Re: Billing company rates / percentages

[Guest guest]

Wellington,

In my opinion, that's a bit high. I know a podiatrist whose billing service charges 10% but they do everything you described below and are involved in management of the practice (ordering supplies, etc...)

Soma

Subject: Billing company rates / percentagesTo: Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 11:45 PM

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington

[Guest guest]

Wellington,

In my opinion, that's a bit high. I know a podiatrist whose billing service charges 10% but they do everything you described below and are involved in management of the practice (ordering supplies, etc...)

Soma

Subject: Billing company rates / percentagesTo: Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 11:45 PM

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington

[Guest guest]

i pay 8%

Wellington,

In my opinion, that's a bit high. I know a podiatrist whose billing service charges 10% but they do everything you described below and are involved in management of the practice (ordering supplies, etc...)

Soma

Subject: Billing company rates / percentages

To: Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 11:45 PM

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They

do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for

an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington

-- If you are a patient please allow up to 12 hours for a reply by email/please note the new email address.Remember that e-mail may not be entirely secure/ MD

ph fax

[Guest guest]

i pay 8%

Wellington,

In my opinion, that's a bit high. I know a podiatrist whose billing service charges 10% but they do everything you described below and are involved in management of the practice (ordering supplies, etc...)

Soma

Subject: Billing company rates / percentages

To: Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 11:45 PM

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They

do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for

an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington

-- If you are a patient please allow up to 12 hours for a reply by email/please note the new email address.Remember that e-mail may not be entirely secure/ MD

ph fax

[Guest guest]

i pay 5% but would pay more because the biller is good . be sure to talk to

other clients of the biller to get references geord

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed

my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought

this was high, but they are doing it all. They do all the billing, deal with

the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal

with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software

in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not

having to pay for an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be

so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on

the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington

[Guest guest]

i pay 5% but would pay more because the biller is good . be sure to talk to

other clients of the biller to get references geord

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed

my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought

this was high, but they are doing it all. They do all the billing, deal with

the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal

with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software

in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not

having to pay for an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be

so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on

the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington

[Guest guest]

Many will charge 5-8%.Be careful though -- in regards to what they are doing for you - get it in writing.Some on the lower side are just putting in the charges and that is it -- and often just going after the low hanging fruit for easy payments to get their percentage, but not chasing down the more difficult insurances, etc.

I pay 6.5% of "net monthly receipts".

This is probably a little high for what they do for me -- but I have been reasonably happy with their performance -- plus they only work with offices that use my particular EMR/Practice Management system.

Therefore, they know how to manipulate the data, look things up, etc -- no learning curve.

Below is a list of what they do for me -- and not.

Of note, they have minimal charge entry -- all our charge entry is done by the medical provider on the fly.

They log into my Pract Mgt system remotely from their offices somewhere else in the country.

The thing that are a huge pain -- that I will be hiring someone to do -- becuase my billers don't really do this function...

Working patient A/R -- billers go after insurance A/R, but once that is done, they don't really do anything to go after the patient A/R -- ie call patients, send more aggressive letters, etc.

Scanning in the EOB's -- my PM program allows me to scan in the EOB to the system for archiving and reference -- then the billers look at the scanned document and enter in the payments, co-insurance, etc -- then the patient is sent a statement if there is a balance for the patient.

Talking to patients about bills -- they will talk to patients if we get a 3 way conference going, but they don't allow patients to call directly to their office to discuss charges or questions. This ends up putting a lot of these questions on me -- I can answer some, but some are very confusing and take me a lot of time to figure out or ask questions of the billers about what happened with the insurance payments, etc.

Send f/u notes, records, reviews, etc to the insurances -- get many requests for prior problem reviews, etc -- the billers don't print these records out, so I have to do it or my staff.

Followup for insurance info -- if the insurance card is missed or data missing -- they don't call the patient, my staff does.

Reports -- I have many reports to pull up in my system -- just don't know where or how to pull them up. Biller will help sometimes to point me to the right report.

Anyway, the idea is -- my billers get the codes entered by me automatically, so they are really just reviewing the charges, starting a claim, and sending it to the electronic clearing house -- then entering in EOB payments.

Probably I should be paying 5% -- but they do a good job on what they do and are pleasant.

Once I hire someone to help with all the odds and ends above, I'll probalby be paying more like 8+% of receipts.I already have someone extra hired to scan in the EOB's to the system.

I'm getting ready to hire someone to do the a/r, insurance followups, reports, etc.

With our moderate volumes 15-20, and my slow ability to enter data and do followups on my patients, I just don't have time to enter the EOB/Charges, send to clearing house, f/u patients to get accurate insurance if something wasn't entered right, print out and analyze reports, call up deadbeats, talk to patients about bills, etc.

BTW, most of the billing questions aren't about -- what did you charge -- but rather -- why didn't my insurance pay "X" or "Y"?

Sometimes it's easy to tell them -- you have a deductible, but often times it's much more cryptic.

Locke, MD-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of docwells97Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 5:46 PMTo: Subject: Billing company rates / percentagesI am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

Many will charge 5-8%.Be careful though -- in regards to what they are doing for you - get it in writing.Some on the lower side are just putting in the charges and that is it -- and often just going after the low hanging fruit for easy payments to get their percentage, but not chasing down the more difficult insurances, etc.

I pay 6.5% of "net monthly receipts".

This is probably a little high for what they do for me -- but I have been reasonably happy with their performance -- plus they only work with offices that use my particular EMR/Practice Management system.

Therefore, they know how to manipulate the data, look things up, etc -- no learning curve.

Below is a list of what they do for me -- and not.

Of note, they have minimal charge entry -- all our charge entry is done by the medical provider on the fly.

They log into my Pract Mgt system remotely from their offices somewhere else in the country.

The thing that are a huge pain -- that I will be hiring someone to do -- becuase my billers don't really do this function...

Working patient A/R -- billers go after insurance A/R, but once that is done, they don't really do anything to go after the patient A/R -- ie call patients, send more aggressive letters, etc.

Scanning in the EOB's -- my PM program allows me to scan in the EOB to the system for archiving and reference -- then the billers look at the scanned document and enter in the payments, co-insurance, etc -- then the patient is sent a statement if there is a balance for the patient.

Talking to patients about bills -- they will talk to patients if we get a 3 way conference going, but they don't allow patients to call directly to their office to discuss charges or questions. This ends up putting a lot of these questions on me -- I can answer some, but some are very confusing and take me a lot of time to figure out or ask questions of the billers about what happened with the insurance payments, etc.

Send f/u notes, records, reviews, etc to the insurances -- get many requests for prior problem reviews, etc -- the billers don't print these records out, so I have to do it or my staff.

Followup for insurance info -- if the insurance card is missed or data missing -- they don't call the patient, my staff does.

Reports -- I have many reports to pull up in my system -- just don't know where or how to pull them up. Biller will help sometimes to point me to the right report.

Anyway, the idea is -- my billers get the codes entered by me automatically, so they are really just reviewing the charges, starting a claim, and sending it to the electronic clearing house -- then entering in EOB payments.

Probably I should be paying 5% -- but they do a good job on what they do and are pleasant.

Once I hire someone to help with all the odds and ends above, I'll probalby be paying more like 8+% of receipts.I already have someone extra hired to scan in the EOB's to the system.

I'm getting ready to hire someone to do the a/r, insurance followups, reports, etc.

With our moderate volumes 15-20, and my slow ability to enter data and do followups on my patients, I just don't have time to enter the EOB/Charges, send to clearing house, f/u patients to get accurate insurance if something wasn't entered right, print out and analyze reports, call up deadbeats, talk to patients about bills, etc.

BTW, most of the billing questions aren't about -- what did you charge -- but rather -- why didn't my insurance pay "X" or "Y"?

Sometimes it's easy to tell them -- you have a deductible, but often times it's much more cryptic.

Locke, MD-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of docwells97Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 5:46 PMTo: Subject: Billing company rates / percentagesI am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

I don't have a biller, I do it myself and keep the 6-8%. I figure it pays me

$250/hour in savings. I just take a half day every month and go over the AR. My

integrated EHR makes this easy. Figure I make $30,000 a year more this way than

paying someone else.

________________________________

From: on behalf of

Sent: Wed 10/8/2008 6:22 PM

To:

Subject: Re: Billing company rates / percentages

i pay 8%

On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 7:54 PM, Soma Mandal <somamandal2000@...

> wrote:

Wellington,

In my opinion, that's a bit high. I know a podiatrist whose billing service

charges 10% but they do everything you described below and are involved in

management of the practice (ordering supplies, etc...)

Soma

>

Subject: Billing company rates / percentages

To:

<mailto: >

Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 11:45 PM

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are

getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I

interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of

collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They

do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and

denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go

with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would

save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for

an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad

after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on

the percentage.

Thanks for the help.

Wellington

--

If you are a patient please allow up to 12 hours for a reply by email/

please note the new email address.

Remember that e-mail may not be entirely secure/

MD

ph fax

[Guest guest]

Wellington,

I think billing company %’s vary

based on location. Where I am, the rate is 4-6% of collections. We

use e-MDs, which practically does the billing for us. I am here to help out

primarily on the back side – following up with patients who don’t

pay their deductibles and entering receipts. Outgoing billing takes me

less than 15 minutes per day and I personally review each claim for accuracy.

Incoming receipts takes me about 1-2 hours per week to post to patient accounts

(most of it is done electronically – very little manual data entry).

It takes me about 6 hours in a typical MONTH on collections, which includes all

of the secondary claims that we bill on paper, sending out patient invoices,

and insurance company followup. Our practice isn’t full, but I don’t

think it would take that much longer per month for a full practice.

Pratt

Office Manager

Oak Tree Internal Medicine P.C.

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of docwells97

Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008

4:46 PM

To:

Subject:

Billing company rates / percentages

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage

billing companies are

getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I

interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of

collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They

do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and

denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go

with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would

save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for

an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad

after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on

the percentage.

Thanks for the help.

Wellington

[Guest guest]

Ditto,

eMDs does allow me to do our collections without paying 5-10% gross collections to billing service. With overhead running 35% I would be paying 7.5 to 15% of salaried income just for someone to collect. That would be about one visit a day or as with last posts approximately $102.25 daily.

Subject: RE: Billing company rates / percentagesTo: Date: Thursday, October 9, 2008, 11:14 AM

Wellington,

I think billing company %’s vary based on location. Where I am, the rate is 4-6% of collections. We use e-MDs, which practically does the billing for us. I am here to help out primarily on the back side – following up with patients who don’t pay their deductibles and entering receipts. Outgoing billing takes me less than 15 minutes per day and I personally review each claim for accuracy. Incoming receipts takes me about 1-2 hours per week to post to patient accounts (most of it is done electronically – very little manual data entry). It takes me about 6 hours in a typical MONTH on collections, which includes all of the secondary claims that we bill on paper, sending out patient invoices, and insurance company followup. Our practice isn’t full, but I don’t think it would take that much

longer per month for a full practice.

Pratt

Office Manager

Oak Tree Internal Medicine P.C.

From: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT) com [mailto: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT) com ] On Behalf Of docwells97Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 4:46 PMTo: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT) comSubject: [Practiceimprovemen t1] Billing company rates / percentages

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the replies. It seems that 6-10% is the going rate in my area. I am still in the process of looking over what they will actually provide and it does seem like the will do alot. I guess I am a little hesitant to do my own billing as I do not have a clue about it and have never done it. I am leaving my job in the ER to open this practice. I am trying to keep my overhead down, but I am not sure if I can afford not to have someone else do my billing.

Wellington

RE: Billing company rates / percentages

Many will charge 5-8%.Be careful though -- in regards to what they are doing for you - get it in writing.Some on the lower side are just putting in the charges and that is it -- and often just going after the low hanging fruit for easy payments to get their percentage, but not chasing down the more difficult insurances, etc.

I pay 6.5% of "net monthly receipts".

This is probably a little high for what they do for me -- but I have been reasonably happy with their performance -- plus they only work with offices that use my particular EMR/Practice Management system.

Therefore, they know how to manipulate the data, look things up, etc -- no learning curve.

Below is a list of what they do for me -- and not.

Of note, they have minimal charge entry -- all our charge entry is done by the medical provider on the fly.

They log into my Pract Mgt system remotely from their offices somewhere else in the country.

The thing that are a huge pain -- that I will be hiring someone to do -- becuase my billers don't really do this function...

Working patient A/R -- billers go after insurance A/R, but once that is done, they don't really do anything to go after the patient A/R -- ie call patients, send more aggressive letters, etc.

Scanning in the EOB's -- my PM program allows me to scan in the EOB to the system for archiving and reference -- then the billers look at the scanned document and enter in the payments, co-insurance, etc -- then the patient is sent a statement if there is a balance for the patient.

Talking to patients about bills -- they will talk to patients if we get a 3 way conference going, but they don't allow patients to call directly to their office to discuss charges or questions. This ends up putting a lot of these questions on me -- I can answer some, but some are very confusing and take me a lot of time to figure out or ask questions of the billers about what happened with the insurance payments, etc.

Send f/u notes, records, reviews, etc to the insurances -- get many requests for prior problem reviews, etc -- the billers don't print these records out, so I have to do it or my staff.

Followup for insurance info -- if the insurance card is missed or data missing -- they don't call the patient, my staff does.

Reports -- I have many reports to pull up in my system -- just don't know where or how to pull them up. Biller will help sometimes to point me to the right report.

Anyway, the idea is -- my billers get the codes entered by me automatically, so they are really just reviewing the charges, starting a claim, and sending it to the electronic clearing house -- then entering in EOB payments.

Probably I should be paying 5% -- but they do a good job on what they do and are pleasant.

Once I hire someone to help with all the odds and ends above, I'll probalby be paying more like 8+% of receipts.I already have someone extra hired to scan in the EOB's to the system.

I'm getting ready to hire someone to do the a/r, insurance followups, reports, etc.

With our moderate volumes 15-20, and my slow ability to enter data and do followups on my patients, I just don't have time to enter the EOB/Charges, send to clearing house, f/u patients to get accurate insurance if something wasn't entered right, print out and analyze reports, call up deadbeats, talk to patients about bills, etc.

BTW, most of the billing questions aren't about -- what did you charge -- but rather -- why didn't my insurance pay "X" or "Y"?

Sometimes it's easy to tell them -- you have a deductible, but often times it's much more cryptic.

Locke, MD-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of docwells97Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 5:46 PMTo: Subject: Billing company rates / percentagesI am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

Did you get a chance to contact my biller in Chicago?Subject: Re: Billing company rates / percentagesTo: Date: Thursday, October 9, 2008, 3:53 PM

Thanks for the replies. It seems that 6-10% is the going rate in my area. I am still in the process of looking over what they will actually provide and it does seem like the will do alot. I guess I am a little hesitant to do my own billing as I do not have a clue about it and have never done it. I am leaving my job in the ER to open this practice. I am trying to keep my overhead down, but I am not sure if I can afford not to have someone else do my billing.

Wellington

[Practiceimprovemen t1] Billing company rates / percentagesI am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington------------ --------- --------- ------

[Guest guest]

It seems that alot of the EMR's make it easy to do billing as the billing and charge component are built in to the EMR. I guess I need to dig a little deeper into what the EMR is capable of.

Wellingtom

RE: Billing company rates / percentages

Wellington,

I think billing company %’s vary based on location. Where I am, the rate is 4-6% of collections. We use e-MDs, which practically does the billing for us. I am here to help out primarily on the back side – following up with patients who don’t pay their deductibles and entering receipts. Outgoing billing takes me less than 15 minutes per day and I personally review each claim for accuracy. Incoming receipts takes me about 1-2 hours per week to post to patient accounts (most of it is done electronically – very little manual data entry). It takes me about 6 hours in a typical MONTH on collections, which includes all of the secondary claims that we bill on paper, sending out patient invoices, and insurance company followup. Our practice isn’t full, but I don’t think it would take that much longer per month for a full practice.

Pratt

Office Manager

Oak Tree Internal Medicine P.C.

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of docwells97Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 4:46 PMTo: Subject: Billing company rates / percentages

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on the percentage.Thanks for the help.Wellington

[Guest guest]

Yes, the EMR is really wonderful. If the

EMR (assuming you’ve already decided upon one) has a billing option, I

would talk to other physicians with that EMR as to how well they like the

billing component. The EMR sales rep should be able to provide references. As

the physician, you are already doing the coding. The billing component simply

copies what is already documented in the chart.

I did not do medical billing before we

opened Steve’s practice here. A couple of day-long seminars (find a good

one!) goes a long ways to insure that you are correctly coding and billing.

Pratt

Office Manager

Oak Tree Internal Medicine P.C.

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Wellington and

Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008

2:57 PM

To:

Subject: Re:

Billing company rates / percentages

It seems that alot of the EMR's make it easy to do billing

as the billing and charge component are built in to the EMR. I guess

I need to dig a little deeper into what the EMR is capable of.

Wellingtom

Billing company rates / percentages

I am

trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are

getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I

interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of

collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They

do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and

denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go

with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would

save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for

an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad

after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on

the percentage.

Thanks for the help.

Wellington

[Guest guest]

The thing to look at specifically, in my opinion, is whether there is

integration int he software. By that, I mean, when you enter the data in the

chart it is captured by the billing module. Also in the billing module is there

a way to track payments, statements, guarantors, etc? eMD's does all of this and

allows us to do all of our billing and collections without paying anyone. We

keep the revenue. Don't forget transaction cost-everytime you have to enter

data, track data or otherwise handle a piece of information there is

cost-measured in time. If you have to enter it twice, it costs you both times.

The only thing we have in our profession is time, that is what we work off of,

no real product to sell. So if you have a nonintegrated program, where you need

to reenter data from one program to another, or deal with kind of stuff, you

will either need to pay someone to reenter data (employees or billing agent),

limit patient time to do it yourself, or spend more time working and less time

with your family. The one thing computers can do for us, besides the charting is

streamline these functions and you keep the money in your pocket. The cost of

the product is peanuts compared to the cost of hiring employees or billing

agents. Besides, you can depreciate the software and hardware to keep your taxes

lower, something you can't do with employees.

________________________________

From: on behalf of Wellington and

Sent: Thu 10/9/2008 3:57 PM

To:

Subject: Re: Billing company rates / percentages

It seems that alot of the EMR's make it easy to do billing as the billing and

charge component are built in to the EMR. I guess I need to dig a little deeper

into what the EMR is capable of.

Wellingtom

Billing company rates / percentages

I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing companies are

getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless. I

interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10% of

collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it all. They

do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on claims and

denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their bills. If i go

with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR, which would

save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having to pay for

an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be so bad

after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some negotiation on

the percentage.

Thanks for the help.

Wellington

[Guest guest]

It seems E-mds is the cheapest Do-it-all solution which eliminates

duplicate entry of diagnosis and ICD-9. Am I wrong? The billing

company seems to add yet another player in this crowded billing game.

>

> The thing to look at specifically, in my opinion, is whether there

is integration int he software. By that, I mean, when you enter the

data in the chart it is captured by the billing module. Also in the

billing module is there a way to track payments, statements,

guarantors, etc? eMD's does all of this and allows us to do all of

our billing and collections without paying anyone. We keep the

revenue. Don't forget transaction cost-everytime you have to enter

data, track data or otherwise handle a piece of information there is

cost-measured in time. If you have to enter it twice, it costs you

both times.

> The only thing we have in our profession is time, that is what we

work off of, no real product to sell. So if you have a nonintegrated

program, where you need to reenter data from one program to another,

or deal with kind of stuff, you will either need to pay someone to

reenter data (employees or billing agent), limit patient time to do

it yourself, or spend more time working and less time with your

family. The one thing computers can do for us, besides the charting

is streamline these functions and you keep the money in your pocket.

The cost of the product is peanuts compared to the cost of hiring

employees or billing agents. Besides, you can depreciate the software

and hardware to keep your taxes lower, something you can't do with

employees.

>

> ________________________________

>

> From: on behalf of Wellington

and

> Sent: Thu 10/9/2008 3:57 PM

> To:

> Subject: Re: Billing company rates /

percentages

>

>

>

> It seems that alot of the EMR's make it easy to do billing as the

billing and charge component are built in to the EMR. I guess I need

to dig a little deeper into what the EMR is capable of.

>

> Wellingtom

>

>

> Billing company rates /

percentages

>

>

>

> I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing

companies are

> getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless.

I

> interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10%

of

> collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it

all. They

> do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on

claims and

> denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their

bills. If i go

> with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR,

which would

> save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having

to pay for

> an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be

so bad

> after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some

negotiation on

> the percentage.

> Thanks for the help.

>

> Wellington

>

[Guest guest]

I can't speak about other systems, but Amazing Charts has only one icd-9

entry. I did have to buy a billing program that allows for printing claims,

and I have to transfer the billing data. But it's not onerous work. AC is

really inexpensive, even when you buy some extra things (I pay for online

prescribing through AC and got EZClaim for billing).From all the discussions,

there are a number of cheap/inexpensive EMRs that can help us get our work

done. From what I've read, eMD users do like it.Tim

> On Sun, October 12, 2008 3:46 am EDT, np92801

wrote:> > > It seems E-mds

is the cheapest Do-it-all solution which eliminates> duplicate entry of

diagnosis and ICD-9. Am I wrong? The billing> company seems to add yet

another player in this crowded billing game.> > > >> > The

thing to look at specifically, in my opinion, is whether there> is

integration int he software. By that, I mean, when you enter the> data in

the chart it is captured by the billing module. Also in the> billing module

is there a way to track payments, statements,> guarantors, etc? eMD's does

all of this and allows us to do all of> our billing and collections without

paying anyone. We keep the> revenue. Don't forget transaction

cost-everytime you have to enter> data, track data or otherwise handle a

piece of information there is> cost-measured in time. If you have to enter

it twice, it costs you> both times.> > The only thing we have

in our profession is time, that is what we> work off of, no real product to

sell. So if you have a nonintegrated> program, where you need to reenter

data from one program to another,> or deal with kind of stuff, you will

either need to pay someone to> reenter data (employees or billing agent),

limit patient time to do> it yourself, or spend more time working and less

time with your> family. The one thing computers can do for us, besides the

charting> is streamline these functions and you keep the money in your

pocket.> The cost of the product is peanuts compared to the cost of

hiring> employees or billing agents. Besides, you can depreciate the

software> and hardware to keep your taxes lower, something you can't do

with> employees.> >> >

________________________________> >> >> From:

on behalf of Wellington> and

> > Sent: Thu 10/9/2008 3:57 PM> > To:

> > Subject: Re:

Billing company rates /> percentages>

>> >> >> > It seems that alot of the EMR's

make it easy to do billing as the> billing and charge component are built

in to the EMR. I guess I need> to dig a little deeper into what the EMR is

capable of.> >> > Wellingtom> >>

>> >

Billing company rates /> percentages> >> >> >> > I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage

billing> companies are> > getting these days. I have never

done this, so I am clueless.> I> > interviewed my first

billing company today and they want 10%> of> > collections. I

thought this was high, but they are doing it> all. They> > do

all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on> claims and>

> denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their> bills. If i

go> > with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR,> which would> > save me a few dollars. After looking at that and

not having> to pay for> > an extra employess and benefits, I

thought this might not be> so bad> > after all. Am I thinking

wrong? I know there can be some> negotiation on> > the

percentage.> > Thanks for the help.> >> >

Wellington> >> > > >

------------------------------------> >

[Guest guest]

I have Amazing Charts on the 90 day free trial period. I'm prining my CMS 1500 right off of AC. I couldn't see spending money on more billing stuff when I can bill from AC. I'm not sure what you are referring to by only "one ICD 9". I love that I can edit the codes to what I call a procedure or E & M and from then on I don't have to try to remember what the stupid book called it. The codes are transferred right from the note to the CMS. I am able to adjust them in the billing section if I made an error. I can add modiifiers and CPT codes as well. I do have to handwrite in any G codes I use. I too was looking at EZ claims but decided that it wasn't worth it if AC comes out with it's billing/practice management piece within the year since I'm still building my practice. I don't like billing or money end of the business at all. (Ask

Jeanne Ant when I finally set my rates....) But I have not found this terribly hard. I have found it time consuming to learn and nows the time that I have time when my practice isn't full. > > > It seems E-mds is the cheapest Do-it-all solution which eliminates> duplicate entry of diagnosis and ICD-9. Am I wrong? The billing> company seems to add yet another player in this crowded billing game.> > > >> > The thing to look at

specifically, in my opinion, is whether there> is integration int he software. By that, I mean, when you enter the> data in the chart it is captured by the billing module. Also in the> billing module is there a way to track payments, statements,> guarantors, etc? eMD's does all of this and allows us to do all of> our billing and collections without paying anyone. We keep the> revenue. Don't forget transaction cost-everytime you have to enter> data, track data or otherwise handle a piece of information there is> cost-measured in time. If you have to enter it twice, it costs you> both times.> > The only thing we have in our profession is time, that is what we> work off of, no real product to sell. So if you have a nonintegrated> program, where you need to reenter data from one program to another,> or deal with kind of stuff, you will either need to pay someone

to> reenter data (employees or billing agent), limit patient time to do> it yourself, or spend more time working and less time with your> family. The one thing computers can do for us, besides the charting> is streamline these functions and you keep the money in your pocket.> The cost of the product is peanuts compared to the cost of hiring> employees or billing agents. Besides, you can depreciate the software> and hardware to keep your taxes lower, something you can't do with> employees.> >> > ____________ _________ _________ __> >> >> From: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT) com on behalf of Wellington> and > > Sent: Thu 10/9/2008 3:57 PM> > To: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT) com> > Subject: Re: [Practiceimprovemen t1] Billing company rates /> percentages> >> >>

>> > It seems that alot of the EMR's make it easy to do billing as the> billing and charge component are built in to the EMR. I guess I need> to dig a little deeper into what the EMR is capable of.> >> > Wellingtom> >> >> > [Practiceimprovemen t1] Billing company rates /> percentages> >> >> >> > I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing> companies are> > getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless.> I> > interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10%> of> > collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it> all. They> > do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on> claims and> > denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their> bills. If i go> >

with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR,> which would> > save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having> to pay for> > an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be> so bad> > after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some> negotiation on> > the percentage.> > Thanks for the help.> >> > Wellington> >> > > > ------------ --------- --------- ------> >

[Guest guest]

I meant that the icd-9 only needs to be entered once, which is at the time I am

making the note.TimOn Sun,

October 12, 2008 9:07 am EDT, Myria wrote:

I have Amazing Charts on the 90 day free trial

period. I'm prining my CMS 1500 right off of AC. I couldn't see

spending money on more billing stuff when I can bill from AC. I'm not

sure what you are referring to by only " one ICD 9 " . I love

that I can edit the codes to what I call a procedure or E & M and from

then on I don't have to try to remember what the stupid book called it.

The codes are transferred right from the note to the CMS. I am able to

adjust them in the billing section if I made an error. I can add

modiifiers and CPT codes as well. I do have to handwrite in any G codes

I use. I too was looking at EZ claims but decided that it wasn't worth

it if AC comes out with it's billing/practice management piece within

the year since I'm still building my practice. I don't like billing or

money end of the business at all. (Ask Jeanne Ant when I finally

set my rates....) But I have not found this terribly hard. I have found

it time consuming to learn and nows the time that I have time when my

practice isn't full. >

> > It seems E-mds is the cheapest Do-it-all solution

which eliminates> duplicate entry of diagnosis and ICD-9. Am I

wrong? The billing> company seems to add yet another player in

this crowded billing game.> > > >>

> The thing to look at specifically, in my opinion, is whether

there> is integration int he software. By that, I mean, when

you enter the> data in the chart it is captured by the billing

module. Also in the> billing module is there a way to track

payments, statements,> guarantors, etc? eMD's does all of this

and allows us to do all of> our billing and collections without

paying anyone. We keep the> revenue. Don't forget transaction

cost-everytime you have to enter> data, track data or otherwise

handle a piece of information there is> cost-measured in time.

If you have to enter it twice, it costs you> both times.> > The only thing we have in our profession is time, that is

what we> work off of, no real product to sell. So if you have a

nonintegrated> program, where you need to reenter data from one

program to another,> or deal with kind of stuff, you will

either need to pay someone to> reenter data (employees or

billing agent), limit patient time to do> it yourself, or spend

more time working and less time with your> family. The one

thing computers can do for us, besides the charting> is

streamline these functions and you keep the money in your pocket.> The cost of the product is peanuts compared to the cost of

hiring> employees or billing agents. Besides, you can

depreciate the software> and hardware to keep your taxes lower,

something you can't do with> employees.> >> > ____________ _________ _________ __> >>

>>From: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT) com on

behalf of Wellington> and > > Sent:

Thu 10/9/2008 3:57 PM> > To: Practiceimprovement

1yahoogroups (DOT) com> > Subject: Re: [Practiceimprovemen t1]

Billing company rates /> percentages> >>

>> >> > It seems that alot of the EMR's

make it easy to do billing as the> billing and charge component

are built in to the EMR. I guess I need> to dig a little deeper

into what the EMR is capable of.> >> >

Wellingtom> >> >> > ----- Original

Message -----> >>From: Pratt>

> To: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT) com> >

> Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 12:14 PM> > Subject:

RE: [Practiceimprovemen t1] Billing company rates />

percentages> >> >> >>

>> > Wellington,> >> >>

>> > I think billing company %'s vary based on location.

Where I> am, the rate is 4-6% of collections. We use e-MDs,

which practically> does the billing for us. I am here to help

out primarily on the back> side - following up with patients who don't pay their deductibles and> entering receipts.

Outgoing billing takes me less than 15 minutes> per day and I

personally review each claim for accuracy. Incoming> receipts

takes me about 1-2 hours per week to post to patient> accounts

(most of it is done electronically - very little manual data>

entry). It takes me about 6 hours in a typical MONTH on collections,> which includes all of the secondary claims that we bill on

paper,> sending out patient invoices, and insurance company

followup. Our> practice isn't full, but I don't think it would

take that much longer> per month for a full practice.>

>> >> >> > >

>> >> >> > Pratt>

>> > Office Manager> >> > Oak

Tree Internal Medicine P.C.> >> >> >

____________ _________ _________ __> >>

>> >>From: Practiceimprovement

1yahoogroups (DOT) com> [mailto:Practiceimp rovement1@ yahoogroups.

com] On Behalf Of docwells97> > Sent: Wednesday, October 08,

2008 4:46 PM> > To: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT)

com> > Subject: [Practiceimprovemen t1] Billing company

rates /> percentages> >> >>

>> > I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage

billing> companies are> > getting these days. I

have never done this, so I am clueless.> I> >

interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10%>

of> > collections. I thought this was high, but they are

doing it> all. They> > do all the billing, deal

with the insurance companies on> claims and> >

denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their> bills.

If i go> > with them, I do not need any billing

software in my EMR,> which would> > save me a few

dollars. After looking at that and not having> to pay for> > an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not

be> so bad> > after all. Am I thinking wrong? I

know there can be some> negotiation on> > the

percentage.> > Thanks for the help.> >>

> Wellington> >> > > > ------------ --------- --------- ------> >

[Guest guest]

You can add in any codes to Amazing Charts without continuing to handwrite them. It's in the administrative section, editing CPT codes. However, my version does now have all the G codes.I have Amazing Charts on the 90 day free trial period.  I'm prining my CMS 1500 right off of AC.  I couldn't see spending money on more billing stuff when I can bill from AC. I'm not sure what you are referring to by only "one ICD 9".  I love that I can edit the codes to what I call a procedure or E & M and from then on I don't have to try to remember what the stupid book called it. The codes are transferred right from the note to the CMS. I am able to adjust them in the billing section if I made an error. I can add modiifiers and CPT codes as well.  I do have to handwrite in any G codes I use. I too was looking at EZ claims but decided that it wasn't worth it if AC comes out with it's billing/practice management piece within the year since I'm still building my practice. I don't like billing or money end of the business at all.  (Ask Jeanne Ant when I finally set my rates....) But I have not found this terribly hard.  I have found it time consuming to learn and nows the time that I have time when my practice isn't full. --- On Sun, 10/12/08, Malia, MD  wrote:Subject: Re: Re: Billing company rates / percentagesTo: np92801, practiceimprovement1 Date: Sunday, October 12, 2008, 8:52 AMI can't speak about other systems, but Amazing Charts has only one icd-9 entry.  I did have to buy a billing program that allows for printing claims, and I have to transfer the billing data. But it's not onerous work.  AC is really inexpensive, even when you buy some extra things (I pay for online prescribing through AC and got EZClaim for billing).From all the discussions, there are a number of cheap/inexpensive EMRs that can help us get our work done.  From what I've read, eMD users do like it.Tim> > > > It seems E-mds is the cheapest Do-it-all solution which eliminates> duplicate entry of diagnosis and ICD-9. Am I wrong? The billing> company seems to add yet another player in this crowded billing game.> > > >> > The thing to look at specifically, in my opinion, is whether there> is integration int he software. By that, I mean, when you enter the> data in the chart it is captured by the billing module. Also in the> billing module is there a way to track payments, statements,> guarantors, etc? eMD's does all of this and allows us to do all of> our billing and collections without paying anyone. We keep the> revenue. Don't forget transaction cost-everytime you have to enter> data, track data or otherwise handle a piece of information there is> cost-measured in time. If you have to enter it twice, it costs you> both times.> > The only thing we have in our profession is time, that is what we> work off of, no real product to sell. So if you have a nonintegrated> program, where you need to reenter data from one program to another,> or deal with kind of stuff, you will either need to pay someone to> reenter data (employees or billing agent), limit patient time to do> it yourself, or spend more time working and less time with your> family. The one thing computers can do for us, besides the charting> is streamline these functions and you keep the money in your pocket.> The cost of the product is peanuts compared to the cost of hiring> employees or billing agents. Besides, you can depreciate the software> and hardware to keep your taxes lower, something you can't do with> employees.> >> > ____________ _________ _________ __> >> >> From: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT) com on behalf of Wellington> and > > Sent: Thu 10/9/2008 3:57 PM> > To: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT) com> > Subject: Re: [Practiceimprovemen t1] Billing company rates /> percentages> >> >> >> > It seems that alot of the EMR's make it easy to do billing as the> billing and charge component are built in to the EMR. I guess I need> to dig a little deeper into what the EMR is capable of.> >> > Wellingtom> >> >> > [Practiceimprovemen t1] Billing company rates /> percentages> >> >> >> > I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing> companies are> > getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless.> I> > interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10%> of> > collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it> all. They> > do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on> claims and> > denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their> bills. If i go> > with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR,> which would> > save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having> to pay for> > an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be> so bad> > after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some> negotiation on> > the percentage.> > Thanks for the help.> >> > Wellington> >> > > > ------------ --------- --------- ------> >

[Guest guest]

I am looking at using eclinical works at the moment. They have a practice management/billing component build into the software. It seems to have all the tools in it to do billing. I guess I am a little worried about submitting codes and claims that will not get paid. Is this worth paying someone else to do billing? I guess I could look for a service to download my billing information from eclinical works and electronically submit it and handle pt statements and calls. I know this would not be a large amount of work to start, but I am working so hard just to get started at this point.

Wellington

Billing company rates /> percentages> >> >> >> > I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing> companies are> > getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless.> I> > interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10%> of> > collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it> all. They> > do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on> claims and> > denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their> bills. If i go> > with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR,> which would> > save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having> to pay for> > an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be> so bad> > after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some> negotiation on> > the percentage.> > Thanks for the help.> >> > Wellington> >> > > > ------------------------------------> >

[Guest guest]

I really am not turned off by the business side of the practice. I am just a little apprehensive of doing my own billing and not getting paid because of my own ignorance. Like not having the right modifier. Should my billing software take care of that problem? If so, then this would not be so bad.

Wellington

[Practiceimprovemen t1] Billing company rates /> percentages> >> >> >> > I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing> companies are> > getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless.> I> > interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10%> of> > collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it> all. They> > do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on> claims and> > denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their> bills. If i go> > with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR,> which would> > save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having> to pay for> > an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be> so bad> > after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some> negotiation on> > the percentage.> > Thanks for the help.> >> > Wellington> >> > > > ------------ --------- --------- ------> >

[Guest guest]

I suggest you spend some time on the Amazing Charts User Support board during your 90 day free trial. I have learned "work arounds" and also that the program often does what I want it to do when I thought it did not...

I second the idea of spending some time with an experienced biller- I spent about 3 hours with one when I started. Even if you are not going to do your own billing, it helps to know the process. I was sending paper claims when I started and I wasn't even sure how to fold them... or if it mattered.

Lastly, so many good billing options out there but likely no perfect ones! I use Amazing Charts and MBPros. MBPros has different levels of service so you can basically just use their system as a gateway or have them do everything but denial follow-ups.

I may be weird, but I LOVE entering payments into my billing program whether it be through MBPros or in my office. I don't have time for it anymore so I stepped up to the higher level service but miss the "organic process" of providing the service, receiving & documenting the payment then playing with reports every which way I can. Playing with reports has helped me understand the business side of the practice, make changes in marketing and more. If you are insulated from your billing, and don't learn to pay attention to a variety of analysis reports, you may end up growing your business in the wrong direction.

Carla Gibson

Missoula

Now back to Solo-Solo from Solo-0.5 receptionist

[Guest guest]

That was our experience when we went with

e-MDs over 3 years ago. The next best bet was NextGen, at about 4 times the

price.

Pratt

Office Manager

Oak Tree Internal Medicine P.C.

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of np92801

Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008

12:47 AM

To:

Subject:

Re: Billing company rates / percentages

It seems E-mds is the cheapest Do-it-all solution

which eliminates

duplicate entry of diagnosis and ICD-9. Am I wrong? The billing

company seems to add yet another player in this crowded billing game.

>

> The thing to look at specifically, in my opinion, is whether there

is integration int he software. By that, I mean, when you enter the

data in the chart it is captured by the billing module. Also in the

billing module is there a way to track payments, statements,

guarantors, etc? eMD's does all of this and allows us to do all of

our billing and collections without paying anyone. We keep the

revenue. Don't forget transaction cost-everytime you have to enter

data, track data or otherwise handle a piece of information there is

cost-measured in time. If you have to enter it twice, it costs you

both times.

> The only thing we have in our profession is time, that is what we

work off of, no real product to sell. So if you have a nonintegrated

program, where you need to reenter data from one program to another,

or deal with kind of stuff, you will either need to pay someone to

reenter data (employees or billing agent), limit patient time to do

it yourself, or spend more time working and less time with your

family. The one thing computers can do for us, besides the charting

is streamline these functions and you keep the money in your pocket.

The cost of the product is peanuts compared to the cost of hiring

employees or billing agents. Besides, you can depreciate the software

and hardware to keep your taxes lower, something you can't do with

employees.

>

> ________________________________

>

> From:

on behalf of Wellington

and

> Sent: Thu 10/9/2008 3:57 PM

> To:

> Subject: Re: Billing company rates /

percentages

>

>

>

> It seems that alot of the EMR's make it easy to do billing as the

billing and charge component are built in to the EMR. I guess I need

to dig a little deeper into what the EMR is capable of.

>

> Wellingtom

>

>

> Billing company rates /

percentages

>

>

>

> I am trying to figure out what rate or percentage billing

companies are

> getting these days. I have never done this, so I am clueless.

I

> interviewed my first billing company today and they want 10%

of

> collections. I thought this was high, but they are doing it

all. They

> do all the billing, deal with the insurance companies on

claims and

> denials, send pt statements, and deal with pts on their

bills. If i go

> with them, I do not need any billing software in my EMR,

which would

> save me a few dollars. After looking at that and not having

to pay for

> an extra employess and benefits, I thought this might not be

so bad

> after all. Am I thinking wrong? I know there can be some

negotiation on

> the percentage.

> Thanks for the help.

>

> Wellington

>