Newbie reaches modest milestone

[ste]

Hi,
I am new to this forum. The e-book on landing your first client was great Alice and Michele! Well worth the investment.
The day after sending out my 100th advertisement I got my first phone call from an interested party. Unfortunately, It didn't go so hot.
My biggest problem was my failure to exude confidence. I seemed to dwell on my own inexperience, and I didn't even get the name of the person calling on the other end.

I plan to re-read the e-book, make notes, and organize the notes onto posters which I can attach to the walls around my desk. I will also include notes from Entrepreneur Magazine's startup series, Start Your Own Medical Claims Billing Service. Then I'll be ready.

One response from 100 snail mail ads is actually pretty good, so I must be moving in the correct direction. Right?

Steve   

[Michele]

I'd say that recognizing what went wrong is crucial.  Now you can fix it.  That is one of the things we talk about in the book.  If you are not confident in yourself you certainly can't expect the doctor to be.  Sounds like you are working on correcting that so you will be ready for the next call.

Don't beat yourself up.  That is where we went wrong in the beginning too.  I knew my stuff, but I was new to this side and I wasn't confident when meeting (especially face to face) with a doctor.  I got over that quick, and that's the key.

Thanks for the compliments on the book.

Good luck!

Michele

[PMRNC]

My biggest problem was my failure to

Right there is the only mistake you need to correct...
ANY time you receive an inquiry.. it's a "POSITIVE"  there is no failure. An inquiry is interest and interest is "positive" you have to remember that.
Next time you receive a call, take a moment to write down who you are talking about. If you find the conversation turning into an interview by the caller, try to divert it and ask questions about their current situation. If they start to ask questions you cannot answer, be honest and tell them you will take the time to research and get back to them. Focus on your strengths and ability rather than talking about "experience". Be confident, you wouldn't be starting a business if you didn't think you could do it right?
You could turn that conversation around. Call back and tell them you have additional information to send them and apologize for not getting that person's name, explain that you would like the opportunity to send them additional information.

[ste]

Thanks Linda, I wasn't sure if I should call back or not, especially since the physician abruptly ended the conversion by saying, "I'll call you if I have any more questions, bye". Click...

I took your advice and first called the number from which I was contacted. I did my research and knew the physician's name, although the number was different from any of my records or any records I found on line. Upon dialing I got a standard phone company message about the number is not accepting messages. I then tried the two different numbers for this physician which I found on-line of which one of them was consistent with my records. Both numbers gave me a voice mail message, in the physician's own voice, saying "if this is an emergency blah blah... call me at my cell phone... the number is ..." Upon calling the cell phone I get a similar recording, and I left an upbeat, positive, and confidence exuding type of message.
 
After 24 hours and no response along with the phone recordings during normal business hours, and I called several times over a 3 day period, I think this physician could quite possibly be operating a less than legitimate business. This brings up another question.

In Michele's e-book, in reference to dead beat doctors, she says something to the effect that some doctors have the intention of never paying you. So, my question is, As medical billers is there an established protocol we can follow to complete our due diligence of prospective clients?       

[PMRNC]

is there an established protocol we can follow to complete our due diligence of prospective clients?

I'm not quite sure I understand your question.. if it's a prospective client and you have taken it as far as you can, chances are the provider just wasn't serious enough. I'm not sure there is any standard protocol, it's like any business you are marketing, be persistent but don't be a pest <g> If it becomes a client then you will want an iron clad contract to cover yourself and protect you from those dead beat clients.

[Michele]

I think you are getting two different situations mixed into one.  The one you are describing is a Dr that contacted you about services, but then became difficult to reach again, possibly seeming that he wasn't serious about his inquiry.  In the book, we are warning against providers who will sign with you, use your service to bill out, but then not pay.  Linda is right, a good contract helps to protect against this.  Unfortunately it doesn't always work.  We had a "corporation that was a no asset company that stopped doing business" that owed us a couple of thousand dollars and according to our lawyer, we have little chance of collecting.

You just have to try to cover all your bases, but realize you are never 100% protected.  Having a good contract, and good practices in place helps.

Michele

[Steve Verno CMBS, CEMCS]

Regarding mistakes:  Mistakes are never negative.  They are positive.  We learn from our mistakes.  As said in Batman, Why do we fall?  So we can learn to pick ourselves back up.

Regarding some doctors.  I met one years ago.  he went through every billing company in his area, so he was desperate.  We were hired to audit his company, his coding and his billing.  We made suggestions on how to make improvements to save money.  We did his coding and his billing.  After invoicing him many times, he refused to pay saying we were stealing from him.  He turned his lawyer on us.  Real nasty type.  It never made it to court, there was a settlement.  THis is why he never had a biller.  They did their work, invoiced him, he refused to pay and turned his lawyer on them.  Several years later, i went by his office, it was closed.  The informal word out is he was blacklisted by everyone, including the local hospital. 

A provider contacted me and asked me to clean up his AR.  I looked and the oldest account went back 5 years, I named my price and he agreed.  I had disclaimers signed, a hold harmless agreement and a strong contract.  There were immediate problems.  The post office box I was told to use, was closed.  The same with the bank lock box.  The first check he wrote bounced.  Later, an insurance company filed a complaint the account was paid.  The disclaimer said the accounts i was assigned had NO payments and he owned the AR.  Next, I get a letter from a lawyer. Seems the doctor sold his practice and the AR. He had a box in his storage shed with unposted checks and denial EOBs.  The state and the company that he sold the AR to, went after the doctor.  MY paperwork was solid.  I did nothing wrong. 

We cant change those doctors.  WE can learn and make sure the same thing doesnt happen again.     

[Alice Scott]

Amen to that.  You never know what you are getting into when you start a new account.

[PMRNC]

Amen to that.  You never know what you are getting into when you start a new account.

A hefty but reasonable start up fee usually takes care of that.

[Alice Scott]

Yes, I've got to learn to do that.  Michele and I had such a hard time getting our business started that we took on anything we could get.  We had some great learning lessons that should have resulted in income but didn't.  When you are desperate to take on accounts to stay in business it is difficult to say no to anything.  We didn't make any money on those accounts, but we sure learned from them.