Newspaper ads claiming to offer medical billing jobs are turning out to be nothing but a scam. The ad says, “Do medical billing at home for doctors” and gives an 800 number. You get a recorded message…
“You get paid for as many as you do. Four to seven dollars each, depending on the length. You have to cover the cost of your own software.”
The cost of the software is $199. One woman in Seattle went for it. She had completed several months of training in the medical billing field and thought this would be perfect for her. Work from home with no more commute! After speaking to someone from the company who told her that she’d be working soon, she sent her money in.
And what did she get for her $199? When she received the software, she found that it was simply a disc with nothing but graphics on it. She also never received a single claim to process.
While there are real medical billing opportunities out there, unfortunately there are at least as many ripoffs out there too. Even doing minimal research can help prevent you from falling into one of their traps. If the woman in Seattle had just done a search on the company phone number she would have discovered that it was a scam.
Tags: Scams
This is a really great site. It’s nice to hear a success stories about working at home, and really nice to see all of these outlets. I have been working from home since January of 2008. I have had my ups and downs, but for the most part it is very rewarding. It allows me to spend more time with my family, and have much more of a passion for what I am doing.
I get infuriated when I read about all the scams circulating the internet. Their victims are always the vulnerable and the people who can least afford it.
Jos last blog post..Writing for Money
Great ! I myself just start to work at home in 2008. Hope a lot people succeed in working at home.
Hello All,
I just wanted to say thank you to Sharon for posting about scam medical billing advertisements. If you see an advertisement to work from home doing medical billing either online, in the back of a magazine, those free supermarket magazines, local hometown shopping magazines like the Thrifty Nickel or Penny Saver be rest assured that they are 90% scams. Those ads are placed there because the are cheap to run for the scammers, while ensuring the ads get seen by millions of eyes and most of all they get thousands of names- addresses – phone numbers and other personal information that they can sell to other third party vendors for even more profit. Can medical billing be done from home? Yes! What you need to remember is that it can only be done in two way as of the time of this writing:
1)By getting hired by a hospital, clinic, group practice or solo practice that has a telecommuter program and once you prove yourself to them as a trustworthy employee you will be allowed to work from home. This is still a JOB and you employers are responsible for you.
2)You start your own medical billing business from your home. You are the president of the business, you are responsible for any employees, you must find your own clients and expand that business in order to make money.
Most people think that there are companies out there that have so much extra claims to file with the insurance companies that they will train interested people to do from it home. This Is Simply Not The Case so if you aren’t going to start your own medical billing business then don’t believe what you hear or see about working from home doing medical billing.
Felicia
Thank you Felicia for the informative comment. You make some very good points and I hope my readers will take heed.
1-888-808-7694
1-800-339-1842
phdsupporthelp@usa.com
They won’t give a name, but are out of Milwaukee,WI
This has been a nightmare! I was ripped off for $299 for an ‘encrypted cd’ called datameds 4.6 and for months I have been trying to work with the only representative they have (who is abrupt, rude and verbally aggressive woman named sueray) who absolutely refused to give me my money back or any info what so ever of the actual company, not the name, no address, nothing.
I had been told that with-in 3 months I’d make 400/week pt, they would sign me up with their network of doctors and supply training and free upgrades and that it would take 14 days to get the product and I had 30 days to return it. WELL…… It took 5 weeks to get to me (I was told it was nonrefundable at this point, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt, of being a legitimate company). It has been 4 months and they don’t have a network of doctors, just addresses that I solicit, there is no training, just a phone test, but no certificate is issued. There is no explanation of the process at any point and if you ask a question or try to receive a response it is meet with impatience and intolerance. I have been accused of cheating and told I was unstable for just asking for another representative to contact me back, because of her verbal abuse towards me, the consumer. I even went as far as asking that her and I try to start a new working relationship and was meet with obstinacies and received a yelling lecture from her, I was patient and complacent and tried to work their program anyway, but after 2 months of “email me to remind me to call you on Monday, wait until next Monday for your new list, wait for 2 weeks then contact me again, now wait until next Monday to email me to follow up and wait until the next week to receive your new listâ€, I began to realize this is not a litigate program. On my last attempt to gain a new list of doctors, I tried to email the support line and it came back undeliverable. I have tried to contact the Better Business Bureau, but with out the company name there is no avenue and none of the phone numbers are listed at all anywhere. If you are able to gain any info in the process of this dispute please forward it to me so that I can follow through with a complaint so every consumer can be made aware of this scam!
Thank you,
Christ acpcompany@juno.com
I am really sorry to hear that Chris. I found another complaint on one of those phone numbers here. I called both numbers and it’s the same man on the recorded message. One of them outlines the “data entry job” and asks for you to leave your name and telephone number.
How did you get involved in this initially? Was there an ad placed somewhere?
Hi, is the company from Castle Rock Lake in Wisconsin?
Thanks
Chris, I think I am dealing with the same situation you are. The add that I called about was in our local newspaper in the job adds. Did they ask for you to set up a DBA (doing business as) and an ein number with the irs?
Unfortunately, it happened to me. I found the ad in my local newspaper, sent the money and got a disc with not enough information to cost $299. I got an EIN number, set up a bank account and when I called to let them know I was ready for work, the whole thing didn’t jive with me and the woman was short and snotty with me, so I gave her no more information. I found out then after a little research that it was a BIG FAT SCAM!! Who does this to innocent people?
Jenny, what was your research? Did you ever find the name or location of the company?
Does this refer to companies like cearner or ECAOS ?
To Whom It May Concern:
I do hope that anyone who is considering applying to one of these ads for doing billing at home – reads this before they make the plunge.
I have been doing medical billing for about 20 years, originally in New York and now for the last 9 years in Florida.
Please make note, that it took me about 5 years before I gained enough knowledge of billing practices, insurance regulations, filing/submission dead lines, billing codes, diagnosis codes and modifiers to properly submit claims.
Once you have the knowledge, you then must have enough cash to pay for legitimate billing software, for a single user this will cost you upwards of $1,000.00. It will include support for the first year, but after that you will need to pay for any other support.
Then, you will have to figure out whether or not you want to send paper claims or electronic claims. If you choose electronic claims, you will have to pay a clearing house a per month fee to send claims to the appropriate insurance companies. I pay about $90.00 per month for this service. Oh, by the way, you will need money to eat and pay rent while your business grows.
If you choose to send your claims on paper you will need to purchase CMS-1500 claim forms that must be filled out by the direction of each insurance company. I have about 300 insurance companies in my system and about half need different information. Then, you will need to purchase stamps at .44 cents each. If you have 200 claims a week to send out, you’re talking about $88.00.
If you incorporate your business, you’ll need a tax ID#, and most states charge annual fees. Also, it is usually illegal to work at home without documents on file with local agencies.
I strongly urge anyone who is considering doing business at home as an insurance biller or collections specalist, to have experience like being an assistant to a senior biller for no less than 4 years. A couple of years as a senior biller is also needed. After 15 years, I became self-employed in 2005 and have enjoyed every minute of it.
This is what is needed to start thinking about becoming self-employed. Make sure you leave your work positions with good standing, as these doctors will be the ones that get your name around to other doctors for new clients.
Good Luck, and Good Business!
[...] Newspaper ads claiming to offer medical billing jobs are turning out to be nothing but a scam. The ad says, “Do medical billing at home for doctors” and gives an 800 number [Read more] [...]
Sharon, thank you for your post. I bumped into your blog by chance today and I am glad I did.
Felicia, I could swear that’s the same thing I told you back when you first came to me months ago when you were attempting to find a company out there that will hire people to process their overflow of claims. It was an honor mentoring you, I am sincerely proud of your progress and most of all to see you taking on the responsibility of being a mentor to others.
Paul G. Hackett
I recently finished a medical claims and billing specialist course and I thought I would easily be able to find a doctors office or insurance company to hire me to work from home so I could continue to stay home with my daughter and after reading all of this I am wondering if I just wasted my time and money on this course.
Any suggestions on where I should go from here to find work or if it was just a waste of my time and money to take this course.
I don’t think you should give up, but you may need to revise your expectations. Many employers require you to work in their offices for a period of time before they will allow you to telecommute. It might be worthwhile for you to look for on-site work so that you can build your resume. Once you have the experience behind you, an off-site position may be more attainable.
I am a certified medical biller. I want to open my own medical billing business. Do you have any suggestions on how to get doctors?
Thank you
,..] blog.2work-at-home.com is one another must read source of tips on this subject,..]