ARA tackles billing

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - A/R Allegiance has added medical billing to its portfolio of services in a move that Keith Lilek says repositions the company as a one-stop shop for revenue cycle management.

ARA, which is best known for its patient collections services, has been providing medical billing services to providers outside of the HME industry for a number of years, but this month it made those services official, adding them to its re-launched website.

“Any possible services that are available in the revenue cycle stream, we now have that functionality,” said Lilek, CEO of ARA.

Through its ClaimCollect and TouchClaim services, ARA will manage the entire insurance reimbursement process for HME providers, from submitting claims to following up on unpaid claims.

ARA decided to make it official because the company had achieved a certain amount of traction with medical billing services in ophthalmology, podiatry and other healthcare industries, Lilek says.

“We've obtained enough business that it made sense for us to set up a team of coders and billers,” he said.

From its initial work in medical billing, ARA also knew there was plenty of room for improvement, Lilek says.

“The billing companies out there are collecting in the 40% to 50% range,” he said. “We felt like, why can't you collect 100%? There's an opportunity there.”

Previously, when working with a client to improve patient collections that also wanted to improve medical billing, ARA often referred that business or partnered with its billing company, Lilek says.

“We're no longer splitting that revenue,” he said.

To increase its footprint in the market right off the bat, ARA is pursuing acquisitions of medical billing companies, Lilek says.

“We feel like it will be easier that way,” he said.