What MUST happen for a new billing
service to find its first clients?
The new billing service must understand the dynamics of the
billing situation. Typical marketing strategies that are designed to promote the benefits
of a service do not work when the “sale” requires a doctor to change the present
system of his/her cashflow production.
Software companies may imply that questionnaires,
persuasive letters and financial comparisons will alert healthcare providers to the
“lacks” or “faults” of their present billing system. This has never
proven true. The providers’ efforts are focused on the increasingly complicated (and
risky) task of offering quality healthcare, not fine-tuning their financial system.
Change is difficult to accomplish. Reasons for change
must be impelling. Without an understanding of the motivating factors involved in
marketing a medical billing service, the new biller will become frustrated by the market
resistance and will quit the venture.
Executive Director Merlin Coslick
discusses the solution to this in the following white paper. The original article appeared
in the monthly newsletter of the national association, The Electronic Biller.
(To check out a FREE sample issue of The Electronic
Biller, go to www.medicalbillingnetwork.com/samplenews.html.)
DIRECT MAIL MARKETING MAGIC:
MINING FOR CRISES
Billing companies enjoy a considerable advantage when marketing their services to
prospects. The very special nature of the billing task produces a narrow relationship
between the biller and the provider. Essentially, every provider needs a biller to produce
payments for the provider’s services. The questions for the provider are “am I
being properly reimbursed for my labor by my current biller?” and “what risks do
I face by attempting to improve the benefits of my current billing system?”
In some cases, the provider takes direct
control of the task by doing his/her own billing. This may be less a case of attempted
financial gain by avoiding a paycheck and more the result of experiences of inefficiency
by prior billers. This is usually a short-lived solution.
The most common method of claims
submission is to use on-site personnel. The benefits include the ability to provide direct
supervision of the employee and to engage the employee in other workplace tasks. In other
words, control and multi-tasking.
These are considered to be efficient
solutions to the common needs of any employer. When it works, the results are very
satisfactory to the provider. This solution can be tweaked by (1.) giving up some control
when the employee proves that he/she mirrors the needs of the provider and by (2.) adding
tasks to the employee’s work list.
The skill of the employee determines the
effectiveness of the cashflow method. The provider will accept a great deal of skill
deterioration as long as the cash produced is adequate for his/her needs.
When independent billing centers prepare
claims, the provider must evaluate the list of risks associated with this change versus
the rewards or perils they produce. When developing marketing strategies, the billing
entrepreneur is evaluating troubled situations that may exist in the marketplace and
selecting benefits to suggest as solutions and. As Jimmy Carter has said, success depends
upon excellence of aim and excellence of execution.
CRITERIA FOR
CHANGE
When selecting a replacement billing method, the provider is faced with these
questions:
- Will the billing system produce the
largest possible cashflow with the least reasonable expense and the highest degree of
self-tending?
- Is the operator knowledgeable,
trustworthy, reliable, honest, capable and efficient?
- If a reasonable cashflow is now being
generated with acceptable cost and efficiency, what crisis could prompt any change in
personnel or method?
- What’s the easiest solution?
The key considerations here are the
concepts of “crisis,” “change” and “easy.”
New billing company owners are often
under the impression that the “benefits” of their billing service is a top
consideration for their business prospects. Experience has shown that the players in the
billing arena are less concerned with “benefits” than the comfort of
their current “easy” solution. They are most concerned with the perils of
“change” and must face a “crisis” before reluctantly looking at
alternatives to a now-broken system.
The biller should be aware of this need
for crisis. The provider must feel the crisis, internally. It cannot be externally
created. If there has been no crisis, there is no felt need by the provider.
Consequently, no logical argument can force the provider to confront the dreaded concept
of “change.”
WHY CHANGE?
A model of communication states “effective communication depends on the willing
receptivity of the listener.” The cashflow paradigm of the provider is too
critical to be influenced by clever argument or “salesmanship.” If current
cashflow is adequate to support the provider’s concept of his/her lifestyle, there is
no desire to introduce the risk of changing from a system that’s working to an
unknown model unless there is overwhelming evidence that the new system will unfailingly
produce a strong improvement.
The burden of convincing the prospect of
this improvement is too great to be attempted. The provider will demand a
“guarantee” (either implied or specified) of the stated benefits of the new
system. In practice, this guarantee cannot be supported, especially by the startup billing
service. All efforts to produce marketing materials that will effectively convince the
typical provider of the benefits of change will fall short of their goal.
Providers respond to the felt need
resulting from a crisis, requiring a change.
IT IS NOT ENOUGH
It is not enough that a system replacement will
increase efficiency, that another method will produce payment sooner, that
another method is less difficult or complex, that net payments will be
greater, that staff can be released from bookkeeping tasks they were never trained
for, that emphasis can be returned to quality healthcare and released from
unfamiliar business-related chores, that receivables will be eliminated and reliability
will be greater.
These statements are all promises
of the benefits of change. The new biller is asking the provider to believe that the risks
of change (in the worst case, complete loss of professional and personal income) will be
rewarded immediately and completely. Trust me, doctor, I can make it happen.
Without a crisis, no one would
take that chance.
DISCOVER A CRISIS
What path must billing service marketing take,
then? The discovery of a crisis situation in the marketplace.
The crisis results from the interruption
of a system that previously worked well enough.
- This may be caused when the current biller
leaves or is fired from the practice and no replacement is standing by.
- This may happen when current knowledge and
training for the billing task is more advanced and complex than the current biller is
willing or able to accommodate.
- Working conditions may have changed (a new
partner, changed office space, salary/benefits adjustments, harassment, office politics,
increased workload, etc.).
- Governmental regulations may have been
instituted (the HIPAA act, billing certification laws, etc.).
Any development that severely interrupts
the existing method of cashflow generation for the provider will be deemed a crisis and must
be corrected.
A complete presentation of the marketing
solution for the healthcare marketplace entrepreneur appears in the book
“Medical Billing Marketing: Finding Local Clients” by Executive
Director Merlin Coslick.
Direct mail strategy is fully
explained, along with useful documents including a sample business contract and fee
schedule for the provider-biller relationship. This book will prove especially
valuable to help the new biller understand workable solutions to the real market
conditions, described above.
Click
here to order your copy now or go to www.medicalbillingnetwork.com
for complete details about the Electronic Medical Billing Network and the many
opportunities available to learn from experts in the field.
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For more information please feel free to
contact us at:
Electronic Medical Billing Network of America, Inc.
51 Eton Court, Bedminster, New Jersey 07921
Phone 908-470-4100 FAX 908-470-4233
Email: merl@medicalbillingnetwork.com
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