Starting a Revenue Cycle Management Company

Create Your Vision

You cannot properly begin the process of building any company without establishing what your goals are, and what kind of organization you are trying to create. Is your organization going to have an office, or is it going to be completely remote? How are you going to position yourself? What will make your business stand out from other providers? These are questions you should have codified answers to very early on in the process. A business that has its direction changed several times in its early days is not setting itself up for success. Make sure that you have settled on a strong, clear vision for your revenue cycle management company before you get started with any execution.

Perhaps most importantly, what is your long-term plan for your business? If you don’t have a final destination or endgame and are just making a business for the sake of it, you risk falling short of your potential We recommend following the SMART goal framework. Your goals should be

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-Sensitive

Once you have a vision in mind for where your billing company is going, it is time to create your business plan.

Establish a Comprehensive Business Plan

A comprehensive business plan is your best friend when you are embarking on the journey of starting a revenue cycle management company. Your business plan will codify your goals, spell out how you plan to get there, and contain all the relevant research you have put in. Speaking of research, you should be doing plenty leading up to the creation of your company. A nice place to start is by conducting thorough competitive research, noting the strengths and weaknesses of other providers.

Consider where your opportunities lie, and how you can position yourself in the competitive landscape. If you have a hard time piecing together how your business can be better and different, you may have a problem. Starting a successful revenue cycle management business is not possible without a nuanced understanding of your marketplace, and your role in it.

By establishing your place in the market, you will understand how to better tailor your services to meet customer needs.

In addition to competitive research, you should also conduct considerable research into the healthcare and billing market as a whole. What trends are emerging? What commonalities are there among the top players? What do customers value? Pay special attention to what is important to healthcare providers. By staying in tune with their needs, you can ensure your offering provides more value than that of the competition, and that you become the RCM partner of choice.

Consider any local demographic information relevant to your business. If your RCM business plan does not take into account factors relevant to where your business will operate, it is bound to be a failure. Ensure your plan contains information regarding the number of healthcare providers in your area, their volume of patients, and more. Don’t be shy to call local healthcare providers and ask if they are content with their billing process, and inquire who they use for billing. This will provide you with valuable competitive intelligence, and an overall landscape of the market you are entering.

Finally, consider what startup costs your business will encounter. A solo-run medical billing business does not require much startup costs at all, but consider how many employees you will need (if any), office space and supplies, software, training, etc. Leave no stone unturned when it comes to planning your initial costs, you will not want to be surprised by numbers higher than anticipated when you get started.

Invest in the Right Technology and Team

If you are going to be running your billing company by yourself, then you don’t have to worry about hiring external talent, at least in the short term. However, you should still be investing in training to ensure your competency is always best-in-class. If you are planning on starting a larger company, make sure you fill out your team with experienced billers who will help you deliver excellent results from day one. Although it may be tempting to go after younger talent and upskill them as they continue to grow as professionals, they come with a learning curve that many fledgling businesses can’t afford. Your business should strive to cultivate a mix of experienced and less experienced billing talent that can grow and develop over time, while more experienced billers shoulder more of the burden early on.

Next, select your software of choice. This is quite possibly the most important decision you will make when starting a revenue cycle management company. If you select a poor billing software, your operations will suffer, and so will your reputation, which you cannot afford as a young business.

You should aim to select a software that makes billing as easy as possible, and puts you in the best position to deliver strong results. Some features to look for include

-Great Support: If you run into issues, you want a strong support team in your corner to help you reach resolutions quickly.

-Web-Based: As a small business owner, you’ll want to make sure you and your clients can access your business from anywhere.

-Comprehensive Reporting: Ensure you have the data you need to make solid business decisions and improve your billing process. As well as provide timely and concise data to your clients.

-Electronic Claim Submission: The claims submission process should be as simple and efficient as possible.

-Real-Time Eligibility: Again, your goal should be to make billing as easy as possible. Real-time eligibility verification ensures you are avoiding bottlenecks and spending less time on manual tasks.

If you are looking for an effective, easy-to-use software to get your medical billing company off the ground, EZClaim is exactly what you’re looking for. We provide an intuitive, low-cost medical billing software that has everything you need to bill effectively, while not breaking the bank. We have learned a thing or two about medical billing in our 26+ years in the field. We’d love to help you take your business to the next level, as we have with thousands of others.

Ensure Rock-Solid Processes

Before your medical billing company gets its big break, make sure all of your processes are as dialed in as possible, and ready to sustain growth. This goes hand-in-hand with software selection. If you choose the wrong software, you risk encountering issues as you scale. Be sure to go with a software provider that fits your needs, and you feel comfortable growing alongside. If your processes are not up to par, your results will suffer, and so will your relationship with your clients. Delivering strong results is your top priority, and you need to be sure your billing process is as seamless as possible. It’s important to make use of automation where you can. It can make your life a lot easier and enable you to avoid the errors associated with manual tasks that often plague the billing process. 

Additionally, be sure you are in full compliance with any and all regulations, and make sure you have training for your entire team in place to promote future compliance. The regulatory world is ever-changing, and it is easy to fall behind while you are focused on growing a business. Make sure your software is up to snuff in this regard as well.

Another factor organizations don’t consider is what level of support they have access to via their software provider. It is inevitable that you will run into some sort of challenge with your software. When these challenges arise, you’ll need to speak to an expert, fast. Make sure your software provider has a strong customer support team that is prepared to answer your questions as they come up, and work with you towards solutions. Without a great customer support team, you risk being left out in the cold when you encounter problems, decreasing your productivity and straining your relationship with your clients.

Become a Master Marketer

In order to effectively grow your medical billing business, you’ll need to become a master of marketing. This starts with your website. Your website should fit your brand’s ethos, be easy to navigate, and communicate your expertise. Too many organizations make bad first impressions with their website. Don’t be one of those businesses. Your online footprint has a massive impact on your ability to win clients, and be respected in your field.

It is critical to not only leverage marketing to make yourself known, but to drive new business as well. You should manage distinct marketing campaigns with each of these objectives, and pursue a variety of channels  to enable you to reach your target audience. Before moving forward with a channel, think to yourself, can I find my customers here? If the answer is yes, move forward. If the answer is no, look at other options.

To get started, we’d recommend running local Google Search ads to show to anyone searching for billing help in your area, as well as pursuing other channels like Facebook where your target audience may browse regularly and be part of membership groups.

Additionally, be active in your community. Partner with local businesses, and run some ads in local publications to make yourself more known. When people think of medical billing, you want them to think of you first. Again, don’t be shy to reach out to local practices and inquire about their billing process, and make it clear that you can help.

Believe it or not, content is often what separates a good marketing strategy from a great marketing strategy. Your billing company should focus on creating high-value, informative content to post on your website and distribute through your advertising channels. This content should be focused on the key pain points and questions your customers are faced with in their day-to-day operations. Your content should speak to them, and make it clear that you are a trusted, experienced voice in the industry. Although content production may not directly land you customers today, it is a huge part of long-term, sustainable growth. It shows your potential customers that you mean business, and have a wealth of knowledge to draw from.

Deliver Outstanding Services

This should go without saying. In the early days of your company, you need to focus on building relationships by providing outstanding services. Without building a strong reputation based on a track record of success, you will find it very difficult to grow. However, when you are focused so much on growth, it can be easy to forget about your current customers. Don’t make this mistake. If you are signing on new practices, but losing your current customers, you aren’t really growing. Make customer service a priority, and focus on driving results for all of your clients. Growth will come if you put forth excellent services.

Conclusion

Let’s recap everything discussed. When you are embarking on the journey of starting a revenue cycle management company, it is pivotal to start by defining your vision, doing plenty of research, and creating a comprehensive business plan to serve as your foundation. Next, you can move into the execution phase. Start by evaluating your operational efficiency. Note where you can make improvements, select your software, and make sure you are compliant with all regulations. Once you are backed by a software that fits your needs and are ready to start billing, it’s time to get known. Make those connections, run those marketing campaigns, and show the world how great you are by delivering best-in-class services. Mix all of these initiatives together, and you have a recipe for starting a successful revenue cycle management company. 

If you are looking into starting a revenue cycle management company and need software to fuel your operations, EZClaim can help. We have helped businesses like yours streamline the medical billing process for over 26 years. We know what tools your business needs to succeed, and we provide you with an effective, easy-to-use medical billing software solution. If you are interested in learning more, we encourage you to schedule a free demo today!