We don’t have relationships with just the traditional “target client.” Now we go far beyond relationships with “clients.” We spend as much time marketing to healthcare associations, hospital C-Suites, software firms, CPAs, universities, and others as we do the traditional “independent physician practice.” changer, and it not only changed the services we offer, but radically transformed the services our clients expect! our industry was given a second life and that was the best thing that could have happened to us. the evolution from medical billing to rcm increased our value to our clients and, better yet, it gave us the opportunity to differentiate our firms like never before. let’s face it; if all we do is medical billing, there isn’t a lot of room for separation. but once we shift to rcm, we can each carve out our own model with plenty of differentiation between those who not only recognize that emerging title, but fulfill it for their clients. so how do we retain clients and, even better, expand our businesses? Well let’s try doing what our 2013 spring conference Keynote speaker bob Woodward did: follow the money. that is exactly what we must do in the rcm business. Where is the money going? Where will this journey take us if we follow it? You guessed it – the hospitals and the rapidly evolving expansion of the role of software. face it, hospitals are buying practices and software solutions are invading our space. go ahead, resist them, or as they say in sports, “go it alone.” eastern europe tried that, and so did the augusta national. how did that work out for them? ok, you want business examples: remember mcdonnell douglas, howard johnson, ames, braniff airlines, eastern airlines, ozark airlines, and Westinghouse? the point is, they all resisted change and thought they would go frank sinatra on us and “do it my way.” they would have been better off listening to dylan. some survive after they see the proverbial light, but when it is perceived as having been forced on them, their repentance is viewed with skepticism. leaders in any industry anticipate and set the trends of tomorrow. they are respected for that and they tend to have loyal customers. followers are seen as resigned to the trend, but still resist and waste precious time catching up while looking like an imitator. Yet, i still hear people say that the hospitals and software vendors are our opponents – that we cannot be business partners. really? have they surveyed the number of remaining FEATURE storY independent practices in their area lately? and even where there are still some left, which there are, the services we offer will not be limited to just “medical billing.” dave jakielo has told us for many years to become better listeners. let’s try to move away from saying that those clients who want more information, more data, and more services are “high maintenance” clients and thank them for helping us to see what we need to be delivering. let’s quit defining employees who bring a lot of crazy ideas to us as “troublemakers” and encourage them to bring us more. even if we have to sift through ten whacked-out ideas to get to one that is really good, it is worth it. if we keep ignoring them, they will share them with somebody else, and that might just be your competitor who is looking for some new ideas. as Wayne burkan wrote in “Wide angle Vision,” “those who will take you to the promised land include disgruntled customers, off-the-scope competitors, rogue employees, and fringe suppliers.” listen to them; they might just tell you where our future is going to be. Phil Ellis is the senior vice president and CFO for CIPROMS, Inc. where he has been employed since 1991. Phil is a member of the Education Committee and an HBMA board member; he has been a featured speaker at HBMA national conferences and is on the faculty team for HBMA teaching financial management. He was a contributing author to the book “Collected Wisdom: Best Practices for Third Party Healthcare Billing Companies (HBMA 2003). Phil serves on the board of directors of the HFMA Indiana Pressler Memorial Chapter where he also chairs the Professional Development Committee. He co-chairs the Business Partners Committee of the Indiana IMGMA. Phil earned his MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University and has a BS degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Business Administration. Phil earned a certification through Rutgers University as a Certified Electronic Health Record Specialist and is a Certified Healthcare Financial Professional through the Healthcare Financial Managers Association. the journal of the healthcare billing and management association 29
Billing_MA13
To see the actual publication please follow the link above