After numerous unsuccessful attempts to process a claim for a client through insurance – during which you’ve been passed from person to person, none of whom could actually help you – imagine someone coming alongside you and saying, “Let me call the head of the insurance company and get this worked out for you – I have his cell phone number.” And they do. And you get paid for your services. Wouldn’t that be nice?

That’s the essence of what MedPro Billing does for thousands of practitioners nationwide. It knows the business side of mental health arguably better than anyone, and puts more than 20 years of experience into practice every day, providing benefits verification and eligibility; utilization review; and billing and collections – the latter to the tune of $400,000,000 successfully retrieved for its clients. It also provides consulting services; data and charge entry; oversight and advocacy; accreditation and credentialing; managed care contracts and negotiations; implementation and customized forms; and EMR relationships.

More than 20 years ago, MedPro began simply to advocate for clients and the people who provided much-needed services for them. Founder, Melissa Zachariasz, saw the need within this niche after  undergoing her own families struggles with addiction. This personal connection propelled her to build relationships within the industry in efforts to provide the best resources possible for those who needed them. The business grew quickly by word of mouth and is now 120 employees strong and growing.

Anelia Shaheed, COO and General Counsel, states that typical MedPro clients range from individual providers to large hospitals with multiple sites; medium-sized to start-up facilities. “We help them grow from six beds to 200 by helping them maximize the work they are doing. We work with every type of program, from 12-step to IOP to holistically based to online. The key difference with MedPro is that we strive to become a part of the clients we work with and guide them through every step and issue as a partner in the industry.”

Being an established company with strong resources enables MedPro to get quality work done, as well as handle a large volume of work. Shaheed states, “With our size and length of experience, our relationships with insurance companies are key. We advocate on behalf of our clients.”

With a company that does such wide and varied business, it would stand to reason that it might be difficult to reach a human being easily when calling in. Not so with MedPro. Not only is the onsite collections office staffed 24 hours a day, but all of Shaheed’s clients have her personal cell phone number. “When you call our office, you will always get a person,” she confirms. “We are very focused on customer service so you don’t get lost.”

And clients tend to return the favor of commitment – Shaheed shares that long-term clients have been with MedPro for 10 years or more, which speaks to the quality of care they receive.

Much of MedPro’s success is attributed to this focus on excellence, which extends to its standards for itself. “We are one of the most legally compliant institutions in the business,” Shaheed. “We are a SSAE II-accredited company, adhering to the highest national audit standards, many of our employees have more than 10 years retention with the company or more, and our 8,000-square-foot  facility, headquartered in Tamarac, Florida, is state of the art.”

Education is also very important to the company. It is deeply involved in events that help educate and support the business side of the addictions treatment industry, teaching business owners and practitioners how to be compliant and how to be clear if there is an audit. This year, MedPro co-sponsored the West Coast Symposium; it is also a partner with C4 in producing the AXIS Addictions Executives Industry Summit next February (www.axissummit.com).

Shaheed says that the AXIS Summit will be a very different conference experience: “Basically, if you don’t know how to do something in this business, you can learn it here. This summit is designed as an intensive boot camp for all members of the industry from CEOs, CFOs, IT managers and HR managers to clinical directors and more to discuss the business challenges that face our industry and obtain exceptional guidance from all leaders in the industry.”

Shaheed is the source of much of MedPro’s education related to compliance, and is constantly monitoring changes in the industry and making necessary adjustments. “We are trying to get Federal laws to change [to support addictions treatment], so we have lobbyists in place in Washington, D.C. to help bring about those changes. We are also always working on developing new relationships with national agencies and advocating at the grass roots for our industry,” Shaheed states.

MedPro’s commitment to improving not only the businesses of its clients and the lives the people they serve, but also the integrity and effectiveness of the industry as a whole is quite evident and a welcome ally to have in our corner.

To learn more about MedPro Billing, visit medprobill.com.