So if you think just hiring a third party billing company to handle your practices medical billing issues will solve all your problems then think again. You have to choose a company very carefully to handle this for you, just as you would thoroughly investigate an employee coming to work in your office to do the same thing for you.

It seems nowadays that there is a medical billing company on every street corner in Anytown , USA . And while that may not be completely true, just do a Google Search and you'll find plenty of companies out there willing to fight for your business.

I must warn you though, don't get suckered in by all the slick talk. You need to ask some very important and tough questions during your investigation process. Of course, when we are in the investigation process with a medical practice, one of the first questions that comes up is fee. People want to know what our firm charges. Frankly I would too want to know early on what expenses I would be incurring to employ a professional to do this. It's supposed to be cheaper right?? Well sometimes it is and then sometimes not necessarily but we'll tackle that another day.

Getting back to the fee, or if you really want to call it what it is, the price for a companies services, you will find it priced many, many different ways. This can make it tough for the consumer. One of the popular ways of pricing third party billing is to base the fee as a percentage of the receivables collected. You will find a range being quoted on this anywhere from as little as 4% up to 15%, and I've even seen higher than that. Of course the old adage holds very true that you get what you pay for.

That's why I never play the price game with my clients. We have a fairly standard fee and that's what we charge. Period. If you tell me you can get it somewhere else for cheaper, well, that's old news. My grandfather always used to tell me that there is not a good or service out there that someone won't offer cheaper by providing something of inferior quality. Or to put it another way, you get what you pay for, or the other side of the coin: you pay for what you get!

I would be very suspect of a company charging on the very low of the spectrum of 4-5 percent. Even 6 may be a little too low. Either the company is going to be using ‘off shore' talent going to India to help shave the costs, or there are going to be some hidden fees in there that you are going to have to pick up the cost on. These fees may be postage for statements sent out to patients, software fees, sign up or registration fees. Something somewhere.

Today's entry is not intended to be an all inclusive buyers guide to How to Select a Medical Billing Service, but more of an eye opening to some things going on in the market place. Our company has been providing medical billing and related services to successful medical practices for over sixteen years. We have seen a lot of people get in this business and try to cut cost by cutting corners. We just don't want to drive by your practice and see a ‘corner' cut off your medical practice. Ask a lot of questions, and you'll be fine.