Fellow Health Partners is bringing innovation, high-end technology, and personalized customer service to the complex, competitive world of medical billing.
Michael Brown, CEO of Fellow Health Partners, was working as an executive business consultant for retail, technology, and manufacturing companies when he had a chance encounter with the owners of a new medical billing business.
“I’ve always been on the side of hardworking people, and doctors are some of the hardest working people I know. During that meeting, it was clear that doctors weren’t getting paid consistently, mostly because of breakdowns in the medical billing process,” Brown says.
Statistics showed that nearly one out of five insurance claims submitted by medical providers was denied. “Twenty percent of a doctor’s work got denied and went unpaid. And roughly 60% of those denied claims were never resolved,” Brown says. “This meant many doctors didn’t know how much they should earn or whether they would be paid for some services. It didn’t make sense.”
A man on a mission, Brown was determined to modernize medical billing and make it more transparent. He envisioned an alternative to the existing broken model dominated by large offshore, technology-driven companies that lacked customer service along with the thousands of personable, small-billing companies with limited resources to stay on top of constant insurance company policy changes.
“The process of Revenue Cycle Management [RCM] was makeshift,” Brown says. “It was put together using disparate systems without proper training and integrated systems to keep up with the changes.”
Old Problem, New Solutions
Brown launched Fellow Health Partners in 2017 to meet this identified need for streamlined, client-focused medical business services. Now an established industry leader with over 200 employees servicing clients nationwide, the company seamlessly blends customer service and innovative technological solutions to help medical providers raise their bottom line using comprehensive billing expertise, workflow solutions, RCM optimization, strategic growth advice, and industry insights.
“Infrastructure is critical to RCM,” Brown explains. “At Fellow Health Partners, we identify the root cause of potential problems in our clients’ billing cycles, then develop standard operating procedures, assemble technology solutions, and provide training to the staff that supports them.
“No one has ever taken the whole RCM process and laid out some of the most important billing secrets,” he says. “That’s our goal—to help our clients understand the totality of the process and
navigate through it successfully so they can get paid properly for their hard work.”
A key source of Fellow Health Partners’ efficiency is its proprietary technology including SAVi™, a customizable system that incorporates data, analytics, and workflow technology designed to provide billing information at the touch of a button. “Our value-add is breaking down the RCM process into smaller tasks executed by automated technology and the right teams,” Brown states.
In addition, Brown is launching Healthquake™, a series of thought leadership pieces that provide practical insights into medical billing and operations to help doctors and managers in larger group practices. Timely topics will range from optimizing the revenue cycle, smoothing out the disruptions of consolidation, and “owning” the front desk at the practice so that it’s better for patients and staff.