Guide
How To Choose A Practice Management Company For Your Behavioral Health Practice
A practice management company can take medical billing, credentialing, hiring support and the systems your staff work in off your plate. Before you sign with anyone, including us, get clear answers to these eight questions.
Start Here
Know Which Work You’re Handing Off
The name covers a lot. Some companies only do medical billing. Some only do credentialing. Some run the whole business side of a practice, from claims and payments to payer contracts, hiring, the software your team works in and the reports an owner reads each month.
Write down what you need help with now and what you only need once. A practice adding one clinician needs credentialing. A practice with claims nobody is following up on needs medical billing. An owner who has grown past what one person can run may need someone in the operations seat. That list keeps you from buying more than you need, and it gives every company you talk to the same question to answer.
Before You Sign
Eight Questions To Ask Every Company
- What exactly is included, and what isn’t? Ask for the scope in writing before you pay. A good answer names the work, its limits and what costs extra. A one line promise to handle everything isn’t a scope.
- How is the price built? Medical billing is usually a percentage of what’s collected, often with a monthly minimum. Ask what counts as a collection, whether there’s a setup fee, how long the agreement runs and what it costs to leave. Credentialing is usually priced per payer, sometimes with a setup fee per provider, so ask for the total for your payers rather than a starting price.
- Whose name is on the contracts and the tools? Payer contracts should be in your practice’s name and under your Tax ID. Trackers, reports and automations should live in your own accounts. If someone else holds the contract, find out what happens to it the day you leave.
- Who does the work? Ask whether the people working your claims and applications are on the company’s own team, where they’re based, and if you can reach someone who knows your account.
- How will you know where things stand? You should be able to follow each payer application and each claim problem on its own, not one average. Ask how often you’ll get a report and what’s in it.
- Will they sign a BAA? Any company that touches your claims works with health information. They should sign a business associate agreement before they start and give you a secure place to send documents.
- Do they work in your EHR? Changing software costs time and money. A good company works in the EHR and clearinghouse you already use, and checks whether the problem is a setting, a permission or a report before anyone talks about buying something new. Ask whether they earn referral fees on software they recommend.
- What happens when you leave? Ask how you get your records and reports back, how long you keep access to their tools, and how they return or destroy your health information as the BAA requires.
An Honest Comparison
When A Different Option Fits Better
Outside help isn’t always the right call, and these are the situations where something else usually makes more sense.
- You have an experienced biller on your own staff and steady volume. Keeping medical billing inside the practice, with a monthly report you actually read, may cost less than hiring a company.
- You’d rather not hold insurance contracts at all. Platforms like Headway and Alma credential you under their own contracts, and you bill insurance through their system. You give up owning the contracts in exchange for less paperwork.
- You run a residential or inpatient program, or an ABA agency. Look for a company built for that work. We don’t serve either.
- You want someone in your office. Our work is done virtually, so a local company is the better fit if you need people on site.
Where We Fit
Who We Work Best With
We run the business side of behavioral health and outpatient practices: medical billing, credentialing and contracting, practice launch and operations, and custom software and automation. We work best with telehealth practices, from a clinician opening a first practice to groups adding providers. Our prices are published, the contracts stay in your practice’s name, and anything we build lives in your own systems.
Opening your own practice? Start with First Practice Launch. Past startup and need someone running operations with you? Read about our Operations Partnership. Every other service and its price is on our packages page.
Common Questions
Choosing A Practice Management Company FAQ
What’s The Difference Between A Practice Management Company And A Medical Billing Company?
A medical billing company works your claims and payments. A practice management company may also handle credentialing, hiring support, systems and reporting. Some do all of it and some do one part, so ask each one for its scope in writing.
How Much Does A Practice Management Company Cost?
It depends on what you hand off. Medical billing is usually a percentage of collections with a monthly minimum, credentialing is usually priced per payer, and operations support is usually a monthly fee. Our price for each service is on our packages page.
Should My Payer Contracts Be In My Name?
Yes. Contracts in your practice’s name and under your Tax ID stay with you if you ever change companies. When a platform holds the contract, it doesn’t follow you when you leave.
Do You Work On Site?
Built for telehealth, in person and hybrid practices. All of our work is done virtually, so we never come on site.
Need Help With This In Your Practice?
Use the guide yourself, or see the related service when you want AdvanceAPractice to handle the work.