Medical Billing Companies & Consultants in Fairfield, OH

Overview

Drs. Central Billing, LLC, often shortened to DCB, is a revenue cycle firm in Fairfield, Ohio that works almost entirely with podiatry practices. Owner Paul Fehring started the business in 1995 to handle claims for one foot and ankle physician. It has since grown into a team of over forty staff members who support more than a hundred podiatrists.

Its clients are in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and Florida, and the company has worked out of its current Fairfield office since 2003.

For buyers, the main point is that DCB specializes. It does not spread its attention across many medical fields. Instead, it has built its processes, coding knowledge and staffing around what podiatric practices need, including billing for durable medical equipment that practices dispense.

How the Workflow Operates

The process is designed to keep things simple for the clinical side. After a visit, the provider records procedure and diagnosis codes on a superbill made for the practice. The provider then scans that form, along with the patient's details, through DCB's secure server, and the billing team takes it from there.

Claims are usually handled the day they arrive and are processed no later than two days after receipt. Before sending a claim, staff check that the coding is accurate, look for billable items that may have been missed and confirm that the patient is eligible. Claims go to payers electronically whenever possible. Otherwise, paper forms are mailed.

Once claims are sent, DCB posts payments and works on denials. Sometimes it asks the practice for supporting records to build an appeal. It keeps following up on unanswered claims until each one is resolved. Patients receive statements for their share of the balance, and the company tells the practice when patients fall behind on payment.

Services and Tools Included

• Insurance claim and patient balance billing
• Help with provider credentialing
• Claim review and eligibility checks before submission
• Payment posting, denial management and appeals support
• Patient statements and a toll-free line for patient billing questions, staffed from early morning until midnight
• Online payment option for patients
• An assigned account manager for each practice
• Practice management and scheduling software, server access and a document scanner, supplied at no extra charge

Clients also get regular updates on industry changes, such as new Medicare rules and payer coding policies. This helps practices stay current without tracking every change themselves.

Pricing Structure and Differentiators

DCB charges a percentage of the money a practice actually receives, so it only collects its fee after the client has been paid. The firm says it has no add-on charges or hidden fees and does not lock clients into long-term agreements.

Because a sizable staff does the work rather than one in-house biller, a practice's billing does not stall when an employee is out sick or on vacation. The company presents outsourcing as a way to cut the costs of an in-house billing department. These include payroll, software, technical support, office supplies, postage, printer upkeep and office space.

It also lets physicians spend more of their time on patient care.

Tri-State Medical Billing & Ancillary Services, Inc. is a small medical billing firm based in Fairfield, Ohio, in Butler County. Its clients are physician practices that prefer to outsource insurance billing and payer enrollment instead of staffing those functions internally. As the company name indicates, it works across the tri-state region, serving providers in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

Services

The company concentrates on two administrative needs shared by most independent practices. The first is turning professional services into claims that are submitted and paid. The second is getting physicians and other providers enrolled with the insurance plans their patients carry. According to its public descriptions, its core offerings include:

• Medical billing for physician practices
• Provider credentialing with insurance payers
• Ancillary support services connected to the billing process

Since one team handles both credentialing and billing, a practice can work with a single vendor through the full cycle, from the point a new provider is enrolled with payers to the point that provider's patient visits are billed.

This arrangement may be especially useful for groups adding physicians and for offices that are just opening, where enrollment has to be completed before claims can be paid. Having one point of contact for both tasks can also reduce the handoffs between separate vendors.

Background and size

Business directory records indicate the company was incorporated in 2005 and has been in operation since then, giving it close to twenty years of experience working with practices in the Cincinnati and Dayton area. The same records list a staff of roughly five people and identify Daniel Meibers as a company contact.

At that size, the firm is best understood as a boutique operation rather than a large national billing outsourcer, which may mean clients deal with a small, consistent group of people instead of a rotating support desk.

Considerations for buyers

Tri-State Medical Billing positions itself as a local partner. That may appeal to practices that value working with a nearby company familiar with the payers common in southwest Ohio, northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana. Its Fairfield office is a short drive from Hamilton, Middletown and other Butler County communities, so in-person meetings are practical for many regional clients.

Some important details were not available for this profile. Prospective clients should ask the company directly which medical specialties it handles, what practice management software and clearinghouses it works with, how it reports collections and claim status to clients, and how its fees are structured. Clarifying these points early will help a practice judge whether a small, regionally focused billing and credentialing firm fits its volume, specialty and reporting expectations.