The $299 is a bit pricey for the smaller billing company, however in regards to those that are growing, and keeping in mind that is for unlimited claims there are MANY providers that spend that in clearinghouse fees alone. They also give you a discount for mid-level (non physician) providers of 50% monthly taking into account the lower reimbursements. Depending on the structure of your billing company and your clients that $299 can be passed on to the provider OR you could split it. The clients I have on Kareo pay their own fees. I do everything else. I really do not utilize ONE PM system, I go with what my client has, wants or needs. I found sticking with ONE vendor makes a provider feel like they have to switch, they are more apprehensive. I will tell you this. OF ALL THE VENDORS out there.. BY far Kareo spends the most on marketing, you will see their AD's EVERYWHERE..they know how to market, so there is a VERY good chance the doctors already have it.. like mine did. I have not run across a physician who has not heard of Kareo. But on the flip side, I would not use Kareo if you are new to medical billing. They are not a company that is going to hold the newbie's hand.. get your feet wet with other solutions first. I also tell people.. you don't OWN your medical billing software, you lease or license to use it. Always keep that in mind.
If a client insists on having an EMR, I emphasize that he should own it outright and have it installed on his own servers - for the reasons just discussed. I cannot in good conscience recommend that any provider put his client's data into an EMR provided by an SaaS company such as Practice Fusion, and rid himself of all paper charts. As fragile as electronic bits and bytes are, and as succeptible to bankruptcy and other mishaps as companies are, putting all patient data at the mercy of others just makes no sense to me.
PF integrates now with Nuesoft and CollaborateMD. You are correct that an integrated system is preferable.
... people have made hundreds of millions of dollars in this business ... , I assume they were not so afraid of " what if? ".
The current system is Godsend for savvy business people.