• Scambusters — Medical Billing
Posted by Tom Harnish on June 16th, 2008
For some reason medical billing has attracted more than it’s fair share of scams. If you’re interested in working at home doing medical billing be particularly wary of pitches that promise easy money with little or no effort. In fact, if you’re interested in working from doing anything be particularly wary of pitches that promise easy money with little or no effort. The world just doesn’t work that way.
If you’re looking to start your own medical billing business, learn about the challenges involved in medical billing, including the complex laws which apply before you fork over $200 or $500 or $3500. And understand that up to a year of training may be necessary in order to even begin to market your medical billing services to healthcare providers.
A few years ago, the FTC surfed the Internet and newspaper classifieds looking for ads promising consumers they could make fast, easy money running medical billing businesses from home. Hundreds of ads from dozens of companies were identified, and the Feds discovered that many of them were just rackets offering bogus credit cards or easy loans for a ridiculous fee to whoever called. Those that actually pitched medical billing products included:
- Electronic Processing Services, Inc., et al. Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, marketed a $480 medical billing work-at-home opportunity, misrepresenting that the doctors whose names were supplied were likely to hire consumers to process their billing claims, and that consumers could expect to make a certain amount of money as medical billers.
- International Trader, d/b/a Premier Business Solutions, et al. A Nevada corporation, based in Los Angeles, California, marketed work-at-home medical billing opportunities through classified advertisements for $189. Through their telemarketing pitch, they misrepresented: 1) that they would provide consumers with the names of doctors likely to use them to process billing claims from home; 2) that consumers buying their materials could expect to earn a specific level of income (between $15 and $45 per hour); and 3) that consumers could readily obtain a refund upon request.
- Medical-Billing.Com, Inc., d/b/a Professional Management Consultants, et al. A Texas corporation based in Carrollton, Texas, sold their medical billing package for between $3,500 and $9,500. In telemarketing their program, they allegedly made numerous misrepresentations, including promises that: 1) they would help recruit doctors who would use the consumers to process their billing; 2) customers would earn substantial income providing billing services for health care professionals; and 3) they would give customers a full refund if the program did not meet their performance expectations.
- Electronic Medical Billing, Inc., et al. A Nevada corporation operating in Mission Viejo, California, sold a medical billing work-at-home business opportunity to consumers for $325. They misrepresented: 1) that the doctors whose names they provided to consumers were likely to hire them to do their billing; and 2) that consumers could expect to make a certain level of income through medical billing (between $25,000 and $50,000 a year, according to their classified ads).
- Physicians Healthcare Development (PHD Billing), Inc., et al. Based in Burbank, California, pitched a work-at-home medical billing opportunity for $319 to $425, telling consumers that they could make between $3 and $15 for each claim processed. They misrepresented that the system they sell will instantly enable consumers to launch a home-based billing business, that consumers can earn substantial income for this work, and that the doctors whose names they provided were prepared to hire the consumers to process their claims.
If you get a pitch that sounds like one of these you can be sure you’re being scammed.



July 11th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Tom,
You did a great job here with this article. I can’t tell you how many times a day someone calls my office for assistance because they were either mislead or robbed by sub-par medical billing vendors.
If people would take the time to research the industry before they jump right in they would be hip to what’s going on because the information is readily available for free online.
In my ebook and training classes I tell people all the time that one of the best things they can do to ensure their success in the home based medical billing industry is to join at least one medical billing organization. The funny thing is no matter how much you stress the issue people will do what they want to until they either lose money or their feeling get hurt because they realize their dreams of starting the business is going swiftly down the tubes!
If you are read the article above and these comments because you are curious about starting a career as a home based medical billing business owner then I strongly suggest that you also check out these resources:
Online Medical Billing Training Advice
2008 Medical Billing Business Start Up Book
How To Market A Medical Billing Business Book
Expanding Your Medical Billing Business Book
The Basics of Medical Billing Book
How to Correctly Complete a CMS 1500 Form Book
How to Complete a UB04 Form Book
Mental Health Billing Made Easy
Tom again I thank you for expressing yourself and I hope that people will take heed to what we are saying here.
Paul
The Medical Billing Mastermind