Medical Billing Assistants
Unworked denials are the quietest way a practice loses money. A claim denied and never followed up looks exactly like a claim that was never submitted.
What your billing assistant does
- Prepares and submits claims through your clearinghouse
- Works the rejection queue daily rather than weekly
- Follows up denials: reason code, correction, resubmission, appeal
- Posts payments and reconciles remittance advice
- Runs the accounts receivable report and works it by age
- Prepares and sends patient statements, then follows up on balances
- Verifies eligibility and benefits before the visit, so fewer claims fail at all
- Reports weekly on what was submitted, paid, denied and outstanding
Why denials go unworked
Not because nobody knows they matter. Because working a denial takes twenty minutes on hold for a few hundred dollars, and there is always something more urgent in front of the person who would do it.
So the AR ages, and past a certain point much of it becomes uncollectable — not because it was invalid, but because nobody chased it in time.
A dedicated person changes that arithmetic, because holding for twenty minutes is their job rather than an interruption to it.
Systems they work in
athenahealth · Kareo · AdvancedMD · eClinicalWorks · DrChrono · Availity · Office Ally · Waystar · Change Healthcare · payer portals
How to choose a billing assistant
Ask how they work a denial
You want a sequence — read the reason code, identify the correction, resubmit or appeal with documentation — not “I’d call the payer.”
Check they document every call
Reference number, representative name, date, time and what was said. Without it an appeal has nothing to stand on.
Test the vocabulary
Eligibility, benefits and authorisation are three different things. Someone using them interchangeably will verify the wrong one.
Ask what they would report weekly
Submitted, paid, denied, AR by age bucket. If the answer is vague, the reporting will be too.
What it costs
Medical billing assistants are hired on a straight hourly rate, part-time or full-time. For certified coding specifically, say so at the brief stage. See the cost guide.
Frequently asked questions
Do they code?
They handle billing support and can work with your coding. If you need certified coding, tell us the credential required and we screen for it.
Will you sign a Business Associate Agreement?
Yes. Compliance overall depends on your own policies and how access is configured, which is a conversation for your compliance advisor.
Can they work our aged AR?
Yes, and it is usually the fastest thing to put a new billing assistant on — the money is already earned.
How do they access our system?
A named login with the permissions you set, an NDA before access, and access logging.
Can one person handle our volume?
Depends on claim volume and denial rate. Tell us both and we will give you an honest answer rather than a comfortable one.
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