How many medical billing management companies are there in the U.S.?

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 29 Mar 2004 14:51 PST

I've found an estimate of the number of third-party medical billers in
the United States in 2000, but nothing more recent than that. Would
this meet your needs?

---

Clarification of Question by hci-ga on 30 Mar 2004 07:53 PST

Dear Pink,

Per your request for clarification.  
Statistics for 2000 would be fine.  As you may now know, medical
billing companies manage the electronic billing and filing for
physician offices.  My company targets these billing companies as a
channel market to ultimately get to the physicians, who are our
end-users.  Therefore, it is important for us to know approximately
how large this space is with regards to quantity of billing service
companies throughout the U.S.  Does my $20 cover catagorizing them by
size or % of market share?  Just asking.

Thanks,
Joey

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 30 Mar 2004 13:42 PST

I haven't found any figures on market share. I'm leaving your question
open for other Researchers who may be able to locate that information
for you.

---

Clarification of Question by hci-ga on 30 Mar 2004 18:41 PST

thank you... when can I expect some type of answer?

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 30 Mar 2004 19:04 PST

I was hoping that someone might be able to locate market share
information, but that sort of data seems to be quite elusive.

If an answer that doesn't include market share info would be fully
satisfactory, I'll be glad to post an answer providing an estimate of
the number of medical billers, with online references. As I mentioned
above, this comes from the year 2000.

---

Clarification of Question by hci-ga on 31 Mar 2004 19:24 PST

Well at this point, I'll take what you have for now... even though
they are 2000 figures.  Not what I expected for $20 answer, but oh
well.

Thanks,
Joey

I am posting the material I found as a free comment, rather than as an
answer, so you will not be charged for my services. It is my hope that
another Researcher will be able to find more recent figures and the
market share information that you want.

This comes from testimony before the House Committee on Commerce,
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. The testimony, given on
April 6, 2000, is that of Lewis Morris, Assistant Inspector General
for Legal Affairs in the Office of Inspector General (OIG), US
Department of Health and Human Services.

"There are approximately 5,000 third-party billers in the United
States. However, the OIG has just issued a report on computerized
billing systems that incidently raised the issue that HCFA's ability
to identify these companies is limited. Likewise, it is unknown how
many of the approximately 700 million claims per year processed by
Medicare are submitted by third-party billers."

US Department of Health & Human Services: Office of Inspector General
http://oig.hhs.gov/reading/testimony/2000/00406fin.htm

Here is another estimate (date unknown):

"There are 3,000 to 4,000 entities that call themselves third-party
billers," says Brad Lund, executive director of the Healthcare Billing
and Management Association (HBMA), a trade association representing
third-party medical billers. "The vast majority are sole proprietors
working from home, but can also be publicly traded companies with
millions of dollars in annual revenues."

BizJournals
http://www.bizjournals.com/bizresources/toolbox/topics/prof_services/medical_billing.html