The discussion with your client on how they want to handle the process will be after you have completed your work. For smaller clients you may actually print the bills, mall them, collect the payments and make the deposits. Although the most common means of payment process is lock box. Small clients may not want the expense of this service. For these clients you should create a spreadsheet in excel or in real time so they can post their payments when they come in mail. You may have clients who will prefer you do only the billing for them and they handle receiving and posting the payments. If you have a client who prefers you manually process their payments then increase your fees since this will take more time and cause you to spend less time on another client’s project.

The most common way for larger clients is for the medical biller to send bills and have payments sent to a lock box for processing. When payments are sent to a lock box for processing a special post office box number is set up through the post office. The lock box processing agency, which is a designated bank, enters payments into a special processing system. At midnight the information is transmitted by tape or some other electronic means to clients’ system where the payments are applied to the patient’s accounts. A reconciliation form and a copy of the checks are sent to the client so they can correct any errors that may occur or apply any payments that may be rejected by the system.

Having many clients’ means having different needs and requirements. As a freelance biller, you are better able to accommodate your clients. Large billing agencies depend on existing systems and usually do not have adequate personnel to handle special needs. These agencies tend to handle large clients such as hospitals, laboratories, and walk in facilities. They usually do not handle individual health care providers such as respiratory therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, and the like.