Medical Billing Companies & Consultants in Columbia, SC

Podiatry Services of SC, LLC is a billing management firm in Columbia, South Carolina. It works mainly for foot and ankle practices across the state. Heather Kelly started the company in 2002, after spending more than five years on claims work for other kinds of providers.

Before focusing on podiatry, she handled reimbursement for pharmacy, family practice, pediatrics, chiropractic and durable medical equipment. That background gives the firm wide exposure to how different payers handle claims. Its stated goal is a smooth, efficient claims process for both physicians and the patients they treat.

Specialty Focus

The firm's main specialty is podiatry reimbursement within South Carolina. Because it concentrates on one specialty and one state, the team aims to get submissions right on the first attempt, which cuts down on rework and helps practices get paid sooner. It takes on solo offices as well as larger groups. The company says it gives every account prompt, dependable and personal attention, so the practice stays at the center of the relationship.

Full-Service Billing

The company presents itself as a complete outsourced billing department. It can also limit its work to the parts of the revenue cycle a particular office wants to hand off. A typical engagement covers these tasks:

• Entering patient demographics and insurance details
• Recording all charge and claim data
• Sending claims to payers electronically wherever possible
• Posting every payment that comes in
• Appealing payer denials when an appeal is appropriate
• Mailing patient statements on a regular monthly cycle
• Taking billing questions from patients by phone
• Following up on claims that are still unpaid
• Producing monthly reports tailored to each practice

Technology

One feature that sets the firm apart is that it runs its own web-based billing platform. Client practices can log in and see their account activity in real time, so they always know where their receivables stand. The firm also provides an electronic medical records system at no charge, and that system links directly with the billing software. For a small office, this means clinical documentation and claims can share a single connected workflow without buying a separate records product.

Additional Offerings

Beyond day-to-day claims work, the firm helps providers with insurance credentialing and payer contracting, taking over the paperwork involved in joining insurance networks. Practices that want to keep billing in-house can arrange refresher training for their staff biller, covering current payer rules and coding guidance. The company also offers a free review of a practice's accounts receivable, so an office can see whether outsourcing would help before making a commitment.

ResourceOne Medical Billing is a Columbia, South Carolina revenue cycle firm that handles billing, coding, credentialing and back-office management for healthcare providers. Now operating as a division of Professional Billing, Inc. (PBI), the company reports working with more than 500 providers and maintains four offices across South Carolina.

Its clients range from solo physicians to large multi-specialty groups and hospitals in the Southeast, and the firm states that its work is carried out in the United States rather than sent offshore.

Billing and Revenue Cycle Services

The core offering is end-to-end billing. Certified coders holding AAPC and AHIMA credentials assign codes, and charges are either keyed in by staff or brought in through custom import files. Claims go to payers electronically, and internal controls are used to confirm that every billable procedure is captured.

On the back end, the team pursues unpaid and underpaid claims, watches for below-standard payer reimbursement, posts insurance payments and routes deposits through a bank lockbox or a local post office box. Self-pay accounts are reviewed on an ongoing basis for possible Medicaid eligibility.

• Coding, charge entry and electronic claims filing
• Denial and underpayment follow-up
• Payment posting and lockbox deposit processing
• Color patient statements, personal handling of patient questions and automated reminder calls
• Custom financial and monthly production reports
• MIPS reporting, HIPAA compliance monitoring and electronic links to hospitals and EMR systems

Coding and Credentialing

Anesthesia is a particular area of strength, with certified anesthesia coding offered alongside general coding. Coders sit in monthly education sessions to keep pace with ICD-10 and CPT updates. Specialties named on the site include urgent care, pain management, surgery centers, ambulatory facilities and rheumatology. The credentialing group enrolls providers with commercial and government payers, sets up and maintains CAQH and PECOS profiles, tracks renewal dates and completes re-credentialing.

Practice Management and Consulting

Beyond billing, the firm can act as an outsourced administrative office, sometimes coordinating with a practice's accountants, attorneys, bankers, benefits administrators and insurance agents. Available support includes payer contracting and contract negotiation, provider recruiting, scheduling, bookkeeping, payroll processed through ADP, employee manuals, compliance plans, and tracking of licenses, malpractice coverage and CME.

Consulting engagements address entity structure such as LLCs and S corporations, receivables management, mergers and acquisitions, compliance audits, HIPAA programs, training and new practice start-up. The consulting team lists experience with hospitals, nursing facilities and pharmacies in addition to physician groups.

Background and Credentials

The company traces its roots to 1988, when Michael Bowe started Professional Billing Services, Inc. In 1996 that business combined with the medical consulting group of a local CPA firm to create ResourceOne, which joined PBI in 2021.

Bowe, an MBA and CMA who now directs anesthesia operations, has advised the South Carolina Medical Association, served on Medicare advisory committees and leads the South Carolina Society of Anesthesia Managers. Medical Billing Director Darlene Essick is a CPA with a background in information systems.

Staff affiliations include MGMA, HFMA, HBMA, AHIMA, the AICPA and anesthesia management groups, along with CPC, anesthesia and ambulance coding certifications. For buyers, the mix of accounting expertise, anesthesia focus and a long South Carolina track record is the main distinguishing feature.