The Dental Billing Podcast

From Employee to Dental Billing Entrepreneur - Building a Home Based Billing Biz

• Ericka Aguilar • Season 10 • Episode 3

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Imagine transforming your career by launching a home-based dental billing business that aligns perfectly with your lifestyle and personal commitments. In this episode, I guide Esmeralda, a seasoned dental biller, through the exciting and challenging transition from working in a single dental practice to becoming an independent entrepreneur. We promise you’ll gain invaluable insights into how resilience, strategic planning, and a keen understanding of business fundamentals can pave the way for success in this evolving industry. Join us as we explore how boutique approaches can offer a competitive edge against larger companies, drawing from my own journey that began back in 1998.

We delve into the advantages of managing a small client base, highlighting how this focus can lead to both financial prosperity and a healthy work-life balance. As we discuss the critical steps of consulting a CPA and a small business attorney, the emphasis is on building a solid business foundation and safeguarding personal assets. The importance of having robust contracts and financial reserves cannot be understated. We also touch on the significance of excellent customer service and leadership in sustaining growth. Whether you're contemplating a similar career change or adapting to the shifting dental billing landscape, this episode is packed with inspiration and guidance for your entrepreneurial journey.

Want to learn Dental Coding and Billing? Join here:

https://tr.ee/efzYrY7mp-

Would you like to set-up a billing consultation with Ericka or Jen? We would love the opportunity to discuss your billing questions!

Email Ericka:
ericka@dentalbillingdoneright.com

Email Jen:
jen@dentalbillingdoneright.com

Perio performance formula:

(D4341+D4342+D4346+D4355+D4910)/(D4341+D4342+D4346+D4355+D4910+D1110)


Want to know what your fee should be for D4346? Send Ericka an email to ericka@dentalbillingdoneright.com


Speaker 1:

Hey there and welcome back to another episode of the Dental Billing Podcast. I'm your host, Erika Aguilar. I wanna give a shout out to those of you who have recently been giving me some really positive feedback on the content. I try really hard to look into things that I feel would help you in your own career. I've gotten a lot of feedback and I also want to give a shout out to those of you who share these episodes with your colleagues. I am so grateful that I have such wonderful listeners and the feedback that I get truly inspires me to continue to produce content that will add value to your practice or your career. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. Today's episode is going to take a little turn and we're going to offer a unique perspective as I get to coach Esmeralda, a dental biller who feels ready to step away from working for a single practice and start her own home-based billing business. I want to make sure that I drive this point home.

Speaker 1:

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Knowing dental billing alone does not guarantee a successful business. It takes resilience, it takes planning and an understanding of business fundamentals to thrive in this space and, friends, it takes time. You have to be patient. I also want you to understand that this conversation is about more than just one individual's journey. It's a reflection of how dental billing is evolving.

Speaker 1:

While a lot of dental offices are struggling to find qualified staff, my billing company is inundated with resumes from dental billers, office managers, dental consultants, dental hygienists who are looking to leave the chair, and I've even received resumes from associate dentists who are burnt out and seeking a change. This is the reality of our industry. Third-party billing is becoming the norm and trends like diagnosis and CPT codes are shaping the future of dentistry, at least in the billing department. If you are looking to start your own billing business or you're just listening in to adapt to some of these shifts in the dental billing arena, this episode is going to offer a lot of insight into where dental billing is headed. Listen in as I coach Esmeralda, hopefully inspire her to follow through with her dream of working from home. How did you connect?

Speaker 2:

with me. So I started doing some research on just online and through and like, even on TikTok. I started looking in TikTok and then you know it's familiar in the dental field billing insurance and I came across a video that I think you posted and in social media and then I was very interested in all the things you mentioned and then I figured that it looks like you are able to do, you know like you connect with people, you give advice and and in feeling. So I was very intrigued to be able to talk to you if that was, if that was even a possibility. So I was very intrigued to be able to talk to you if that was, if that was even a possibility.

Speaker 2:

So I am very excited to be able to talk to you to have a billing conversation with someone.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so I'm very excited. Um, I you know I looked at your interview and everything that you know, getting familiar with what your business is about, and it's definitely something that I'm very interested, intrigued because I've been in the dental field for so many years, I've been doing insurance for many years and billing and it just came across my mind. I'm like is this even a positive? Are people able to do this independently? Are you able to make a business out of verifying? You know, I was looking at bigger corporations that do this for offices. I'm like what is the difference? What is the difference between those big, top notch billing companies compared to somebody trying to do something on the side and work with offices to do their billing and insurance? I'm like what are the opportunities out there? I want to hear from an expert and somebody that has experience and how do you even go about even starting something like that? Is it even possible?

Speaker 1:

Yes, that's how I started. I started, if I could take you back in time. I've been doing dental billing since 1998. And I always tell people I started when I was five. I wish that was true.

Speaker 1:

In 1998, I was 22 years old and I decided that I didn't want to work for one office. So I back then you know it was dial up. It wasn't the Internet that we have now, so the remote work was not a possibility. So I decided I was going to go find four offices that were going to hire me for one day a week to just come in and do the manual billing. And I only wanted to work Monday through Thursday and my company was called AccuClaim and it was something I decided I wanted to do. So I think once you decide that that's what you want to do, there's no obstacle too big that's going to prevent you from starting what you want to do Now. Back then there wasn't as much competition as there is now. But in my opinion I really don't think there's a lot of competition, because I've seen a lot of the work that's out there. I've seen a lot of the work that's out there and, esmeralda, it doesn't take much to separate yourself from what you perceive to be the competition, these big guys. They're not your competition, because what you want to do is you want to take more of a customized boutique approach to starting your own business. And, just like I did when I was 22 years old, I decided what days I wanted to work, what areas, and I only wanted to work Monday through Thursday because I had small children. So it just depends on how you want to structure.

Speaker 1:

So I think, before you get into the weeds of like, how to like, first decide what type of lifestyle are you trying to create for yourself. You know, is it that you want to work from home? And I don't know if you have kids? A lot of my billers that I've coached and work with and billers that work with me and my company, they want to be able to drop their kids off early in the morning and then, when they pick them up, they're done for the day. So there's no distraction of work, they don't have to do anything. Maybe you'll get a phone call here and there, but you can take that phone call on the way to the grocery store Definitely a possibility.

Speaker 1:

And you want to make sure that you are designing the life that you want, like you use all of the skill sets, all of the things you've learned all throughout from 18 to 36. Now, all of the things you learned? Now you're going to transition and utilize that information for your own business, not for someone else. So the answer is, yeah, definitely, it's possible. We all start small, but when you decide that you want to get started, at that point it's I think for me, as I coach people, it's like all right. Well, when do you want to turn in your two week notice, like you want to say, a year from now, I want to be working independently on my own. Then you know we'll set that date and then you work towards building up your clientele. There's going to be some work after hours until you get to the point where you can put your nine to five and then you're going to work on your own. So there's, there are certain steps that you want to take strategically in order to make this happen.

Speaker 2:

No, and that's exactly where I am. I, you know, I have three kids and I want to be able to have, I want to have that lifestyle of being able to work from home or, you know, be able to manage my time, do it from home. I, you know, like you said, I would still be working for offices, but I want to be able to feel like I have that in control of my own, like my own lifestyle, like you mentioned. And but then to my idea is like how does, how does one go about even starting? Do you are there offices where you just tell them I'm going to do your billing from home and then you start slowly picking it up? Do you have to get a license into this? How does that?

Speaker 2:

Even I just have no clue. How does that even go? I know the type of I want to be able to do it from home, do it independently, doing my, you know, by myself, and, like you said, be able to build a clientele, be able to find doctors, to be able to do this billing for them. But how is this something that you have to go out and get a license to be able to set up your own at-home office, to be able to get all the software to do all this billing for the doctors.

Speaker 1:

How does how does that even come about? So I'm going to send you a training that I have. It's called how to start your dental billing business. It was a three day challenge that I had, oh my gosh, like two or three years ago no, maybe two years ago and it's still a very popular I. I used to sell it. I don't now. I just give it to people that are in your position that want to start their own dental billing business, and it's not.

Speaker 1:

We don't talk about dental billing in that training. It's literally how to start a business. More specifically, for a biller who wants to go from in office to working from home, remote, and we talk about you know what? What do you need to do to make that happen? What software do you need to have so that you can remote in to your client's office? How do you compliantly do that? What is your contract supposed to look like? What?

Speaker 1:

So it talks about a lot of things that I've learned on my journey as an entrepreneur. You know it's not legal advice. It's just all based on my own experience and my experience helping hundreds of other people start their own dental billing business and I know that sounds like wow, hundreds of people, then how am I going to get business? Honestly, one person with four clients is probably going to surpass the income that you have in one office but also give you freedom, but that's probably going to be your capacity. So, if you think about that in context, four clients is not like there's enough business out there for everyone. Now, if you want to turn into a big entity, then yeah, then it's going to get a little more competitive. But if you're just trying to do this because you just want to work independently from home, you want to serve four offices, three offices, whatever that looks like, and you're making a decent income. I mean, and you're making a decent income, I mean that's all you need. So you do need to set up your business entity correctly and we go through all of that.

Speaker 1:

But my biggest, my biggest recommendation to anybody that I talked to is when you are ready to get started, go talk to a CPA. Start interviewing CPAs. Start interviewing small business attorneys in your area. You don't have to hire them. They're willing to have free consultations because they know at some point you're going to need a CPA. You might start with a bookkeeper their bookkeeper and then, when you have to do taxes, you'll use the CPA services. Those are my two biggies.

Speaker 1:

For new business owners is go into this with the advice of a CPA and a small business attorney. I don't know if you own a home, I don't know what assets you have. You don't have to tell me, but, like a lot of times, we we need to. We need to make sure that our assets are protected. You know, before we go into this, because you don't want to leave yourself open to liability or litigation in the event, a doctor says hey, I'm going through an audit, esmeralda, and I'm blaming you because you did all the billing. And now that we're going through an audit and I want all of my money back, and then you get slapped with a lawsuit. That's never happened, but I always use that scenario because that's not to say that it can't happen. So you just want to always go into things with worst case scenario.

Speaker 1:

Right, your contract should be drafted by an attorney specific to your area. You just always want to make sure that that's covered. And then, once you have a solid contract, you're golden. In my opinion, we do give examples of really good contracts in that training. It is how to start a dental billing business, but we're not talking about dental billing. We're talking about business one-on-one. You don't know what you don't know. I just want to work from home. How?

Speaker 2:

do I do this Right and I and I and I love this because, you know, I went to business school, I got an MBA and I always said to myself I'm like I went back into dental field because the kids being able, you know, they were little and I couldn't go out there and do jobs and I went back again into working in dentistry and I said I'm like I went to MBA school but you don't really get the experience unless you actually are doing them.

Speaker 2:

Like the real deal is actually doing it or getting experience from somebody getting the education from somebody else that is has been doing the same business. So you can learn all these things in school but you actually have to have hands-on and that's why I was very intrigued, you know, when, like looking into you and I'm like that's exactly who the advice I need to hear from, from people that actually have been doing it and what would definitely want to be able to get all the tools, have all the people that you know, like the attorney, the CPA, everything in the right route, because yes it's a scary transition.

Speaker 1:

It can be scary, but you're not going to leap into entrepreneurial worship without making sure that you have the right things in place. So one of the things that I recommend people do some people do it, some people just jump right in and I applaud them because they are risk takers. Right, and you have to be somewhat of a risk taker to be an entrepreneur. You are your own safety net, and what I recommend is having a reserve, having an emergency fund, always because in entrepreneurship they're, you know, we're not guaranteed a paycheck every two weeks, though I'd prefer not to be guaranteed a paycheck every two weeks, because I like the idea of going out If I want to make more money. I'm going to go acquire more clients and we're going to provide an amazing billing experience for our clients. Keep them happy so that that revenue continues to come in. That's where customer service comes in. That's where you know customer service comes in. That's where leadership comes in. For me, you know I have a whole team.

Speaker 1:

It's really important that if the money stopped coming in, I'm still going to be okay for six months. I'm still going to be able to pay my people. I'm still going to be able to pay my mortgage. I'm still going to be able to pay all of the things in the life. My lifestyle is not going to be affected.

Speaker 1:

I always recommend that you take that into consideration when you are thinking about your giving your two weeks notice, right. So okay, you know, I always tell people that I'm coaching. Think about that day, that we're working towards giving your two weeks notice right, we're not going to quit, we're not. We're going to give a two weeks notice and we're still going to work as hard as we work. You know cause a lot of people give their two weeks notice and they just kind of like kick their feet up and go, yeah, I'm going to stick around for two weeks, cause it's the professional thing to do, but they don't really work anymore. So you're going to give your two weeks notice, you're going to work just like Esmeralda normally works. But when that day comes, that's the celebration day. That's the day we like, do a zoom and have a celebratory drink.

Speaker 1:

And you know like that's the day you take your girlfriends, take you out, and that's the day you officially have become an entrepreneur. That's the day you officially have become an entrepreneur and that is so exciting. To get to the point where you can give your two weeks notice is to first identify hey, what am I making now? This is the bare minimum that you need to make, right? So, what do I need to make? And then we take a look at how you're going to charge for your services. But before we can learn how to, before we can identify what you're going to charge, we have to go through what you are going to do like. What services do you want to offer? Right, and that is that is referred to as your scope of services. And your scope of services. And your scope of services, like ours, includes submitting claims with the attachments and narratives, posting payments, auditing patient files. We appeal, we will send pre-authorizations, we will pick up the phone and call the patient if they have a balance. That's all included in the contract under scope of services. Client understands this is what I'm paying for. So now that you know what you're going to offer, then we're going to move into. All, right, how do you want to charge. Do you want to go percentage? Do you want to go a flat rate? What works for you?

Speaker 1:

Some people like percentage because some people are motivated. On commission I have billers who are like, nope, I want to be paid percentage because I want to increase collections, because the more the client collects, the more I'm going to get paid as a biller. But other people, other business owners, say you know what, I just want stability in my business, so I'm just going to charge a flat rate of $1,500 up to you know, $60,000 in insurance collections and then, when it goes over $60,000, then I'm going to charge $1,800. You know, like it just depends on what is comfortable for your business. And then, once you know, all right, if my base charge is $1,500 and I need to make I don't know $7,000 a month and I need X amount of clients, right? So if you need to do those $7,000 divided by $, divided by 1500, because I am not a human calculator you need, for it says 4.6.

Speaker 1:

That would be about five clients, five clients. Your goal would be five clients. So then the question becomes okay, how do we get those clients? You've been in dentistry for such a long time. You know people, we all know, yes, yes, yes, the low hanging fruit is to go to. Sometimes I have girls that have gone to their employers and said, listen, I'm going to start my own billing company and I'm going to take on five clients. That's going to be my max. I was wondering if you would allow me to do your billing when I decide to go remote, like I'll stay full time with you, you'll be the last client that I will take on. Would you want to be one of those five clients when I leave? Right, and I think owners appreciate that because it gives them foresight, you know like OK, and I thought about.

Speaker 2:

that is exactly what I thought about, that I'm like I have a job right now where you know it's it's. It's a job that's stable and and they're really happy with how I've done work for them. You know, collections has always been match to match to what production is and they're extremely happy. And the doctor said I've never had collection at this amount. And then that's when I felt like I know my value and I feel like he would appreciate it. This is my idea, but I would love to be able to offer him. I want to transition and hopefully I can do this for you, because I feel like he would. He would take me on. So that is, that's a great advice, and and and then I know that this is letting your network know.

Speaker 1:

Esmeralda, just let the people you know hey, I'm starting my own dental billing and just start putting the word out. You know, hey guys, I'm probably going to launch my dental billing company next year. So just you know, if you ever hear of anybody that needs it, let just send them my way. Just start putting the word out and all you need is five. Doesn't happen overnight. There are other strategies that you can use in order to gain the other clients that. There's so many ways.

Speaker 1:

But I think right now you're at the infancy stage. We're going to create this new business and you know you still have to come up with a name. We're talking big things here, but you still have to come up with a name. So I would recommend watching that training. Okay, I will send that to you and don't charge for that. So once you watch that training, you get an idea of the direction you want to go. At that point you can reach out to me and if you need more time, then you know we can sit down and do some additional coaching around some of the things you learn in there, cause you might need therapy. Yeah, esmeralda, I'm going to send this training to you and if you have any questions at that point you know you and I can set up some additional coaching time.

Speaker 2:

I think so. I think so. Oh, erica, thank you so much for your time. You give me hope. You know, I'm like super excited and I'm definitely going to go ahead and review. And you know, look at the training and I think this is something that for a very long time, I thought about it and I think about it and then just like, why have not taken the step? Why am I? What's the holdback? You know, I'm like is it because I have three kids? I just recently purchased a house last year. I'm like, no, I, this is. I'm like I, I feel confident. There's you always. I'm always learning every day. This is something that you just never stop learning. I'm like. I'm like, no, I need to give it a chance. I think it's the fact of not doing it, it's the disappointment. I'm like I need to to. Definitely this is what I want to do, this is what I'm good at and this is what I want to do. So you give me hope.

Speaker 1:

I'm glad that I can help you get closer to your dream. You know, just don't stop dreaming, don't let anything get in your way. Things are going to get in the way and you just have to keep moving towards your goal. Watch that training and start executing. You're going to walk away from that training going. Okay, I have a lot of homework to do, right, and it's not easy, but it's not going to be super hard. Okay, yes, I am.

Speaker 2:

I do look forward to talking to you. I started following you on Instagram and I and I saw, I saw that you had recently, or I don't know how long ago, you had posted something about, uh, a procedure code that people were billing incorrectly. And then I think I send you a message like I just want to make sure I understand correctly. Um, yeah, that was me yes, you did, you did and I was. I was actually excited. I'm like, okay.

Speaker 1:

So I think, um, I, I try to reply personally. I used to have an assistant that would apply reply for me, but then everybody thought that that was me. So I was like, okay, I'm just gonna do it. But I try and reply to everyone pretty promptly.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I appreciate it. So that's why I'm like, I'm like I need to follow her and get all the tips.

Speaker 1:

I can Well, erica. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

And I hope to, to be able to talk to you, you know, soon.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for your time.

Speaker 2:

I appreciate you. Bye bye. Thank you, bye bye.

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Ericka Aguilar

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