would pick up on this while standing in the check out line in the grocery store or wherever 2 people got together to talking about their nightmarish experiences. Maybe the reason I turned into these conversations was because this was my field. Medical Insurance Billing is a job you learn from on your own. There isn’t any training that can teach you all of this complicated subject. What makes it so complicated is the government is always changing the rules and it’s hard to keep up with all the changes.
Five years ago when I started writing I wanted to write a book on just professional letters. My goal was to write an e book with letters for both the medical professional and the consumer. Having worked in medical billing I knew how important writing the correct appeal letter would be replied to.
I wrote a series of letters for consumers and for the medical professionals. I then started to write articles for the internet. I wrote several articles on medical billing. When I actually decided to publish my e book onto my website I decided to use the articles I published. I then had 2 books. One book for medical providers and one for the consumers. I copyrighted them and had them implemented onto my website. The first book I called How to fight your Medical Appeals, and the 2nd was Appeal and Collection Letters for Medical Providers. They both did very well as e books.
I was racking my brain trying to figure out marketing strategies for my book Ghost Kids trilogy.
I heard over and over in my brain you need a how to book and then I started rewriting my 2 e books but because I wanted to self publish this book I wanted only one book which would be for all consumers including medical providers. It is a subject that is everywhere these days. The only thing that scares me is the people who are doing the changing know what they are doing.
It took a year for me to blend this book together plus I added more to the book as I worked on it.
I always helped my family and friends when they brought their nightmare problems to me or even over hearing complete strangers which were stressed, and had no where to turn. I would try to help them. Sometimes it was an easy fix and sometimes it wasn’t.
In my book not only do I go thru the billing system of a claim form which is what the medical provider sends to the medical insurance for payment but I use personal experiences of mine from my own billing nightmares to the ones I encountered while working in medical billing professionally.
The idea behind my book was this. Help people get their bills paid!!
I wrote everything I could in my book to help you. I had several people read it that didn’t have a clue about medical billing. A friend of mine read the book and said” I know you explained in the first chapter what a CPT and ICD number are but I can’t remember. took what she said seriously and every time I use the term CPT code I added the dollar amount.
Everybody this is what is the foundation and formula as to how your medical bills gets paid or not.
The CPT code is the reason for the visit. Example: established doctor’s visit. Or it could be for a surgery and your surgery will be listed with a CPT code and a $ amount.
The ICD codes is the dx code. The reason for your visit. Example ear infection.
I had a friend read my book and she said it was easy to read and understand but I couldn’t remember what a CPT or ICD code is and I don’t like having to go back to the first chapter.
Purely by accident I started writing definitions for medical terminology it wasn’t planned. After I finished I had a whole chapter on medical insurance terminology. Then I alphabetized the terms and put them in the first chapter and asked my readers to read this chapter first so they can follow the book.
A medical provider friend of mine read the book when I got the galley or edit copy back. He went through it like a warrior full steam ahead and I ended up deleting and rewriting some of my letters. He then announced not only do you have the appetizer and dessert but you have the meat and potatoes in the book now.
My book is a power tool for you to save money. If I can get the marketing going it should do very well. I know it can help people because I already have feed back on it.
I sold a copy to me neighbor and she came back to me a week later and said, “it already paid for itself. I saved $88.00 this week on a lab test because I now know I have a choice as to where my lab work can be done either on my plan or not. (you can always ask your medical provider to use a lab on your plan) Plus I have a $22,000 denial from my medical insurance and after reading your book twice I found out that I have an alternative and more steps I can take to get the bill paid.” Good for you Cathy.
Medical bills are denied for so many reasons some are legit mite and some are not. You the consumer is supposed to figure out if it is or not. Your insurance can help you figure out the denial with a phone call.
The information the insurance company receives is what was originally keyed into the medical provider’s office. Mistakes can be made left and right.
You the consumer must be aware of everything that goes with your hard to read and understand contract with your insurance company. Believe me your insurance always loves to hold on to their money as long as possible and make you the consumer the people who are paying for their insurance plan stressed out and broke.
Who knows what will become in the future of healthcare. Everybody should be able to go to a doctor, get medications, tests and surgery if it so needed. We are the United States of America. We should be able to get medical care for everyone.
I wrote my book Fight your Medical Insurance Nightmares for everyone to use to get their medical bills paid.
