“Starting Cheap…. Or Starting Right?”

Choosing Software for Your Medical Billing Business

Like any business owner can surely admit, I made a lot of mistakes when I first started my billing company. Choosing the right software was one of them.

I started off with software I found in a catalog of Medical Arts Press. It was $399.00, how could I go wrong?   I only needed software that would submit claims, so I naively thought.

I know that I put the cart before the horse when I started. I was very fortunate to have had my first client before I even started my business. Looking back however I see this was one of my first mistakes. Your Practice Management Software is such an important tool in your business, do not skimp on costs and do not get caught up in the notion that you will “Upgrade later”. I was billing for 3 small practices when I first realized my software was not working for me or my clients. I did find better software but a data conversion cost me over $2000, in addition to the initial costs of the software. The conversion also was not a smooth one (most rarely are). That first conversion cost me a lot of time. Time in which I could have spent obtaining additional clients!  Take the time to research and test all of them. I often wondered how those with little or no experience purchase software and know what to look for in their software. Even with experience I had still made costly mistakes in choosing software. That is why I came up with some good tips on how to actually CHOOSE and DEMO your software.

• Take the time to research! You will need to educate yourself in this industry in order to know what a standard practice management software should include!

• Be sure the practice management software is able to service multiple providers (databases). If so , always ask if there are additional charges per database (provider)

• If purchasing from a reseller, try to contact the company direct to find out what the latest version is, costs for technical support, and review customer service to determine if the level of support you will have will be sufficient.

• Test your vendor’s technical support for availability, response time and customer relations

• See if your vendor has a practice or company in your area that may be available as a reference

• Check to see if your vendor ties you into a particular clearinghouse. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however you want to be able to check on the reputation and support system for that clearinghouse

• Make sure your software has multiple reporting capabilities. It’s an added bonus if your PM Software allows for you to create custom reports which can be an invaluable resource for your clients.

• Make sure your PM Software is fully HIPAA compliant, check for such things as: Auto Log-in and Log-off, secure server protocol for remote access, and audit trails.

• Your PM software should be user friendly and contain a well documented knowledge base or user manual

• Your software should have an easy and comprehensive means of backing up data! Check your software reference manual to see how your data files are stored and how the backup process works. If you are demo testing an ASP based solution, ask the company about their internal backup system and if there is also an external means to backup your data. Check to also see how a restoration would take place (have a means of testing your backups!)

• Be sure to check out how your PM software handles managed care, adjustment tracking and managed care authorizations. Not only is this necessary in day-to-day functions of medical billing but these features are “key” features used in monthly reports, annual reports and reports showing lost revenue’s (due to managed care)

Most of the above are based on mistakes I made in choosing software. In total I have used six practice management systems, just in my billing company alone! Since then I have moved on to consulting and now I have a greater understanding of all the practice management software’s available out there today.

Linda Walker
Practice Managers Resource & Networking Community (PMRNC)
www.billerswebsite.com