Medical Billing Forum
Starting a Medical Billing Business => Starting Your Own Medical Billing Business => : sagemb July 26, 2011, 03:05:33 AM
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I finally bagged my 2nd client. Between my 1st and this, I kept trying for 2yrs. Talk about a dumb sales guy. But I kept at it and it paid off. Well, I just signed him up, so technically, it WILL pay off.
It's a Family Practice which is something that most people try to avoid but it's still bread and butter. I've always worked with a Gastro @ 6% so I went in with that frame of mind. Good thing I didn't lay down the price right away or I would have been at a loss. I later found out that many FP in the area are paying anywhere from 8%-12%. So I later quoted him 10%, and he wasn't shocked at all to my amazement.
Turns out that FP or similar Primary Care doctors have a high volume and low collections amount. So their work is much tougher than average specialist. And I'm far from being ungrateful.
So if anyone has been in my shoes...looking for a doctor for a long time, JUST DON'T GIVE UP!
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thank you for sharing! :)
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Congrats! :)
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Very happy for you! We did FP and it was profitable for us. I know a lot of billers say it's not profitable, but in our cases it was so I think you will be fine. Feels good when your efforts finally come together!
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Congrats to you!
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Why do they say FP is not profitable?? I've never heard that before
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I have heard that before too and I've never understood it. I don't know where it comes from. One of my best clients was a 5 Dr Family Practice. Very profitable, but we did a good job and it was very profitable for them as well. It was a win win.
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When I started out I started out with mental health, later on when i restarted I started with just one FP practice with a physician and PA and made profit just from that one client alone.. I don't get it. ???
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Thanks to everyone for the support.
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Congratulations on getting the contract!
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I'm back to square 1. I had turn down the doctor. I know it may be shocking some of you exp. folks could tell me if what i did was wrong.
I was asked by the doc to stop by couple weeks ago. I did, i gave my ear to undstand the problem he had w/ last biller. He she just one day left w/o notice & his billing is left in a rutt. I said i can help, he agreed... Long story short...i later did my math and quoted him10%. He siad dontworry about that yet cuz the rates for FP varies from 6-12%.
He said just come and take these 6 sample claims, work your magic, and we'll talk once paid. I did, & 4 of 6 got paid within4 days. 1 didnt because i was given wrong carrier details. The didnt becausse they gave the wrong provider id. When i called explaing all this he agreed...said to come back with an agreement.
When i got there he read it all and didnt like the $1000 setup fee. I explained that its due to a very new software that hes forcing on me and that it needs more time to work with. Anyways being pushover, i waived. Then he brought up the fee. He didnt like that i should get more money for more work. It was a totally obsurd concept to him. Alsi that i should charge nothing more than 6% total for his billing w/ a $3k monthly cap. I explained that it was too low for a fp service what would happen at the end of the year when he will hire 2 more dr? He said dont worry youll still get your 6% w/ cap.
Ahhhh? Hello? I asked if that honestly sounds fair to him? He said whats fair is that drs shouldnt be forced to hire billers in the first place. If carriers & pts owe money, they should simply pay it. I said no one is forcing anyone, you can bill yourself if like. But these are my rates. Best i can do is maybe offer you 8% but i dont believe in any caps. I may even be willing offer 6%, + small flat fee per claim. But thats it. He said he cant. I thanked him for giving me an oppertuinity to get to know him better. Shook hand and cordially made my exit.
Here the question....what did i do wrong? Did i give him some wrong signals? What would u have done?
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From what you've described, you didn't do anything wrong except not walk out sooner! Sounds like he's got serious issues. You didn't make the system. The system is what it is. If we let all providers pick what they want to pay or what they think is fair just imagine how it would be. You work hard, do a good job, and deserve to be paid for your service. Let him sit back and "wait" for his patients and the insurance carriers to pay him what he "thinks" they owe him. He'll be eating at the local rescue mission!
Maybe now you have a clue why the last biller walked and left him high and dry. People don't usually do that when the dr is great to work for. If he wants to pay 6% with a $3k cap and he finds someone who will sign him - he'll get what he pays for. Anyone who values themselves would have walked. You did the right thing.
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You picked the wrong doctor. :o
Alice
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Run....don't walk! That guy's crazy! ::)
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Well, that's ONE of the biggest reason's I got rid of % based billing.. most doctors really just believe it's a number pulled out of the air, and they wouldn't really be wrong ;) That said, it was MUCH easier to state "A" flat monthly fee after analyzing the practice because A) They know for most part what their bill is going to be ahead of time and B) That number is personalized to him/her and you, meaning it's fair market value for your time! Now if you still want to do % than I can't really say your wrong or you did anything wrong, but I have a saying I use if a doctor ever tries to haggle with me.. I simply tell them, You don't haggle with your accountant, your attorney, your malpractice carrier, your landlord or bank, so please don't do it with me" One more word on the subject and I simply take the contract and leave. When I design the flat fee, they get to see that I have designed the fee based on is practice and not just pulled a number out of the air or threw around some general fee averages that were made up by us billing companies to begin with.
As for the setup..this is where I have sort of a strategy and either it works or It doesn't.. (most times it does) I tell a provider my setup fee is $XX (my setup fee's vary according to the practice and the state of their accounts at the time, between $200 -$2000), I mark up the setup fee, for example $1000 and tell the provider that if he signs my contract by XX/XX/2011 I will take off $500. This usually works as it's considered perceived value. NOT charging a setup fee does cause provider's to think.. hmmm, sounds too good to be true, you don't want to appear desperate or like a doormat by waiving the whole thing. My setup fee is NOT just for setup work.. it also serves as a security deposit because I have seen billing companies get used for a month or two only to be dropped when they get caught up, the setup fee also helps me see where the doctors true motives lie just by their reaction.. if I have one that says.. OMG that's outrageous, I'm not even going to offer them a deal because this is not a client who sees the value in my services. Even with a billing companies very first client I never think it's a good idea to waive the whole thing or low ball the number to get the client, provider's DO talk and once you get labeled desperate or inexperienced and willing to take anything on cheap, it's not easy to get rid of that perception. Stay consistent, and continue to tell yourself you are worth it, otherwise, without the self-confidence you shouldn't be doing this. (not speaking directly to you at all, just in general). What we offer to provider's is INVALUABLE and we are WORTH it. Never explain your fees, don't negotiate with a potential client who isn't going to be satisfied until you are working for free.
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Thank you ladies. All of your replies are full of encouragement and with sense of comradery. I felt the same way. I let the dr check my clients for ref., kept asking me to come in & i did, tested my software skills, tested my billing skills with real claims, got me to waive setup fee, beat down my rate, put a cap on the total fee, is planning on tripling my workload, and then expects me to smile & say "Yess Saa, Whatever You Say Saa".
I'v had one client since '06 & another since '01. Only two, but niether ever dropped me for a reason. We billers really do help dr live a financially sound lifestyle. And everyone including dr ought to get paid for thier work. Its not an obsurd concept. Its democracy & capitalism. Otherwise we're all slaves in some way.
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Geez, sorry your client turned out like that. I'm just getting started in this biz, not even really started yet, still struggling with the details, especially software, but I've owned a business before. You can't start blaming yourself every time you lose some business. Some people aren't going to be happy no matter what. Some will be jerks just to intimidate you into giving them free or discounted services. I had to struggle with being kind of a pushover myself, but eventually you get tired of it. Sorry about your experience, but it's a learning one. Thanks to you and everyone else here for keeping me inspired and in the game.
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Hi. I am so sorry that it turned out like this for you. I think you did a wonderful job selling him your business. I think the "doctor" is a little confused. I have to say, you made a very professional exit. I think that when the doctor thinks things over, he may give you a call back.
I am new to this business. I worked for a medical billing company for 1 year and they relocated to Maine. I have now decided to open my own medical billing company. Still looking into the appropriate software. It is such a hard decision.
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There is a lot more involved in running a billing service than most understand until they've tried to do it themselves. ;D