Richard, thanks for your info. I'm not seeing what you are saying as to info in the site. If you have a specific in mind please post a link. Sorry to be difficult, just getting a little aggravated trying to find an answer.
QuoteRichard, thanks for your info. I'm not seeing what you are saying as to info in the site. If you have a specific in mind please post a link. Sorry to be difficult, just getting a little aggravated trying to find an answer.What state are you in?Also.. can you tell me why you want to charge a %?
I realize this was directed at someone else, but I just wanted to say that every biller I have contacted to get pricing info here, bills by %. That's all providers around me know and are generally unwilling to do anything but! It's aggravating.
Unless your client's income varies widely from month to month, your fee for services will end up in the ballpark of being a percentage of the monies you collect for him anyway. So, charging a percentage up front can sometimes be the simplest solution. We charge a percent for our collection efforts. Anything else not directly connected to collection efforts carries a separate fee - such as data mining, credentialing, etc.
... I just wanted to say that every biller I have contacted to get pricing info here, bills by %. That's all providers around me know and are generally unwilling to do anything but! It's aggravating.
When I billed a % I worked my butt off for 6-7% and sometimes it was barely enough to sustain costs.. Go higher and the doctors don't want to pay it.
The first thing I said was that, unless a client's income varies significantly, a consistant flat fee will end up being some percentage of the income that the biller brings in for the client. This is a math statement, not a political one.
If your client's practice stays relatively stable for the next 36 months, you would "earn" roughly the same amount of money if you charged him that percent rather than your fee. This is a math issue, not a political one.
Translation: your flat fee costs the doctor more than a standard 6% - 7% percentage fee would cost him. In a state where fee-splitting is not illegal, you might be under-bid by someone else offering to do the billing for a percentage fee. From the time I started reading your comments about fee-splitting, it occurred to me that this is the bind you (and others) are in. If you charge a percentage fee high enough to cover your costs and give you a profit, the doctor won't hire you. That is the real reason you prefer a flat fee over a percentage one (ignoring the anti-fee-splitting laws of New York for the moment). It covers your costs and gives you a profit (I assume), but it costs the doctor more than he would be willing to pay if you offered him a percentage fee. It's OK to admit to that. There is no point in working if you can't make a profit.
Second, you have stated elsewhere that you charge a flat fee for bringing in the client's monies (billing), using a sliding scale sometimes, based on volume of work; you charge other fees for other work that is not directly a part of collecting what is owed to your client (consulting). The "math" I talked about in my previous post applied only to the billing part of your fees. I understand that, in addition to the billing monies, you earn other monies for consulting, etc. We charge a percentage only on billing activity. We charge extra fees (flat rate) for consulting stuff that is not directly related to billing.
you charge other fees for other work that is not directly a part of collecting what is owed to your client (consulting).
That was the distinction I was making. If I was not clear on that, then my bad. The math I discussed above would have been relevant only to your billing contract, as it is for ours. The consulting contract is a totally separate issue and has nothing to do with percentages.
... unless a client's income varies significantly, a consistant flat fee will end up being some percentage of the income that the biller brings in for the client. This is a math statement, not a political one. If your clients have a relatively stable practice, you could add up the income you collected for them over the past 36 months and add up the fee you charged for collecting that income over the past 36 months [don't include consulting income here]. Divide the total fee income [for billing only] by the total monies collected [for the doctor, from billing only] and you will get a percentage. If your client's practice stays relatively stable for the next 36 months, you would "earn" roughly the same amount of money if you charged him that percent rather than your fee [for billing only]. This is a math issue, not a political one.