As a Customer Success Coach who helps people who are setting up their Kareo system for the first time, I’m often asked what the keys are to a quick, successful launch of our medical billing software. Here are a few of the keys that I share with those who ask:

1.       Have all of your credentialing info ready before you get started. This includes payer info and ID numbers including NPI, PTAN, and others.

It’s not unusual to hear from staff members who are trying to set up a practice’s Kareo account that they don’t have the information at hand and don’t know where to find it. If you don’t know how to locate this info, a good tip is to look at an old claim form; this will have the information you need including service location and your ID numbers for submission to payers.

2.       Be committed to the process. While Kareo is designed for a quick and easy setup, and our new setup wizard helps a great deal with this process, the nature of medical billing and medical billing software requires a certain time commitment to insure all the information is set up correctly at the start. The good news is that this time investment pays off in the long run with smooth billing; but it does require a commitment to get off on the right foot.

 3.       Avoid cash flow interruptions by overlapping the transition to Kareo from another software. As tempting as it may be to cancel medical billing software that you’re less than happy with, this is a major mistake that can result in a serious interruption in cash flow for the practice. Even though we’ve had practices set up, bill and get payments within a week with Kareo, there are two factors that can seriously delay your transition:

a)      Not having the time or information to complete the set up of your Kareo account; and

b)      The fact that it takes 2-4 weeks to enroll in Medicare/Medicaid. This has nothing to do with your software, and is unavoidable, so you need to plan ahead for this delay.

In fact, the way we recommend you deal with this issue is to plan to continue using your old software for 30-60 days after signing up with Kareo. During that time, you should start billing commercial payers in Kareo and see if any issues arise with your enrollments. This will keep your cash flow steady, as you need it to be, while keeping your transition moving forward. Before long, you’ll be billing 100% with Kareo and can terminate the other software program without any interruption in your cash flow.

When users take these key steps, we find that their transition to Kareo is a smooth one, especially with the training and assistance available. And seeing a practice make that successful transition to Kareo, with a significant savings in time and money for their medical billing process, is a terrific reward. The time savings when a practice switches from manual EOB posting to ERAs is especially exciting; I’ve seen practices go from spending a full day each week spent on billing down to half an hour with Kareo.

We look forward to helping your practice save significant time and money on your medical billing, while improving your results.

For more information on making a smooth transition to Kareo, visit our Help Center to see the large variety of videos, guides and other resources available to help you.

Rick Palmer is a Customer Success Coach with Kareo, having previously spent 2 years as a leading Account Executive in our Sales department. He enjoys working with practices to help them launch their medical billing software and improve their profitability.