Hi Fran,
If funds are an issue you may want to contact your local Medicare about using the free software that they offer to submit claims electronically. It is a separate stand alone program from your Practice Management Software so you will need to double enter everything, but it is certainly a cheap alternative. Also, Medicaid usually allows you to enter claims thru the web site. Again, double entry but cheap.
Alice and I started out together because I had a background similar to yours along with a computer programming degree, and Alice had the business background. Worked out great!
Good luck
Michele