Signal desk
What we’re watching in HealthTech procurement, EHR politics, and CMS rulemaking — filtered for operators.
Credentials Required for Medical Billing Companies
Medical billing companies need HIPAA compliance, individual coder certifications from AAPC or AHIMA, cyber-liability insurance, and often SOC 2 Type II or HITRUST for larger clients.
17 Reference-Check Questions for Medical Billing Companies
The vendor-provided references are pre-briefed. These 17 questions surface what the reference actually thinks — and what they wish they had known before signing.
How to Negotiate a Medical Billing Contract Price
The vendor's opening price is not the price. Six negotiation levers, when to pull each, and typical concession ranges by vendor size.
9 Service-Level Agreements to Require From Your Billing Vendor
SLAs with financial teeth — charge-lag, first-pass rate, denial-appeal turnaround, and six more, with sample credit clauses.
How to Avoid Medical Billing Scams
Medical billing scams cluster around six patterns: guaranteed collection rates, up-front setup fees, ownership of your data, evergreen contracts, no BAA, and unverifiable credentials.
HIPAA Requirements for Medical Billing Companies
Medical billing companies are business associates under HIPAA and must sign a BAA, implement the Security Rule's administrative, physical, and technical safeguards, and report incidents to the covered entity.
What Data Can a Medical Billing Company Access
Medical billing companies routinely access patient demographics, insurance information, claim data, and payment history — but only what is needed for the billing function, under HIPAA's minimum necessary rule.
How to Opt Out of Medical Billing Sales Calls
Opting out of medical billing sales calls requires two steps: file a direct written opt-out with the specific vendor, then escalate to the FTC and FCC if calls continue past the 10-business-day TCPA cure period.
Do Medical Billing Lead Sites Sell Your Data
Some medical billing lead-generation sites sell submissions to multiple buyers as aggregators, while vetted-network matching services introduce a capped number of pre-qualified vendors. The difference is documented in the site's disclosure and BAA.
Questions to Ask Before Signing a Medical Billing Contract
Twelve questions covering pricing, performance, data ownership, termination, credentials, and compliance filter out the vast majority of contract risk before signature.
Red Flags in Medical Billing Service Agreements
Eight contract clauses account for most disputes: vendor data ownership, evergreen auto-renewal with a narrow notice window, ransom fees for data return, uncapped indemnification, and four others.
What Is a Business Associate Agreement in Medical Billing
A Business Associate Agreement is a HIPAA-required contract between a covered entity and any vendor that handles Protected Health Information, with elements specified at 45 CFR 164.504(e).