this as a HIPAA-aware workflow.)

• Customer-service / patient access AI — AI agents to help with patient support (reduce hold times, answer common questions) — part of our newer customer-service AI offerings.

Are the software systems HIPAA compliant?
Yes. We adhere to the highest standards of compliance and governance for our hosted solutions, using the HITRUST CSF framework to assess and manage our risk posture to demonstrate our operational excellence and security controls. We regularly undergo independent audits and assessments to validate our compliance and governance practices and ensure that we meet or exceed the expectations of our clients and regulators.

How does ABS help me get clients?
After initial training, ABS support experts will help you with a structured marketing plan. This can include local market assessment, 90 day go-to-market strategy, help with practice analysis (information gathering and final results report), proposal review (services and pricing), and having an ABS expert join you on closing sales calls.

How long does it take to get a client?
ABS Business Owners get first clients in an average of 60-90 days if working the business full time.

What type of revenue potential does a medical billing business have?
ABS Owners are seeing an average of $25,000 to $50,000 per client.

How many clients to most ABS Owners have?
We have part time Owners who sign up 1-4 clients and are happy with the supplemental income. We have Owners with multiple offices and over 400 clients. On average, a home-based business with 1-2 operators sign up 4-6 clients.

Your competition says that I can’t sell my business if I want to down the road?
False. Our Business Owners set up and operate under their own entity, which grants them full rights to sell their business with zero restrictions. The more typical scenario is a Business Owner selling off their individual practices (clients) for approximately 3 times the yearly revenue!

Do you have to force the doctors to use the iClaim/EMRx software?
No. The doctors will most certainly see the most dramatic increase in revenue by using our integrated cloud systems, but they don’t have to use them. A common scenario is a doctor who wants to continue using his or her own EHR system. iClaim will integrate with a majority of systems out there (if HL7 compliant) so they don’t have to learn a new system.

Your competition updates their software every 18-24 months and charges large sums of money for this. When do you update yours and what is the cost?
The iClaim/EMRx system is cloud-based. Updates and backups are automatic and done on a weekly basis. 18-24 months between updates is far too long to keep up with changes in the healthcare industry. The low monthly fee that you are charging the doctors for the software covers everything, including software updates.

I am told that I can have a cloud system with your competitor’s software; is it the same as yours?
Misleading. With ABS, you sign up a doctor and securely access the system on any computer with internet. No technical skill is required. Our competitors are still selling a software system they created in 1994, so you are required to purchase or rent your own computer servers, accessing them thru some kind of connection software. Technical skills are required and there are extra costs for servers on top of software fees. Also, keep in mind, you must install our competitors' software only on certain Windows computers, using a CD drive. No Apple Devices, Tablets, Smartphones, etc. are allowed.

I am told that I need dental billing software. Does ABS have that?
We do! We have partnered with DentiMax, a highly rated, nationally known dental billing, practice management, and EHR system. Click here to learn more about this and all our other services. We also have some great ancillary services for dental that are easy to offer. ChoicePay, CompliancyGuard are all great solutions for dental practices.

I heard that your software is far more expensive! Is that true?
No. There is a small monthly fee that you build into your invoice to the doctors. The doctors are paying that software fee, in addition to paying you a percentage of what they earn because you are doing the billing for them. Our competitors charge their Business Owners thousands of dollars for User Seats, System Updates, Coding Updates, and more.

Your competition charges thousands of dollars in yearly support fees after the first few years. What does ABS charge?
ABS provides free marketing and technical support for life. There are no fees of any kind after the initial investment fee. How are we able to do this? We make a small residual from our technology partners when you sign up clients, so you know we are committed to helping you market your business!

Your competition markets their software directly to doctors under a different brand name, which means they are competing with their own Licensees. Does ABS do this?
ABS doesn't sell directly to doctors. Because we get a small residual on every claim from our software partners, we'd rather focus on helping our Owners sign up doctor clients. It's a better model for everyone. Win-Win-Win.

I found some videos online about people who decided to switch to your competitor’s products. Why would they do that?
Our competitors actively search out and find our Business Owners and offer them greatly discounted pricing in trade for doing these videos. We could do the same, but we choose not to disparage our competition. This business isn’t for everyone. There are people who succeed and fail in every type of business. We want you to make an informed decision, this is why we offer you a 30-day trial period. Our competitor offers no refunds or guarantees of any kind.

How does your EMRx (electronic medical records) system compare to your competitors?
Our EMRx system was built by the same development team that built the Practice Management and Billing Systems, as well as the Patient Portal and Clearinghouse. This makes for a much more responsive integrated system and updates are done quickly. Also, there is no fear of something “breaking”. Believe it or not, our competitor is charging money for a free open source EHR system that they didn’t create. You are responsible for connecting it to their software and teaching the doctors how to use it. Read more about it here: www.open-emr.org. You are only able to install it on Windows, Linux, or you must purchase your own AWS cloud service account. Our system runs on any PC/MAC/Browser/Tablet/Smartphone. We provide all training for the practice (doctors and staff) so you don’t have to! We also provide help desk support for them as well!

Do you offer customized marketing materials?
Yes! We send in your initial business package several hundred marketing pieces that you can customize with your own printed labels. Once you get your company name and logo picked out, you are then able to order custom printed materials that we have professionally printed and shipped to your door! Our competitors don’t offer this level of customization. We also include a custom website and have several templates for you to choose from.