What is the most overlooked segment of healthcare providers? For our money, it’s dentists.
Maybe it’s because we’re afraid of the dentist? Maybe they’re thought as smaller potatoes compared to doctors? Whatever the reason, it’s time to make your checkup on dental options.
There are nearly 180,000 dentists in the U.S. The older one-man bands are still [...]

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Good question — and there’s no correct answer.
Families in small businesses are very common. Often, it’s spouses, but several generations aren’t unusual. Sometimes it works very well, sometimes it’s a disaster.
Should you consider it? This video discusses several key points to first ponder.

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Twenty percent of claims to California’s largest private medical insurers were rejected between 2002 and June 30, 2009, says the California Department of Managed Care.

That number is being used to fuel the “death panel” debates in rebuttal to President Obama’s proposed health care overhaul. But, we’re wondering what it means to those of [...]

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Many of you have websites. But, sticking a billboard in cyberspace isn’t enough. You have to understand facebook, twitter, google, youtube and many more.
This video does a good job of running down the top 10 basics for online marketing. Much of it is free to do.

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Many medical claims billers concentrate on — wait for it — billing! OK, not calling the New York Times with that revelation, but we’re overstating the obvious to make you realize how silly staying with just one thing really is.
Diversify. Rework the wheel and make more money. And today’s way of doing it — Electronic [...]

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We talk and talk and talk about health care providers, but we often overlook discussing a big one — dental. Maybe it’s because many of us — OK, me — are afraid of dentists and only go when absolutely necessary, but they don’t seem like bad guys when becoming clients.
The key is having the right [...]

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It’s Monday so you don’t feel like working. Good thing someone invented coffee.
It’s August so it’s too hot to work. Good thing someone invented air conditioning.
It’s a recession so it seems like there’s no work. Good thing someone invented motivation.
OK, are we done saying we can’t get anything done today and move on to what [...]

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You get the pitch all the time — if it brings just one customer the ad pays for itself. And then no one calls. And even if they did, why do you want to spend money just hoping it might break even?
This video discusses how to effectively advertise so it makes money for you. [...]

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Denial codes — the bane of our existence — has a new challenger.
The Medical Banking Project recently reported standardization is absent when dealing with denial codes. Yet, there is standardization for remittance codes, meaning it can be done for denials, too. The board wants standard denial codes so everyone can quickly understand why a [...]

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Medicare is considering changing pay rates to reward primary care doctors and decrease pay to specialists.
So, if you have clients in one of the two categories, and you probably do, you might want to give them a heads up because it could change their practice should the CMS implement proposed changes.
The Wall Street Journal reported [...]

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is weighing substantial changes to cost report forms hospitals submit annually. It would be the first major alterations of the form in 13 years.
The proposed new form involves cost reporting periods beginning Feb. 1, 2010. The AHA is accepting public comment before Aug. 31.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid [...]

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The American Medical Association’s 2009 National Health Insurer Report Card tells us the following:
* Insurers did a better job in accurately reporting the contracted rate to health care providers. It was correct 72 percent to 93 percent of the time in 2009 versus 62 percent to 87 percent in 2008.
* Insurers still have problems with [...]

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Inefficiency in the claims process is costing Americans $200 billion annually, according to the American Medical Association’s National Health Insurer Report Card.
The report used a random sampling of 1.6 million electronic claims in February and March 2009 to Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Coventry Health Care, Health Net, Humana, Medicare and the UnitedHealth [...]

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The land of 1,000 lakes just hit the grid to provide a new fishing hole of opportunities for medical claims processors.
As of July 15, all Minnesota healthcare providers must now file electronically. The Minnesota Department of Health estimates about $60 million in administrative costs will be saved by 60,000 providers going electronic.
New rules for [...]

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Who says there aren’t opportunities out there?
The California Public Interest Research Group reports its healthcare providers are spending $9 billing annually on billing and insurance processing. The report says doctors spend 45 minutes on paperwork for each hour of care.
The California Wellness Foundation, which funded the report, promotes a streamlined health care billing system used [...]

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Australia’s ICSGlobal recently spent $1.75 million for Medical Recovery Services (MRS) in Georgia. Now it’s looking for more companies to acquire, according to The Australian newspaper.
“There are 3,000 medical billing companies in the US, and we plan either to partner with or to acquire some of those to build up our presence,” chief executive [...]

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It’s not as hard as you think. If you like to talk, you can sell yourself.
This short video explains how small talk at the start of the meeting can make the difference. Oh, you still have to pitch well, but opening off with a few pleasantries can set the tone.
Take two minutes and see how [...]

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Doctors spend three weeks annually on billing that cost them $31 billion annually.
And they wonder if outsourcing is worth it?
Health Affairs, the policy journal of the health sphere, reports the average physician cost themself $85,276 in lost time spent on billing and insurance matters. This doesn’t even factor time spent on coding after a patient [...]

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We’re about to make you break into a cold sweat.
Cold calling. You know, “Hi, this is John and I represent ABC Billing. I’d like to talk to you about your billing needs.”

You’re either good at this or you’re not. But, everyone usually tries it at least once because it only costs your time and [...]

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Everybody promises results, very few deliver. But if you’re ready to spend some money advertising, here are 5 proven means no matter where you live.

No. 1 – Yellowbook.com. You remember that yellow book. Now it’s online and the clear most effective online search method for the money. Google is bigger, but much more costly. [...]

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