Top 10 revenue-boosting strategies for medical billing companies

For a medical billing company, revenue growth can seem like an uphill battle. Rising operational costs, late payments, and lost patient debt stifle the ability to scale. And it has been this way for a while. When Tebra surveyed billing companies in late 2023, 52% of billing companies experienced revenue growth of just 5% or less.

But innovative billing companies are finding ways to overcome these challenges. In fact, the same survey found that 27% of respondents were projecting growth of 11–20%. 

By studying high-performing medical billers, we’ve identified 10 key strategies for accelerating revenue growth. 

Reducing expenses is the first and often easiest way to free up resources for growth initiatives. Finding those areas to downsize for practices can be challenging. Typically, staffing and operations accumulate the most expenses. Our survey discovered that 61% of billing companies increased spending on operations alone over the last 2 years.

Outsourcing, eliminating unnecessary processes, and negotiating vendor contracts often provide avenues for savings. Tackling this low-hanging fruit almost immediately frees up cash flow which can be used to scale. 

Another key way of boosting medical billing company revenue growth is to simply offer patients more payment options. The reason this works is because patients prefer modernized payment options. For example, 72% of patients said they would likely pay a provider’s bill immediately if they received an SMS payment link, and 66% said online payment would speed up the process.

Integrating with an online payment option makes it more convenient for patients to pay their bills. Furthermore, SMS reminders and QR codes on mailed statements improve accessibility to the patients’ digital portal. This easily increases client revenue — and your own. 

A one-time setup fee can help offset new patient onboarding and customization costs. And more and more billing companies are implementing it. We found an 8% decrease in companies that had never used a setup fee — highlighting its growing popularity.

When implementing a setup fee, it’s important to cover onboarding and customization costs. This can be based on credentialing, the number of providers, or electronic health records (EHR) integration needs.

Many clients have inconsistent billing volume, but there’s a solution for that, too. Many billing companies choose to set a minimum monthly fee to cover base technology and operational costs. This fee can double as a motivator for clients to maximize claim volume and patient booking. And it ensures that your revenue always covers your expenses. 

Questions to ask when considering to implement a monthly fee:

Robotic process automation (RPA)  is a powerful way to scale revenue without increasing your workload. RPA solutions reduce manual tasks such as data entry and invoicing using intelligent, rules-based automation to streamline workflow. As a result, RPA software boosts productivity and cash flow. Using automation to handle route billing processes enables staff to focus on more complex and nuanced tasks, such as strategizing or scaling their client base. 

In Tebra's survey, respondents shared they use RPA for:

Report after report has highlighted the benefits of RPA. For example, 98% of IT leaders claim that automating operations alone is essential for financial gains, and 92% of finance leaders associate RPA specifically with growth. 

Expanding into ancillary services can significantly boost revenue. However, the question of which service to add doesn’t have a cookie-cutter answer; your ideal add-ons greatly depend on your client base. Surveying your current clients can help you better identify what service would strengthen your current business. 

Also, one way to increase referrals and lifetime customer value is through consultations — ensuring that clients understand your approach to billing. 

Popular add-on and consultative services for medical billers include:

Also, consider scheduling quarterly business reviews with decision-makers. These meetings provide an opportunity to present your recommendations and have annual conversations about business goals to see where your ancillary services might overlap with their needs.

Regular training helps practices stay current with evolving payer requirements and regulations. By proactively addressing knowledge gaps, you can reduce errors that impact revenue while building stronger client relationships. 

This is where you can step in and provide extra training. Doing so will give your practices an opportunity to address specific areas of weakness, helping their staff avoid costly errors that impact revenue. Plus, ongoing training establishes a culture of learning within the practice, encouraging staff to stay engaged with best practices while meeting the standards you set for billing protocol.

Focusing on a specific niche may seem counterintuitive, but can paradoxically attract more clients. Specialization allows you to develop deeper expertise, command higher rates, and attract practices seeking specialized billing knowledge. Practices want to know that you understand their unique processes — and with a specialty, you can scale your business faster by pulling from existing sources on enrollments, codes, and fee schedules.

As a result, focusing on a specific medical specialty, such as mental health, physical therapy, or cardiology, can help you build expertise and attract clients. At the same time, it enables you to develop repeatable workflows and tailor the billing process for your chosen specialties. 

When billing companies operate across multiple billing systems, data can fall through the cracks and result in expensive integration solutions, missing or lost data, more work and training for your staff, complex and time-consuming onboarding, and a lack of interoperability.

Unified billing and EHR systems offer the following benefits: 

This results in improved reporting and faster payments — all helpful factors in boosting revenue growth. 

Tebra's EHR+ is an ONC-certified all-in-one platform built for independent practices. Learn more.

Your client relationships are the source of growth. The stronger they are, the more likely clients are to provide referrals. According to Tebra's survey, 72% of billing companies said customer referrals were their key value driver for winning new business. 65% also said word-of-mouth referrals were their top marketing priority for 2024.

Maximize referrals with these 3 tips:

Many of these strategies, from automating operations to implementing fees, can be implemented rapidly. Others, such as consulting services and referral programs, can build momentum over time but lead to sustainable growth.

For more detailed insights into medical billing company growth and implementation guidance, check out our comprehensive whitepaper on best practices to grow revenue.