Billing delays and high overhead costs put a pinch on many small health care practices that still file claims on paper.
Linthicum-based ProtoMED Medical Management Corp. is offering to reduce these pressures by making its electronic claims software available for free to smaller private practices in Maryland that still process claims on paper.
The ProtoMED system, like many others used nationwide, enables practices to file insurance claims electronically and bypass a number of third-party clearinghouses, which can delay doctors? receipt of payments for weeks.
But according to CEO Lawrence Walsh, the cost of electronic claims systems ? $10,000 to $20,000 in ProtoMED?s case ? can discourage smaller practices from switching.
That?s where ProtoMED?s program, known as the Maryland Physician Initiative, comes in.
“We see it as good advertising ? instead of putting advertisements into a magazine, we want to be known for our advocacy of Maryland doctors,” Walsh said.
The offer will cover about $150,000 worth of installations, Walsh said, to be distributed among the 20 or so percent of Maryland physicians still filing on paper. Physicians enrolled in the program will pay a small maintenance fee, but the cost of the software will be waived. Candidates for the program will be assessed based on financial need.
“We play very well with groups of one to five doctors,” Walsh said. “For us to give it away, it?s a very big thing, and we?ve had very good feedback already.”
As an added benefit to physicians, ProtoMED contracted to directly file claims with Carefirst Inc., the largest health care insurer in the mid-Atlantic region.
“I thought it made good sense, [ProtoMED]?s proposal,” said Bob Atwood, Carefirst?s manager of operations systems. “When we move claims electronically, it?s better for all parties.”
Dr. Peter Uggowitzer, head of Carroll Family Medicine in Hampstead, has used ProtoMED since 2001. He said the increasing scrutiny of insurance companies madeit essential to organize claims electronically.
“My staff prides itself in being able to bill and collect up to 95 percent of what we should be getting,” Uggowitzer said. “It?s really the only way that you can bill and collect efficiently.”
