BILLING SOFTWARE

[ADEMAT]

Can any one give me some feed back on good billing software and approx cost to start up a billing service company. 

Thank you:)

Amy

[Michele]

Start up costs for a billing service vary depending on your situation.  For example, will you be working out of your home or do you need an office.  Office space can be costly.  Also, do you own a computer with the capabilities you will need for medical billing or do you need a computer. 

Billing software can run anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars.  It depends on your needs.  For a billing service, you can usually get a decent software for between $1200-$1500.  It will also depend on if you will need more than one computer to be able to use the software (single user or multi-user). 

There are online billing softwares that charge monthly fees.  I'm not that familiar with them, but others have commented on how they are.  Sometimes that is a better option for someone starting out if you don't have a lot of money to work with. 

We use NDCLytec and it has worked well for us.  If you want us to refer you to a reseller we can (we are not resellers). 

We also have many ebooks available on medical billing and medical billing services at http://www.medicalbillinglive.com

Good luck
Michele

[ADEMAT]

I would be doing the billing from home.
How does Lytec work? Do they charge a set up fee per Doctor?  Is it a multi Dr software? Are there monthly fees?

Thank you for any info:) 

Amy

[Michele]

Once you purchase Lytec you own it, there is no other fees.  Except for upgrades (usually yearly).  You can purchase either single user, 3 user, 5 user or 10 user agreements.  All are multiple practice.  The price obviously goes up the more users you will need.

It is very user friendly and has good report capabilities.

Michele

[ADEMAT]

If I purchace Lytec and install it on my system at home can the Physicians I bill for log in and access their accounts also.  And can I log on from anywhere as well.

[Michele]

You can access your system using a service such as gotomypc or another similar service.  I use gotomypc to access my computer (and Lytec) from home, and also when I go on any trips.  I can access my system from hotels, etc.  If you have a gotomypc connection, your providers would be able to log in as well, but when they are logged in they are actually using the computer that the software is on.  So if you are working and they log in, you are both using the same computer (which doesn't work).  Also, if you give them the log in info, they have access to your entire computer system.  You would need to keep that in mind so that you could password protect any data other than their own account.

Michele

[ADEMAT]

Thank you for the info.  My main concern was the  access for me from anywhere.  I tried to download a demo of Lytec but it did not work. You gave a contact person for Lytec, but do you know of anyone in Michigan. 

Tks:)

[Michele]

I only work with the woman in NJ but it doesn't matter if they are not in your state.

Michele

[ADEMAT]

How do you handle back ups.  Does Lytec store your back up's off site or do you have to save them on tape and store them.

[Michele]

Lytec will let you schedule automatic backups and you tell it the location.  So if you have say a web service to store your backup you can schedule it to do that.  But if you store your own backup you will need to do the off site part.  For example, we do nightly backups, then weekly I load it onto a portable system to remove from the site.

Michele

[StephD]

What web based service for backups would you recommend?

[Michele]

I am not familiar with any so I can't make a recommendation.  I'm hoping someone else has some experience and will share.

Michele

[Pay_My_Claims]

I prefer a web-based software personally. They don't charge for each user. You can access your information anywhere, and even obtain it on your IPhone. I had looked into LYTEC for my medical billing practice, but it wouldn't provide the services that I need. I am looking at AlliegiancMD, CollaborateMD or AdvancedMD. I am stilll seeking feedback and checking out prices and user friendliness. Also PIMS is another one that I am researching.

[Michele]

We've been doing more research on the web based software.  They offer some great features.  They also very greatly in price.  We've been working with a software company called Xena.  They are developing a web based software that is being designed specifically for billing.  It is going to have amazing scrubbing capabilities.  We looked at some of the other companies out there but we were finding that many of them were out of our reach price wise being that we are a billing service with many providers.  The Xena software is going to be reasonably priced and should be available some time next month.  They are actually looking for beta testers.  If anyone is interested you can complete a short survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=QcC_2fW8cyyivacoyn4Dkv1Q_3d_3d

or you can get more info on Xena at http://www.xenahealth.com/

Michele

[Pay_My_Claims]

Michele, yes they are PRICEY!!!  There are some that also have a per claim fee for the clearinghouse. There are some that don't charge and are within range. I am looking for the overall best web-based program for me. I am ok with paying more if I can get what I need, and still maintain a comfortable profit margin. This is what is taking me some time, all the research