Author Topic: Best clients for newbies  (Read 18719 times)

QueenAlicia

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #15 on: February 10, 2011, 04:13:44 PM »
I have not done dental billing but I could easily make the transition, I did process dental claims when I was a claims examiner but I just found it boring, all those xrays of the mouth.. teeth.. LOL   Dental software is MUCH more user friendly and way less complex. Even today I think dental billing is still the "untapped" market :)
JMO

LOL, that is funny because I love teeth and I used to want to be a dentist when I was 7 years old.  ;D

marie8480

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #16 on: February 10, 2011, 04:17:28 PM »
I intend to do the same thing Alicia thanks so much!

PMRNC

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #17 on: February 10, 2011, 04:19:04 PM »
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LOL, that is funny because I love teeth and I used to want to be a dentist when I was 7 years old.  Grin

MY hat is off to you!!  Go for it!! What do you have to lose. If you want to communicate with someone who does dental billing, DME, and other specialties contact me by PM or email and I will put you in touch with her. She also works with MAB and does dental billing courses!  MAB is pretty good Association, they put out some incredible billers ; Dental and medical.
Linda Walker
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QueenAlicia

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #18 on: February 10, 2011, 04:28:11 PM »
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Well Marie, I don't know how to respond but be honest. Most providers will ask you for experience

I honestly can't imagine a provider outsourcing to someone with no billing experience.....school is wonderful, but there is NOTHING like true billing experience...I tell all my students who want to start their own medical billing business when they finish the program....3-6 months minimum experience before you try your start-up!!

In a way this kinda discourages me (even though I know that not the intentions).  Lately a lot of the ads I see are for candidates with 2yrs+ experience.  Even if I came straight out of Kaplan or some other school seeking work I would still need that amount of experience.  I have found 2 ads where they are entry level and I am putting together info send to them right now.

taxlady28781

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #19 on: February 10, 2011, 05:19:19 PM »
Ok, i never done any medical billing before beside what i've learned from school and read anything i could find on it.
i have a diploma as a Medical assistant and also im on my third semester for an Associate degree in Healthcare Mgnt
back in Canada i went to school to become a nurse than realized that it wasn't for me, now that i know what i want im really into it
i know that it won't be easy to start because of no experience but not impossible. It's not possible for me to go out and get a job as a medical biller right now and beside i always wanted to be my own boss
im married with 3 kids,even know that my husband got a good job working for the rail road, it's just too much to pay for decare for all of my kids.
So any advice you can give me will be welcome, don't try to discourage me from doing that and don't need any negative comments or try to put me down because of no experience.

Marie, you and I are in the same boat.  My husband has a good job as a Marine but military are underpaid and I too have always wanted to be my own boss.  I have one in daycare and the other is a baby. I know this will be dificult but not impossible.  I am just going to market until I get calls and stay up on all new procedures with billing.  

I am in a similar situation.  But, I have been my own boss for years now, just not in medical billing :)  I have two small children and run my husband's retail store(which keeps itself running, but by no means pays the bills...yet). We can't afford to close it down and lose all that investment.  And I sure can't go out and get a job in a physician's office and be able to pay for daycare and pay someone to run the store.  I'll just keep plugging away trying to get that first client signed and grow from there  :D

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #19 on: February 10, 2011, 05:19:19 PM »

Pay_My_Claims

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #20 on: February 10, 2011, 05:48:03 PM »
Queen I can only tell you my experience with Dental, and it can be specific to certain areas, but in NC, there is a HUGE volume of medicaid billing, and straight CASH clients. Most providers don't tend to welcome medical billers. My experience with dental actually started by working with a pediatrician and with NC medicaid/HC patients they were able to get dental check ups and we had to bill those codes. My girlfriend finally broke into Dental and it was one of the reasons back then I wanted to do it because of the HUGE BONUSES you get. Dental plans don't cover everything so in order to be seen you pay cash. They make a majority of their money by cash clients. Its not complex like health insurance, the coding is simple, and they usually have the biller doing dental assisting as well.

PMRNC

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #21 on: February 10, 2011, 11:14:09 PM »
Though Dental coverage is not great at all (it's pretty bad all over the country) there are SEVERAL new products and individual plan's now. Some act like credit cards, some are 50/50 plans, etc. It really is an UNtapped part of the business.  When's the last time you went into a dental office and saw ONLY one person behind the desk? My dentist has 8 OFFICE staff people in addition to their hygienists and 2 Dentists.
Linda Walker
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Michele

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #22 on: February 11, 2011, 10:44:47 AM »
We did dental about 15 years ago.  It was actually quite easy.  We had NO experience in dental, and very little in medical.  But we had no problems.  We had and still have a great work ethic, and were determined to do what we needed, learn what we needed, etc to get the job done and done right.  It was actually quite profitable, mostly commercial insurance, little medicaid or cash.  We did one dental group with many foreign docs, for about a year.  We gave it up because they were not on the up and up.  We suspected fraud and we wanted no part of it.  We attempted to 'show' them our concerns but they were obviously not concerned so we gave notice.  I would do it again, but I don't have the time!  I agree I think it's an uptapped market. 

Regarding having no experience, I can relate.  Many of our first appointments were lost due to our "no references, no experience".  But some became clients.  And those clients became experience and references!  We have interviewed employees with no experience and hired them.  They presented themselves with confidence, and an eagerness to learn.  In fact we just hired a girl.  No experience in this field whatsoever.  She has given us more in one week than some employees we hired with YEARS of experience.  When we started, we had to make this work.  I left my job to start my family.  I needed to replace my income AND not increase my expenses with childcare.  I also have that entreprenureal bug so determination was not an issue.  Sometimes you are in a situation where working for someone else won't work for you.  I do think that getting experience by working for someone else is a good idea, so I'm not saying don't do it.  I'm saying that sometimes it's not an option, and you need to make this work.  Soooooo, When you meet with a provider you need to show them that you are a competent, capable, reliable person who even without references or experience will do an outstanding job on their work. 

Please don't mistake my advice for saying that anyone without experience can do this work.  You must do your homework, research, and stay in contact with billers that will be a support system for you.  You are responsible for their receivables and that is a responsibility you shouldn't take lightly. 

Best wishes for your future!

Michele
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PMRNC

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #23 on: February 11, 2011, 12:35:41 PM »
I agree it is HARD to find work with no hands on experience, but here's a positive note and I just got an email about this this morning from one of our members I was mentoring.
She was brand new to billing. She took both an online course and a few medical administrative courses at her local college. She started her business and began marketing 2 weeks after completing her course. She befriended 2 other billing companies, one had just one small client and the other had a large DME practice.  They got together and rented a medium sized conference room at a nice small but elegant Hotel in the middle of where they all were. They sent out 500 invitations/fliers and some raffle tickets. They invited office managers and physicians to a one hour round table discussion. It cost them each $42 plus gratuity, they had coffee, danish, pastries and 3 tables setup. They received 43 responses and confirmed 39 attendee's of which 37 attended. They each chose one topic and a discussion took back among the three billing companies and the attendee's. They ended up there for an extra hour, the hotel did not charge them since the room was NOT booked AND 2 of the guests stayed there for the remainder of the weekend. At the end they passed out business cards and some marketing goodies from their own tables.  The one I was mentoring got 8 individual appointments setup and this morning she told me she signed 3 of the 8 so far with 4 more meetings to go!  NOT one of them asked her if she had experience. Know why? Because she overshadowed that question with her knowledge and confidence. The other two billing companies also made appointments and from what she told me.. they each have signed contracts as well. Also they now have a foot in the door of all the other practices that attended and they left an impression on. Oh, they invited another local billing company who declined because she felt it was too competitive. Her loss was their gain!

Moral of story.. IT is NOT impossible to walk into this business with no experience.. If you take the time and effort to educate yourself, put your KNOWLEDGE out there, you can take the focus OFF of the "experience" issue! 
Linda Walker
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Alice Scott

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #24 on: February 11, 2011, 12:45:02 PM »
Tha's a great story Linda.  Thanks for sharing it with us.  Newbies love to hear how others succeed.
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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #24 on: February 11, 2011, 12:45:02 PM »

QueenAlicia

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #25 on: February 11, 2011, 03:23:41 PM »
Thanks for sharing that story Linda.  That story has encouraged me.  I sometimes get discourged because I don't have "billing" experience (my background is banking, customer service and finance).  I like to read success story's like these because this shows me that it can be done and is possible to succeed without experience but with hard work.

PMRNC

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #26 on: February 11, 2011, 04:39:16 PM »
Well now you you find ways to capitalize on your banking experience and your customer service skills..Both qualify in my book. I know it's different, but I can't believe how many accountants add medical billing to their services with NO experience and get clients like flies on..honey <g> it's because they know how to capitalize on their previous experiences
Linda Walker
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DMK

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #27 on: February 11, 2011, 07:48:25 PM »
And you're miles ahead with your banking, accounting, and customer service background because you realize the importance of CORRECT data entry!  The insurance companies take forever to let you know that there's an error in data!

medauthor

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #28 on: February 11, 2011, 11:06:40 PM »
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In a way this kinda discourages me (even though I know that not the intentions).  Lately a lot of the ads I see are for candidates with 2yrs+ experience.  Even if I came straight out of Kaplan or some other school seeking work I would still need that amount of experience.  I have found 2 ads where they are entry level and I am putting together info send to them right now.

Dearest Queen  ;)

I did not mean to discourage you...please understand....I have been in this industry since 1990...I have taught medical billing since 2003....in all of my classes, there are always those whose goal it is upon completion of the program to start their home-based medical billing business...I see it all the time....and believe me, I want every one of them and you to suceed....I just feel it is so important to have the hands-on experience....I have never met with a client who did not ask about my experience....if one can be objective and out oneself in the provider's shoes----he/she is handing us their billing...it is their livlihood.......even if you have to intern for a medical billing company just so you can get some-hands on, take advantage of this--JUMP on the offer should one become available to you!!! :)
Michelle Rimmer, CHI, CPMB
President-Professional Medical Billers Association
Owner-ABA Therapy Billing Services
Author, 'Medical Billing 101' and 'Coding Basics: Understanding Medical Collections

Pay_My_Claims

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #29 on: February 14, 2011, 12:53:08 AM »
And you're miles ahead with your banking, accounting, and customer service background because you realize the importance of CORRECT data entry!  The insurance companies take forever to let you know that there's an error in data!

DMK as I agree that a background in finances is EXCELLENT for one facet of billing (payment posting, accounting etc) it is not the basics or the heart of it. Coding is the core of billing. Either in the form of raw coding, or knowing how to correctly code (level of care, modifiers, bundled charges, etc) should be entered to process a claim. I know Alice N Michelle started out YEARS ago with no experience and did eventually become experts in the industry, but billing & coding isn't the way it was back then. Everybody is doing electronic, so using that as a marketing ploy hardly works. More providers are knowing more about billing than ever, so the requirements are stricter. A provider would be a poor business man to allow his finances to be handled by someone who has never billed before. What happens is people get into this industry because they read and ad and they think all we do is "data entry". The pediatrician I interviewed with on Wednesday was REQUIRING that her new biller (hopefully me) would be able to train her on knowing more about the billing. I will take 3 years of hands on experience over certification or education every time.

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Re: Best clients for newbies
« Reply #29 on: February 14, 2011, 12:53:08 AM »