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Personal service helps firm survive
Nov 09, 2008 (The Times-Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
In a time when automation has taken over the billing industry, one Hazleton health care billing company has managed to survive for nearly two decades taking the opposite path: increased personalization.
Healthcare Billing Inc., which is celebrating its 19th anniversary, was started in the family room of Mary Ellen Scalise, R.N., in 1989. Three years later, she moved the business to the Hazleton Office Campus and has continued to operate the company under the mantra of personal service.
"We got a new client the other day," Ms. Scalise said. "This doctor had been with a large company for a couple of years. He left the large company because he wanted the personal touch. That's our niche -- personal touch."
The company provides billing services for about 25 doctors who are specialists from all over Pennsylvania, including in Scranton, State College, the Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, she said.
"We know our clients," she said. "We function like an extension of their office. Each doctor is assigned one of our people. When the doctor calls, he knows who he is going to talk to. When that person is assigned the doctor's account, that person is responsible for it. A lot of doctors like that."
The company has 13 employees, with little turnover. Many of those employees have worked there for more than a decade, she said.
"One of the reasons for our longevity is being flexible," she said. "I've had some women who left the office because they had children, but still wanted to work for me. So I've allowed them to work out of their homes."
The staff spends time attending seminars and audio and online workshops to get educated on the latest health care laws as regulations, particularly for Medicare, change so often, Ms. Scalise said. Handouts from seminars and conferences are added to the office's medical reference library.
A commitment to cutting-edge technology has also allowed the company to thrive.
"We do everything electronically, and have for years," Ms. Scalise said. "We're trying to go entirely paperless. Everything that comes in the door gets scanned. We receive information from insurance companies electronically. Every employee has a PC (personal computer) at their desk that has Internet. They have two screens, so they can see the information coming in, and can see the terminal to enter it. We are right up there with the big companies technologically. You have to be, to compete."
The company's work is checked by two methods: state oversight and employing a private firm to act as a watchdog.
"There's a compliance plan, through the Office of Inspector General," Ms. Scalise said. "The plan makes sure we are doing the right thing. It is an anti-fraud plan."
Outsourced billing began when a demand was created by hospital-based doctors who were specialists who didn't have offices, Ms. Scalise said.
"Most physicians have someone in their office who does that, and has their own computer system, said Dr. Vince Bobby, a kidney specialist who is one of Ms. Scalise's longest customers. "But the person who does the billing has to be up on all the latest information. Mary Ellen Scalise's staff is up on all of it, and they're highly experienced. The nice thing about them is that they get a percentage of what they collect, so they are motivated to get every nickel. If I had my own staff doing it, maybe they wouldn't be as motivated (to collect).""
In many instances, doctors get the firm's name from the Internet, through the national trade association, Healthcare Billing and Management Association. They can also get more information about the firm through its new Web site, www.healthcare-billing-inc.com.
"We have connectivity," Ms. Scalise said. "That means our clients can look up their account with us, online, to see what their account looks like."
Data is secure, using a server located in Tennessee that is backed up every 90 seconds and all images are double backed up, she said. The firm can also offers electronic medical records packaging, she added.
"This is becoming very important now," Ms. Scalise said. "Doctors are going to need this packaging if they want prescribe over the Internet."
Since laws governing the medical industry have become so complex, having such a company do the billing is almost essential, said Hazleton doctor Anthony Valente.
"Billing is very difficult to do in your own office, so a lot of physicians have become more advanced, and obtained a specialist to do it," Dr. Valente said.
Contact the writer: jimdino@standardspeaker.com
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