How to Start a Home Based Medical Billing and Coding Business

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By Jennywrites
User-Submitted Article

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Do you have medical billing experience and would like to start your own medical billing company? Are you a professional coder and would prefer to work from home coding?

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A Name for your business
Medical Billing Experience
Advertising Knowledge
Ambition

Step 1

Name your business. You can't do anything without a name. Cute names are "cute" but sometimes not very professional for the Doctors who you want to use your company. Think about the profile you want to portray. You want to portray a very business-like, professional, serious business. Even though you will be working out of your home, you won't want to broadcast that either. You can be honest with your clients that you work from home, but you won't want a name like Home-based billing. You want something a little more professional. Think of what part of your business your going to really market. What will make you different then anyone else that has their own home based billing company?
Step 2

Once you have your name, your going to want to get your DBA. That's your "Doing Business As". Basically you would go to your town clerk, they will look up in this big book of businesses, all the names. They will check to see if your business name already exists. It has to be different, so you will need to think of something else if it already exists. Sometimes people will just add another word, or letter, or change it ever so slightly, that's your choice. It's usually under $50.00 to get your DBA. Make copies of the information you receive.
Step 3

Go to the bank and open up a business account. You can use any bank. Shop around for the best option for your business. You want to make sure that your not going to be charged an arm and a leg for the account.
Step 4

Purchase your domain name. Of course having a website is not something that is a necessity, but today it does make you a little more professional looking. You can purchase a domain name, and look into someone creating the site for you. If you can't do it yourself, check around and see if you have a friend that can do it for you for a little less.
Step 5

If your specialty is coding and you are only going to code, you can skip this step. For billing companies research which software you want to use. Even if your used to one type of software or another. Don't fall into these places that say they are a medical billing company in a box. If you do I have found that their software packages that claim they do "EVERYTHING" lack a lot. All software today does e-claims. So just look into what other options they have. Look for what reports they run, and of course compare prices. Remember to keep in account how much for them to help you if you have a problem, or what kind of support they provide. These are all expenses that you will need to remember. Also check to see how many doctors you can add to their system. After taking all this into account, pick out the best software for your business.
Step 6

Marketing! Now it's time to get your name out there. Create any brochures or information that you can pass out. Start with any offices you know. Your own doctors, your children's pediatricians, or offices that your friends work for. After you've finished with those resources, go ahead and just hit all the local offices. Introduce yourself and tell them about your businesses, and how you can save them money. Leave them with some of your information.

You can also first do a mailing to all the sites within a certain radius, and then use that list to make sure you personally hit them. If the doctors can put a face to your letter the better.

Don't get discouraged. Just keep putting your name out there. Don't give up!