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Network Partner Application |  |
Welcome to the All Medical Billing Network Partnership Program. Our goal is to provide you with the opportunity to grow and profit while serving the information management needs of healthcare providers. To help you achieve this we offer an extensive support program, including proven marketing materials and strategies and thorough industry and product training. We are committed to our partnership with you and demonstrate this with ongoing product improvement and Partner education. Your success is vital to us.
Healthcare providers are starved for effective information management tools. Healthcare spending in the United States surpassed $1.0 trillion in 1996 and was even greater in 1997. It has risen at a rate approximately twice that of inflation over the last decade. The escalation of such expenditures has created tremendous pressure to contain costs and efforts to shift the financial risk of delivering healthcare from insurance companies (payors) to healthcare providers. Hence, providers are being forced to become more efficient in the delivery of healthcare services. Increasingly, providers are utilizing computer-based decision support systems to address the changing demands of their customers, payors and regulatory influences.
The federal government has played an important role in the healthcare technology industry. The United States government implements its healthcare policies through The Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA), a division of The Department of Human Resources. HCFA operates many programs to care for the nation's citizens. The largest of these programs is Medicare. During the 1980s, HCFA invested heavily to develop computer systems that would assist with Medicare administration. Once the systems were put in place, HCFA encouraged providers and payors to utilize its newly established services. If a provider submitted a claim electronically, payment would be received faster than if submitted via mail. Providers quickly realized the benefits of investing in technology that would allow them to take advantage of these new developments.
This first wave of government influence remained strong throughout the 1990s. Now, however, the government has recently established new policies that, combined, are expected to greatly overshadow HCFA's past influence on healthcare technology spending. For instance, the Health Insurance Accountability and Portability Act (HIAAP) encourages insurance companies to develop electronic commerce capabilities, similar to that which HCFA developed in the late 1980s. As insurance companies increase their spending on technology to facilitate electronic commerce, they are encouraging providers to do the same. Also, more vital information is now being made available electronically, such as insurance eligibility and claims status. HCFA has also recently introduced legislation that requires medical providers to document more accurately the medical encounter with their patients. Physicians are not currently prepared for these increased reporting requirements. These influences increase the demand for effective information systems.
The Company's existing customer base consists primarily of small to mid-sized office-based healthcare providers. Based on industry sources, 60% of the physicians in the United States are organized into approximately 200,000 office-based healthcare practices. Nearly all of these practices are small to mid-size: there are fewer than 1,000 office-based practices in the United States with more than 25 providers. Due to the fragmented nature of the industry, the opportunity exists to gain significant market share in one's chosen geographic area.
Small and mid-size medical practices are significantly under penetrated with regard to practice management software and EDI transaction processing. For example, while it is estimated that approximately 83% of all hospital claims are submitted electronically, among small and mid-size medical practices only approximately 35% submit claims electronically.
Managed care is having a tremendous impact on the way providers conduct their business. It is not enough to simply create volume in the number of patients seen per day. Many providers now participate in complex reimbursement arrangements, resulting in multiple transactions, information exchanges and other communications with payors for each patient visit. Doctors are being forced to cut costs and become more efficient providers of medical care. Many have struggled with this new impact on the industry.
The administrative burden on practices has been growing and is becoming more complicated in a managed care environment. In general, more than 70% of non-provider expenses are costs for people and space. Furthermore, it has been estimated that from the scheduling clerk to the provider, everyone spends 40-60% of his time searching for information or recording information. The average practice touches paper 22 times to complete the entire patient service process for a single encounter.
Increased utilization of information technologies, including EDI, can provide cost savings to providers and payors, and to the healthcare system as a whole. Both payors and providers benefit from reduced overhead as a result of the administrative simplification provided by the direct electronic interchange of data traditionally handled manually (i.e. eligibility verification and claim status inquiries). In addition, payors are able to detect fraud more easily and screen for unusual utilization trends.
The way in which healthcare is delivered is expected to change dramatically in coming years. It is anticipated that patients themselves will demand and receive better service and more options in the future.
Physicians are facing the task of keeping track of fee-for-service and capitated contracts as well as the pressure to reduce costs and improve customer service. As a result of these trends, healthcare providers increasingly need to reduce operating costs, improve cash flows and manage their businesses more efficiently while responding to the increased administrative burdens and informational demands placed upon them by healthcare payors. By processing claims electronically, all providers, but especially office-based providers, can reduce staff time and help meet the challenges of healthcare cost containment initiatives. Providers also benefit from improved accounts receivable turnover as a result of EDI. The Company's practice management systems address the efficiencies and cost savings demanded by healthcare providers.
All Medical Billing is a progressive, high growth company dedicated to serving the information management needs of the healthcare community. We offer more than advanced technology; we are specialists with firsthand knowledge of the industry. By aligning with All Medical Billing, you will become part of a team known for innovative solutions that really work.
HOW TO BECOME A NETWORK PARTNER
Marketing Support: Marketing materials include product brochures and flyers, folders, training and installation information, Sample sales and marketing letters and multi-media demonstration CD-ROMs or diskettes. Training: Detailed industry and product training includes multiple sessions and can be provided at your site or at All Medical Billing, Inc.'s training facility in Miami, Florida. Topics include:
II. The Medical Office use and operation III. The Medical Office Sales & Training IV. Advanced Technical Training
39 Northwest 166th Street, Suite 8 Miami, Florida 33169 Telephone (305) 949-0970 Facsimile (305) 621-1030 |
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