Are You Working Harder But Making Less? 5 Signs Your Revenue Cycle Needs Help
Running a medical practice is complicated enough without worrying whether you’re collecting every dollar you’ve earned.
But here’s the reality: medical practice revenue loss is happening right now in thousands of clinics, and most don’t even realize it until the damage is done.
After 35+ years in medical billing and revenue cycle management, I’ve seen this story play out hundreds of times. A physician group knows something’s off with their collections, but they can’t quite put their finger on it. Meanwhile, thousands of dollars slip through the cracks every month.
At Medical Management Services (MMS), we’ve helped practices across the country reclaim their revenue and regain control of their cash flow. More often than not, we increase client revenue by at least 15% – and in many cases, much more.
How? By paying attention to the details that in-house billing teams often miss.
Medical practice revenue loss doesn’t happen overnight – it’s death by a thousand cuts. Let me share the five warning signs that indicate you’re leaving money on the table.
Warning Sign #1: Your Billing Department Is Draining Your Budget
Here’s what nobody talks about when they tout the benefits of “keeping billing in-house” – the real cost.
Sure, you’re paying salaries. But what about payroll taxes? Benefits packages? Those easily add 30% or more to your labor costs. Then there’s the office space your billing team occupies – some of your most expensive real estate that isn’t generating a single dollar of revenue. Every square foot dedicated to billing is space you can’t use for patient care or revenue-generating activities.
And let’s be honest about productivity. Even your best billing staff take breaks, have off days, and deal with the usual workplace inefficiencies. When you outsource to a specialized partner like MMS, you’re paying for results, not time clocked. Our team doesn’t take vacation days from your claims. We don’t call in sick when your A/R needs attention.
We’ve seen practices cut their billing costs while simultaneously increasing collections. It’s not magic – it’s focus and expertise.
Warning Sign #2: You’re Stuck on the Staffing Treadmill
Billing staff turnover is brutal. When someone in your billing department quits, you don’t just lose an employee – you lose institutional knowledge, momentum, and most importantly, cash flow.
Think about what happens when a biller gives notice. You’re scrambling to hire and train a replacement while claims pile up, follow-ups get delayed, and denials go unworked. Even after you hire someone new, there’s a learning curve that can stretch weeks or months.
Meanwhile, your revenue suffers.
With MMS, you never worry about staffing again. We have depth and redundancy built into our team. When someone takes time off or moves on, your claims don’t skip a beat. We’ve been doing this for over 35 years because we’ve built systems that don’t depend on any single person.
One of our anesthesia group clients said it best: “We tried other billing companies and even attempted to bring it in-house through our hospital system. Each time, we came back to MMS. The personal touch combined with professionalism and adaptability made the difference.”
If your billing costs feel out of control, it’s time to explore your options. Call Mark Manning at 706-315-4660 for a straight answer on what you should really be paying for billing services.
Warning Sign #2: You’re Stuck on the Staffing Treadmill
Billing staff turnover is brutal. When someone in your billing department quits, you don’t just lose an employee – you lose institutional knowledge, momentum, and most importantly, cash flow.
Think about what happens when a biller gives notice. You’re scrambling to hire and train a replacement while claims pile up, follow-ups get delayed, and denials go unworked. Even after you hire someone new, there’s a learning curve that can stretch weeks or months.
Meanwhile, your revenue suffers.
With MMS, you never worry about staffing again. We have depth and redundancy built into our team. When someone takes time off or moves on, your claims don’t skip a beat. We’ve been doing this for over 35 years because we’ve built systems that don’t depend on any single person.
One of our anesthesia group clients said it best: “We tried other billing companies and even attempted to bring it in-house through our hospital system. Each time, we came back to MMS. The personal touch combined with professionalism and adaptability made the difference.”
If your billing costs feel out of control, it’s time to explore your options. Call Mark Manning at 706-315-4660 for a straight answer on what you should really be paying for billing services.
Warning Sign #3: Denials Are Piling Up While Your Team “Works Hard”
Let me tell you something I’ve learned over decades in this business: working hard and working smart are not the same thing.
Most in-house billing teams operate on a “last in, first out” basis. The newest claims get filed first because everyone’s focused on meeting filing deadlines. It seems logical, right?
Wrong.
Here’s what happens with that approach: denials get pushed to the back burner, appeals miss their deadlines, accounts age beyond the point of collectability, and your A/R balance balloons. This is one of the most common causes of medical practice revenue loss – hardworking teams focused on the wrong priorities
At MMS, we don’t just process claims. We manage your entire revenue cycle strategically. That means:
- Proactive denial management, not reactive firefighting
- Trending denials by payer and type to prevent future issues
- Aggressive follow-up on aging accounts before they become write-offs
- Regular communication about systemic problems we’re identifying and fixing
We find “hidden” revenue that many billing services miss because they only focus on filing initial claims. We go the extra mile – because your revenue deserves it.
Don’t let denials rob you blind. Call Mark Manning at 706-315-4660 to discuss how we can turn your denials into dollars.
Warning Sign #4: You Have No Idea What Your Real Numbers Look Like
Ask yourself: When was the last time you got a clear, comprehensive report on your revenue cycle performance?
Not just a deposit slip or a generic summary. A real report that shows you:
- Your true net collection percentage
- Denial rates by payer
- Clean claim rates
- A/R aging trends
- Where you’re losing money and why
If you can’t answer that question or if getting that information requires days of back-and-forth with your billing team, you have a serious problem. MMS gets to the root causes of your medical practice revenue loss and works to fix them.
How can you make informed decisions about your practice when you’re flying blind?
At MMS, transparency isn’t optional – it’s required. Every month, our clients get detailed reports that are actually readable and actionable. No jargon. No excuses. Just the truth about your revenue cycle performance, complete with benchmarks against industry standards.
Because here’s the thing: you can’t fix what you can’t see.
Warning Sign #5: Your Gut Says Something’s Wrong
This is the one that matters most.
You’re seeing more patients than ever. Your schedule is packed. Your providers are working harder than they’ve worked in years.
But your bank account doesn’t reflect it.
Maybe your collections are flat. Maybe they’re actually down. You keep thinking, “We should be making more money than this.”
Trust that instinct.
After 35+ years in this business, I can tell you with certainty: when a physician tells me their revenue doesn’t match their effort, they’re almost always right. The problem is buried somewhere in their revenue cycle – undercoded visits, unbilled procedures, denials that were written off too quickly, claims that never got filed, payer underpayments that went unchallenged.
The details matter. And when you’re focused on patient care (as you should be), those details slip through the cracks.
That’s where we come in.
The MMS Difference: We Treat Your Revenue Like It’s Our Own
Since 1987, Medical Management Services has been the best-kept secret in medical billing. We’re not the biggest billing company out there, and we don’t want to be.
Why? Because we’re 100% privately owned. We don’t answer to stockholders or venture capitalists. We answer to our clients.
Our clients stay with us for decades – not because we lock them into long-term contracts, but because we deliver results. One physician group has been with us for nearly 25 years. An anesthesia practice we’ve worked with since 1993 said they’ve tried other options but keep coming back to us.
That’s the kind of partnership we build.
We specialize in multiple specialties including anesthesia, pain management, emergency medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, OB/GYN, and many others. But regardless of your specialty, our approach is the same:
Attention to detail. Aggressive follow-up. Transparent reporting. And a personal relationship with you and your practice. Our focus is preventing medical practice revenue loss and maximizing every dollar you’ve earned.
It’s Time to Make a Change
If any of these warning signs hit home, don’t wait. Every month you delay is a month of lost revenue you’ll never recover.
We help practices maximize their revenue while minimizing headaches. We handle the paperwork so you can focus on patients. We navigate the confusing regulations so you don’t have to.
And we’re ready to help you.
Don’t settle for mediocre collections and constant frustration. Click Here to Call Me Directly – Let’s Talk Let’s have a straightforward conversation about what’s happening with your revenue – and what we can do to fix it.
You can also reach me at markmanning@mybillingguy.com or visit www.mybillingguy.com.
At Medical Management Services, we don’t just work for you – we work with you. Because your success is our success.
Call today: 706-315-4660. Let’s start recovering the revenue your practice has earned and put an end to your medical practice revenue loss.
