1. Why outsource your billing?
It’s a matter of economics!
Over the last decade or so, providers have become buried in more and more paper while it has become more and more difficult to get paid for their services.
Today every medical provider faces an increasing risk of getting paid less and less for more and more work. This “do more for less” environment means that if providers are standing still then they are actually moving backwards – “do it the same old way” today means an increasing likelihood of declining practice revenue.
At the core, billing has turned strategic. Gone are the days of “submit a bill and get paid.” Payers have focused armies of people using high end computers with sophisticated software on their side of medical billing. At times it seems like this vast array of resources is solely focused on not paying providers – what we call “revenue leakage.” Revenue leakage has become a large and growing problem – you provided the services but now the insurance company does not want to pay.
The solution to this worrisome and growing revenue leakage problem requires moving medical billing into the strategic dimension to match the payers in capable, sophisticated computerized solutions. While billing has turned strategic, many practices today lack a strategic solution.
This is the heart of the CMB difference.
2. What makes CMB different?
We are the solution that healthcare providers turn to for plugging the revenue leakage problem that plagues many practices. As healthcare providers face ever increasing cost and revenue pressures, the last thing they can afford is to “leave money on the floor” - but that happens all too often in many practices as revenue leakage is significant and widespread across the medical practice landscape.
Nobody reverses revenue leakage faster or better than we do – our innovative software and specialized services solutions quickly drive significantly improved results. We can deliver substantial costs savings as well as significant improvements in revenue and cash.
Our powerful combination of technology, expertise and people quickly delivers unmatched results – as we like to say, “Strategic solutions from people you can trust.”
3. What do you mean “moving medical billing into the strategic dimension” and why is this so important?
Historically, medical billing emphasized the paperwork aspect of billing, such as “data entry” and “processing.” Frankly, there’s a low payback to automating these primarily clerical functions. The costs of the automation technology can exceed the real but not huge savings that clerical automation delivers. Having an outside firm perform the data entry and processing similarly lowers costs and reduces hassles but yields no business breakthrough.
The breakthrough comes from reversing revenue leakage. Fixing the revenue leakage problems means collecting more cash and more cash faster. The strategic payback from fixing revenue leakage can be huge – far greater than just the savings from reducing clerical costs from better tactical productivity and automation.
We believe that what the smart providers have been waiting for is a solution that:
• Lowers costs and reduces hassles, and
• Solves the revenue leakage problem, and
• Is provided by people they can trust.
This is what CMB provides to our clients.
4. What’s so special about a trusted partner relationship?
Your revenue and cash collections are the heart of your business. Our clients tell us that they want people that can meet with and look in the eye to be responsible for their services, not some concept of a “team” in a far distant location.
They especially value people that understand the unique aspects of their business. They want people who can tailor solutions to fix their revenue leakage problems, as well as accommodate the special requirements of their operations. Our clients know that reversing revenue leakage benefits from this close-to-the-client relationship and especially from client-specific solutions rather than from mass market alternatives.
5. How do I send my patient data to CMB?
CMB utilizes state-of-the-art scanning technology and can accept billing data on paper or electronically via FTP, email, efax, fax, USPS, UPS, or FedEx. CMB is a paperless office.
6. What does CMB do with all the paper it receives?
About 75% of our clients now send data electronically. However, any paper documents sent to CMB are scanned within 24 remove into digital files for processing. All paper is then either returned to the client or shredded.
7. How does CMB handle data backup?
CMB has state-of-the-art hardware & software redundancy including daily offsite data backup.
8. Will CMB perform a strategic analysis of our billing process?
Absolutely. CMB will provide a detailed analysis of charge practices to determine your deficiencies. We then recommend changes to your billing process to ensure prompt payment.
9. Does CMB handle all the steps of the billing process for us?
Absolutely. After your staff collects and sends the required data, CMB handles the rest. From billing insurance and patients, answering patient questions, to final resolution of each account.
10. Will CMB educate my staff to ensure I get paid properly?
Absolutely. CMB will work with you and your staff to ensure the necessary documentation is collected and sent to CMB for billing.
11. It seems like there are frequent changes in medical billing laws & regulations, can you help us keep up?
Absolutely. CMB sends a monthly newsletter to clients highlighting important billing changes. When necessary we will email, fax or call with time-sensitive issues. We stay on top so you don’t have to!
12. When insurers deny valid claims, will CMB handle appeals?
Absolutely. CMB staff will automatically review and resubmit as needed. If additional documentation is needed by an insurer, we will work with your staff to obtain and send it.
13. What is "Days in Accounts Receivable"?
Your Money! You want to be paid by insurers and patients as quickly as possible. The industry standard to measure the speed of medical payments is “ Days in Accounts Receivable.”
Simply, it is how fast (or slow) in “days” it takes on average for your money to be collected from insurance companies and patients. Too many Days in AR results in lost revenue. For many medical specialties, CMB averages less than 23 days—which is considered excellent in the industry.
What is your Days-in-Accounts Receivable? Not sure? Provide your monthly charges for the last 3 months and each month-ending accounts receivable and we’ll calculate it for you. You may be very disappointed!
14. Does CMB have a Compliance Plan?
CMB has a fully operational Compliance Plan and has been involved in compliance since 1998.
15. Does CMB have a Disaster Plan?
Yes, covering a wide range of problems.
