4. If Linda helps you establish a best-practices all-cash office with her advice, why do you even need a medical billing package? We have clients who track their all-cash patients with Quickbooks or Excel spreadsheets.
5. Folks who have insurance know that a participating provider cannot charge them more than the "allowed amount" that their insurance carrier specifies. But, from our experience, most folks who have insurance don't realize that a non-par provider is not constrained in any way by the "allowed amount" figure. So - you either have to explain this to them before they see the doctor (this "work" should factor into the fee you charge), or they find out after the service is performed and they are asked to pay for it. When the actual cost of service is explained before-hand, most prospective patients say "never mind", and seek out an in-network doctor. When they learn about the actual cost of service after the service has been performed, many folks never return to that provider again, and in fact may not pay the provider any more than what their insurance "allowed amount" would be (in their estimation). For our clients, who are using this as a tool to reduce the size of their practices, this is a useful thing to do. For a doctor just starting out, who is trying to build a practice, this will probably result in no practice being built - as prospective patients seek out an in-network provider. Unless the provider prices his services comparable to what the carriers' "allowed amount" is. But if he is going to do that, why be cash only / non-par?
6. For our clients who are cash only, many patients walk away because they can't figure out how to file a claim with their health insurance carrier. They find a provider who is in network and who will file the insurance for them. Some of our cash-only clients, who are not trying to reduce the size of their practices, have us bill on the patients' behalf, and simply include our fee in what they charge the patient. The patients are much happier with this, and are much more inclined to pay the doctor up front - since they have hope that the carrier will actually get billed and that the carrier will pay them, the patient.