SOUND OFF! TOPIC: Tell Us How You Are Keeping Clients From EHR Companies Who Try to “Poach” Them We are not in a good place. I have already lost two very long term clients even though I have been in continual eHR communication with them. The poachers are offering such significant price reductions for billing services that it makes it impossible to compete. Our clients have shared with us that EHR companies have “suggested” that “they can do the billing for about half of what we charge.”my initial response is, “What are you waiting for? That sounds like a great deal!” after discussions with the client, we agreed that we provide more than “billing.” I am hopeful that all of our clients will understand that concept. We have just learned that our software vendor has purchased a billing service and intends on developing RCM services. We are in the process of renegotiating our contract to include a non-compete clause that will prohibit them from selling their service to my clients. The personal service we provide will remain our primary focus on retaining these clients! – Lisa M. Clifford, Clifford Medical Billing EHRs are patient data repositories, not billing systems. Regardless of the system being used, it is only a tool! Like any tool, it still requires a knowledgeable and experienced person or company to operate it if maximum collections are desired. I tell my clients this, “An EHR is designed to be an electronic health record. Does the word, billing software or revenue cycle billing system even exist in the word “EHR?” Would you, as a physician, buy a sports car and expect it to operate to its full potential in alaska in two feet of snow on a daily basis?” same concept here. We poached our latest new client from an EHR company. – John Zulaski, President, Practice Management For us its about relationships and performance. We value our relationships with our business partners and we focus on executing every day. – Nathan Jabara, Central Physicians Services I have done so much independent consulting for small physician offices who “get sold” on EHRs and then use them for billing purposes. as we all know, these billing tools were created on the “back end” of what is designed to be an electronic health record. Honestly, none of them work to the extent you need them to in order to gain net profits in today's industry. I know of one very large eHR that does not even age the accounts. 6 HBma BILLINg • JaNuaRY.FeBRuaRY.2014 next SOUND OFF! Give Us Your Opinion: TELL US WHAT STEPS YOU ARE TAKING TO KEEP YOUR CLIENTS IN PRIVATE PRACTICE. We’re looking for your opinion. How have these issues impacted your business? Please send responses to the email address listed below or scan the QR code at right with your smartphone! EMAIL soundoff@hbma.org by Friday, February 14, 2014
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