FAQs

You have full access to our Client Driven Reporting to run reports anytime. Hundreds of reports are available, with drill-down capabilities, that paint an excellent picture of your progress.  Additionally, AMS gives you full, real-time access to the billing system to check patient accounts at your convenience. Managers are always available to discuss your account, and our Client Relations Director schedules regular visits with you to review your account in detail. We can also provide customized reports to your specific needs — ask!

The performance of the medical office is highly based on the individual performance of its medical staff. This makes managing, measuring, and evaluating critical. In addition, the costs and issues of staff turnover, attendance, maintaining a competitive compensation and benefits package, continual training, and staff relations management are also included. Outsourcing takes care of all, or a good portion, of that hassle, so you can take that off your full schedule.

Outsourcing will allow you to focus on what’s most important…..patient care!  And if that’s not reason enough, here’s ten more:

1. Reduce employee-related expenses (no salaries, benefits, workers comp, employer taxes, office supplies, equipment, furniture, etc.)
2. No interruption in cash flow due to staff turnover, vacations, and sick time
3. The advantage of having a team of proficient industry experts – without the high-priced salaries
4. Increase the percentage of paid claims
5. Reduce write-offs
6. Control billing costs
7. Improve patient satisfaction levels
8. Maintain compliance amidst ever-changing regulations
9. Optimize coding to get paid timely and appropriately
10. Access to the latest technology without the overhead

What do all these benefits result in? Higher profits! After all, that is the ultimate goal: to make you more money faster and easier.

We have experience in many different specialties including, but not limited to, emergency medicine, internal medicine, endocrinology, geriatric medicine, primary care, OB-GYN, orthopedics, GI surgery, urology, podiatry, urgent care, optometry, ophthalmology, plastic and reconstructive surgery and pediatrics.

Our services are integrated, yet each can be delivered as a stand-alone offering.

Any size. We use a combination of staff and technology to handle organizations with any number of patient visits. We have extensive knowledge of the challenges that plague organizations of all sizes. Our experienced team and technology solutions are customized to exceed each client’s needs.

Yes. We’ve had documented success working with clients in many states. AMS is fully staffed and capable of working nationwide with hospitals, private practices, and emergency physician groups.

We utilize the latest technology-driven solutions to produce cleaner medical claims, fewer medical denials, and improve medical collections. As a result, we’ve helped medical providers and medical practices across the U.S. to maximize collections, optimize compliance, and streamline operations to:

• Increase Profitability
• Increase Efficiency
• Increase Compliance

Read more about why you should work with AMS.

Applied Medical Systems provides medical billing services, coding, practice management, and consulting services to start-up practices, hospitals, private practices, and emergency physician groups. Read more about our services.

Applied Medical Systems was established in 1979 by Dr. Ronald McLear, an Emergency Medicine physician. We are fittingly located in “The City of Medicine” – Durham, North Carolina.

Our price includes scheduling software, basic coding review, documentation feedback (if possible), an 800-number patient support line, statements on a cycle basis, postage, clearinghouse fees, customer support, insurance follow-up, data entry, insurance denial resolution and appeals, fee schedule updates, deposit preparation, monthly reports, and the peace of mind that we are dedicated to you and your patient’s satisfaction.

Our philosophy has always been to provide the highest quality services at competitive prices.  Since we only use experienced and highly skilled personnel and our processes are performed entirely within the United States, we realize that we will not always be the cheapest vendor under consideration. However, we believe that the quality of the work is a testimony that our clients appreciate our value proposition. Additionally, our technologies are continuously updated based on changes in industry mandates such as Compliance, 5010, HIPAA, HITECH, CPT, and ICD.  We provide our clients with these standard-setting, hands-on service levels and world-class technologies. AMS pricing is typically based on the percentage of net collections. If AMS doesn’t work hard for you, you don’t pay. When provided, the following parameters impact the computation of AMS pricing:

•  Location of practice
•  Specialty
•  Financial mix
•  The volume of patients, charges, and collections for the previous 12 months
•  Documentation method

If providing the above information is too cumbersome, we can charge you on a flat per-claim basis or a standard percentage basis, specialty-specific. Beware of the one-size-fits-all percentage of net collections. Why should you subsidize your neighbors’ billing costs? We price specific to each provider.

There are no start-up costs. A charge for programming to build an HL7 interface from your EHR to our billing system may be involved. That will depend on your software vendor, and we will split that cost with you! Having an interface will expedite getting your billing information into our system.

Most practices realign staff to improve coordination to optimize patient volume, satisfaction, and loyalty.

The significant cost burden of implementing in-house billing often overwhelms practices, making them victims of a well-known financial pitfall.

The implementation timeline, ranging from 60 to 120 days, is contingent upon the specific service area, the project’s breadth of scope, and the required level of data access. Value realization is anticipated to occur near the completion of implementation.

• Maintains direct control by not subcontracting to other vendors
• Employs a fully trained workforce
• Conducts process analysis and proposes improvement strategies
• Prioritizes and focuses on revenue cycle Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Offers dedicated and responsive team support
• Implements process automation where feasible
• Facilitates business scalability
• Ensures effective collaboration and delivers comprehensive reporting

Advantages of outsourcing your revenue cycle management to specialized vendors, such as AMS, and experience:

• Reliable and scalable resources
• Significant operational cost reductions
• Boosted revenue and enhanced performance
• Specialized and dedicated teams
• Improved efficiency and accuracy
• Reclaim your focus on patient care
• Mitigated compliance risks

Disadvantages of revenue cycle outsourcing:

• Requires ongoing management of the partner relationship and performance reviews
• Results in slightly reduced ownership of the revenue cycle process
• Necessitates diligent maintenance of communication coordination between the partner and internal teams
• Demands careful management of security and privacy practices

Whether you should outsource your revenue cycle depends on your organization’s goals and the root-cause issues you currently face. Consider a full partnership for staffing and expertise gaps, or augment your team for specific needs. Define your goals and find a flexible vendor, like AMS, to achieve them.

Healthcare organizations can leverage revenue cycle outsourcing to boost efficiency and cut costs. This means partnering with experts like AMS to manage processes from patient engagement to AR, utilizing domestic, offshore, or blended resources. Consider outsourcing to unlock increased productivity and savings.

Boost your healthcare facility’s bottom line by focusing on core strengths. Outsource non-essential revenue cycle tasks, like CDI, denial prevention, and zero balance reviews, to specialized vendors like AMS. This frees your team to focus on high-value patient care. Streamline workflows, optimize existing tech before adding new, and leverage external expertise for cost-effective skilled labor and supply chain efficiencies. Partnering with experts allows for rapid process improvements and significant cost reductions.

Practices should optimize revenue cycle staffing based on volume and productivity to reduce uninsured patients, improve collections, and ensure compliance. If internal resources are insufficient or costly, partner with a specialized firm like AMS. Key best practices include patient-centricity, upfront payment collection, exhaustive coverage searches, accurate chargemaster and coding, timely claim filing, and denial management.

The most important stage of the revenue cycle is the one that isn’t working well. Revenue cycle problems demand immediate attention. Identify and fix weak points, as they disrupt the entire process. Solutions range from enforcing existing procedures and training to supplementing staff with external expertise. While all stages matter, addressing critical issues ensures timely and optimal reimbursement.

Traditional revenue cycle models, dividing processes into front (registration), middle (clinical documentation), and back (billing/collections), oversimplify the reality of interconnected functions. Modern healthcare demands a more holistic “web” view, especially with increasing patient consumerism. Key stages include:

• Pre-registration: Collect accurate patient data, complete prior authorization, and ensure financial clearance
• Point of service: collect patient payments for service, including copay or self-pay balances
• Claim submission: Accurate coding and supporting documentation provided
• Claim follow-up: Claim denials can occur for various reasons; timely follow-up is crucial for correction or appeal
• Patient collections: Maintain accurate billing and follow-up to collect payments, transitioning to state-compliant collections for debts over 120 days

Yes. Did you know that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued compliance guidance to third-party billing companies in 1998? The OIG issued compliance guidance to individual and small-group physician practices in 2000. If you don’t know what that guidance says, we are here to help. AMS has had an active compliance plan since 1998.

Yes and yes!

PHI is only communicated through HIPAA and HITECH-mandated secure channels.

AMS has specific features that manage the security and confidentiality of your information, including passwords, locked screens, access restrictions, and audit trails.

We can start as soon as a signed contract and business associate agreement is in place. You must also provide us with the necessary information to load your practice information into our billing system.

We have updated fee schedules and are staying in touch with providers to ensure that the practice charges enough for all procedures per CMS guidelines.

No, we have specialized billing teams with experience working on multiple software. See our extensive list of partners.

• For urgent issues, we provide immediate assistance. If your account manager is unavailable, our general support line is always accessible.
• Non-urgent inquiries receive a response within 1-2 hours, typically via email or our internal messaging platform.
• Research-related questions may require up to two business days for a comprehensive response.

Monday – Friday 8am – 4:30pm EST

Our staff training is role-specific and designed to ensure proficiency. For clients who purchase front desk or biller training, we provide:

• 1 – 2 full days of on-site instruction
• Regular check-ins to monitor progress and address questions
• 90 days of ongoing support

Biller training also includes unlimited access to on-demand training modules to supplement the on-site instruction.

It depends upon the insurance and industry standards, but we don’t let claims sit in the AR for more than 30 days.