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5 Key Considerations When Choosing a Third-Party Medical Marketing Partner

5 Key Considerations When Choosing a Third-Party Medical Marketing Partner

5 Key Considerations When Choosing a Third-Party Medical Marketing Partner

Marketing a medical practice comes with unique challenges not seen in most other industries. Making sure patient data is secure, communications are HIPAA-compliant and that important healthcare messages are reaching the correct audience are all challenges that differ from that of the average marketing campaign. 

If you are looking for a solution to market your practice, consider outsourcing your medical marketing print campaigns. Choosing a reputable partner is not only good for business, but it can also help avoid financial penalties and data breaches. Not sure how to vet a company for your medical marketing needs? Here are some key considerations: 

Am I Using Sensitive Information? 

Information that discloses conditions, treatments, and care for a specific patient is protected by law. Even accidental infractions have steep financial penalties. It is important that parties on both sides of the healthcare marketing vendor relationship understand what information requires extra care. 

The content of your marketing messages will dictate which medical marketing partner is best for your needs. If sending out appointment reminders are part of your patient retention strategy, many printers can assist with this broad, universal content. If your print marketing is more specific about conditions, it may inadvertently disclose a patient’s diagnosis or treatment and put your practice at legal and/or financial risk.  

Awareness of HIPAA and medical privacy regulations protects your patients, your practice, and your reputation. For print marketing based on a patient diagnosis such as medicine recommendations, peer support groups, outpatient care options, and more, it’s important to work with a Commercial Printer that is familiar with healthcare privacy regulations to ensure you’re always in compliance. Preferred Direct is a HIPAA-compliant commercial printer with extensive experience handling not only medical marketing print services but third-party billing as well, for a variety of healthcare organizations.  

Does This Printer Have Any Relevant Certifications? 

There are industry certifications a printing partner can earn to display their medical marketing expertise. How will you know if a potential printer has them? In most cases, these certifications will be visible on the company’s website and other marketing materials.  

Look for mentions of HIPAA compliance, HITRUST certifications, and ways they keep data secure. Without these, you run the risk of incidental violation, compromised data, and workflow challenges. 

A strong reputation also goes a long way. Does the printing company have a working relationship with others in the healthcare industry? Preferred Direct, for example, works with one of the largest health insurance providers in the US, assuring HIPAA compliance every step of the way. We are also a HITRUST-certified printer, strictly following the HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF) to ensure the utmost security of your patient data. In 2022, Preferred Direct was also named one of the top commercial print services in Virginia Beach. From reputation to certification, Preferred Direct has taken the steps to be the medical marketing partner of choice. 

What Healthcare Industry Experience Do They Have? 

At the end of the day, your best choice for a printing partner is the provider that excels at the services your practice or office needs. Most printing companies can execute direct mail campaigns or design high-quality brochures for a broad array of business types. Not all can do so for the healthcare industry. And even fewer can be a one-stop-shop for all medical printing needs.  

Say you want to expand into outsourcing your printed billing statements. The risk of small, yet costly mistakes is high when working with an inexperienced printer. 

Did you know that something as simple as using the wrong envelope can be a HIPAA violation? In this case, the window in the envelope disclosed personal information about patients, including a condition they underwent treatment for. Through this envelope, anyone who handled the piece of mail was able to see personal medical information, which ultimately culminated in a lawsuit.

At Preferred Direct, we pay careful attention to these areas of risk and ensure there is no exposures or violations before all mailing projects. We are incredibly proud to have never had a client HIPAA violation in our 35 years of business! 

When shopping around for a medical marketing partner, ask directly about their healthcare industry experience. While printers may not be able to disclose specific client or project details, a brief conversation can reveal a lot about an organization’s capabilities. Request samples of materials similar to those you are planning to use in an upcoming campaign. Use these to guide the conversation to medical marketing standards. A little bit of research and discussion can help prevent unnecessary stress and errors down the line. 

printing security

What Technology Does the Company Utilize? 

The technology used by a third-party medical marketing partner can be a deciding factor on whether they can securely handle your campaigns. Combined with industry expertise, the right technology can keep your communications professional, secure and credible. Here are three technologies to ask about: 

Variable Data Printing (VDP) 

Variable Data Printing is a process in which sections of information- such as Personal Medical Information, can be switched out from piece to piece, without slowing down the printing process. This capability shows they have the equipment necessary to handle the accurate, fast, and secure printing of potentially sensitive information. 

Internal Security Processes 

While you cannot be there to personally supervise the print job, there is no harm in inquiring about the internal processes that help keep sensitive data secure. Data encryption should be standard practice, as well as other visible forms of trust, such as certifications and a trusted staff. Ask about any data breaches the company may have experienced and their resolution. 

System Testing 

A good printing partner will allow for scheduled system tests. During these tests, mailing lists are pulled and prepared for sending. This is an opportunity to discover gaps in process, identify missing or duplicated recipients, and verify print quality long before your that first piece of mail delivers.

What About Finishing? 

Imagine your surprise when you receive a box of 5,000 unfolded brochures because the partner you chose only performs the printing portion of the job. Avoid the time-consuming stress and ask early about finishing options offered by your potential print marketing partner. 

brochure printing servicesMedical marketing collateral commands a higher level of professionalism to win the trust of patients. Exploring other finishing options, like binding or adding perforated sections can elevate the perceived quality of your printed marketing materials. Preferred Direct offers not only printing services but also bindery, collating, cutting, tabbing, scoring, perforations, drilling, folding, and other finishing services.  

Preferred Direct has years of experience and a stellar reputation in managing variable data and sensitive healthcare information. We guarantee prompt and confidential processing of your information while giving you flexible solutions to accommodate your medical marketing requirements. From designing to printing, to finishing to postage, we have the experience, technology, security, and personnel to be an invaluable asset to your healthcare communications. 

 When you partner with Preferred Direct, you partner with a data-secure, technology-focused medical marketing printing partner dedicated to your goals. Contact us today for an estimate! 

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Outsourced Medical Billing – The Top 5 Advantages for Healthcare Providers

Outsourced Medical Billing – The Top 5 Advantages for Healthcare Providers

Outsourced Medical Billing – The Top 5 Advantages for Healthcare Providers

If you don’t send patients their bills in a timely manner, your account receivables will suffer and your collection rates will be very low. It may be time for outsourced medical billing.

Should billing be done in-house or outsourced to a direct billing company? There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

Third party billing comes with many advantages. Medical organizations and businesses need cost-effective and efficient ways to collect their hard-earned revenue. Businesses can either outsource medical billing or hire qualified employees to do it in-house. 

Take a look at our blog on the 5 Key Considerations When Choosing a Third-Party Medical Marketing Partner.

Here are the top five advantages of outsourced medical billing:

1. Outsourcing Can Save a Company Money. When billing is outsourced, a company saves money on monthly salaries and benefits for those who would do in-house billing. Flat rates charged by billing companies are generally less than what it would cost to staff an employee to do the same job. Companies who outsource also do not have to purchase or maintain billing software and computer equipment.

2. Outsourcing  Helps a Company Collect More Money and Improves Cash Flow. Billing duties can be slowed and lost in the shuffle of running a business, but billing companies keep billing moving in an efficient way to get money to the medical organization faster. Ultimately, the timely submission of bills increases the influx of cash.

3. Billing Professionals Are Less Likely to Make Errors. Because billing companies have the sole purpose of getting billing correct, they are less likely to make errors. Billing companies are equipped with the knowledge and equipment to ensure that claims and bills are submitted in a thorough, speedy process.  This reduces the amount of denied or rejected claims.

4. Companies/Organizations Can Focus More on Their Patients Leading to Higher Customer Satisfaction. Especially for small medical businesses who cannot hire people to do billing, using front office staff to split their time and efforts between billing and other duties can detract from other areas of their job. Outsourced medical billing improves the office staff’s productivity and can ultimately lead to better customer satisfaction.

5. Adding Advertising Messages to Your Bills Can Encourage Patients to Return and Increase Revenue. When advertising messages are added to bills, using variable data, it is called transpromo marketing. Transpromo marketing is effective because unlike junk mail, people open bills and read them. Medical businesses and organizations can advertise events, vaccines, reminders for preventative treatments or any other relevant messages on bills. Is it flu season? A practice may want to promote coming in for flu shots. Is there a health fair? Advertising on a bill is a good way to get existing customers to be in the knowhow and return to the business.

Whether outsourced medical billing or not depends on multiple factors. Businesses should look at the number of employees, finances, the age of the business and the local labor market. Outsourcing billing can save healthcare businesses and organizations time and money, giving the organization the ability to focus on primary tasks.

Choosing the Right Outsourced Medical Billing Provider

When choosing an outsourced medical billing provider for your organization’s communications, there’s much to consider. Not all print providers have the expertise or equipment to handle the security and volume demands of medical billing.

Below are some key characteristics to look for in your third party provider:

  • direct mail servicesAbility to handle a wide array of variable data printing applications
  • Flexibility in how they can receive your data
  • Experience with billing and postage
  • Compliance with HITRUST and HIPAA
  • Advanced printing technology to ensure the utmost accuracy and print quality
  • Services beyond printing

A medical billing services provider should have all of the technology and measures in place to ensure that your customer data stays safe at all times. For optimal value, also consider if a vendor has the versatility to handle your organization’s diverse needs.

Preferred Direct has years of experience and a stellar reputation in managing variable data and sensitive information to generate invoices and other medical notices, accurately and securely. We guarantee prompt and confidential processing of your information while giving you flexible solutions to accommodate your unique requirements. We can replicate your existing invoice format, give you templates to choose from, or create a custom design to fulfill your vision. You’ll also have several options for submitting your data to us—via our secure FTP site in .xls, .txt, .csv, or .dat formats or send .pgp encrypted files. We can handle printing, folding, inserting, presorting (for postal discounts), and delivering your invoices to the U.S. Post Office. 

When you partner with Preferred Direct, you partner with a data-secure, technology-focused outsourced medical billing provider, dedicated to your goals. Contact us today for an estimate!

Call Preferred Direct toll-free today. 1-833-425-7007

Sources: medicaloffice.about.com, poweryourpractice.com, itservicereviews.com

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Do you know your Explanation of Benefits Mailing Requirements?

Do you know your Explanation of Benefits Mailing Requirements?

Do you know your Explanation of Benefits Mailing Requirements?

Health insurance companies provide EOB’s or Explanation of Benefits statements after individuals receive their health care services. Given that individuals’ health information is deemed sensitive and protected under HIPAA, it’s crucial to understand EOB requirements.

The Explanation of Benefits Statement

To have a better understanding of EOBs, it is important to note that at first glance, an Explanation of Benefits statement closely resembles a medical bill. The EOB usually says at the top “This is Not a Bill”; however, it may look like the recipient owes money.

EOB forms give details about a specific medical insurance claim that was processed by the insurer. It explains how much of the insurance claim was paid by the insurance company and how much is outstanding, based upon the costs of the care provided and the individual’s health insurance plan.

To illustrate with an example, consider an allergy screening. The allergist charges a set fee for service, and a health insurer pays a certain amount of that, which is dictated by the individual policy, deductible amounts, and other variables. Individuals usually pay a co-pay at the time of appointment but may owe more money later once the insurer processes the claim if there’s a difference in the service cost and what the insurer will cover.

In addition to details about the specific procedure, the Explanation of Benefits forms usually contains policy-specific information, which adds context. After summarizing the recent claim, the EOB form will usually summarize the deductibles and any other out-of-pocket claims for the year.

This way, the insured can better understand what they owe by reviewing how much of their deductible they’ve already paid. While EOBs explain medical billing information to the insured, they can be challenging to understand, and errors can happen. Many patients need to call their insurer to ask targeted questions, so they can better understand both the EOB form and any subsequent medical bills that arrive.

EOBs generally come after any medical or dental service is provided. Dental EOBs are similar to medical EOBs in form and function and have the same requirements. However, since dental insurance is limited in its coverage, patients who need extensive dental procedures may owe far more than they would for medical care.

EOB Mailing Requirements

While some patients choose to view their Explanation of Benefits online, many patients are reluctant to view sensitive information online and would prefer to receive a hard copy by mail.

Our Statement Generation or print on demand services make it simple to create and mail personalized EOB statements to users as the need arises. HIPAA’s privacy rule affects statement generation and EOB mailing requirements. HIPAA mandates that an individual’s health conditions, demographic information, services received, and payment for services be kept confidential.

Thus, any medical information, including adolescent children, that mentions the past, present, or future health care information (including fees for services rendered) must respect the privacy rule regardless of how the data is transmitted (via direct mail or electronically).

Given that your medical organization must comply with HIPAA, any direct mail or electronic service you work with must have a thorough understanding of HIPAA and its privacy laws, and be able to send out confidential medical information in an appropriate manner. Knowing your EOBs is important. Preferred Direct complies with all HIPPA requirements.

An insurer cannot be held liable if a patient’s confidential information is disclosed when all proper measures are taken. However, if an insurer does not take proper steps to preserve the integrity of private information, and they are found to be negligent, they will face fines that range from $100 to $50,000 for every violation.

Digital communication companies, like Preferred Direct, provide insurers with a range of medical statements, including EOBs, medical bills, plan benefits, and other healthcare forms, electronically or hard copies. While healthcare marketing materials may not have any private patient information, thus be exempt from HIPAA.  An individual’s sensitive medical forms must have their confidentiality protected.

Sending EOB Statements

Preferred Direct is a knowledgeable partner for insurers who want to outsource their billing to a third party who can provide fast, accurate, and confidential statement generation or electronic communication services. Since digital communication companies specialize in printing and sending campaigns, hard copies, or electronically, they can do it efficiently.

Outsourcing this service also saves time while allowing employees to focus on mission-critical tasks. Patients enjoy receiving accurate materials promptly.   Preferred Direct’s communication services generally accept health data in a variety of formats, including .csv, .xls, or .txt. Digital communication companies using the supplied data will generate an accurate Explanation of Benefits statement.

Preferred Direct also offers e-billing services, in which medical bills and EOB statements can be generated and electronically transmitted to patient online portals or emailed, streamlining the EOB mail process for insurers.

Since forms must be addressed to individual patients, look for a direct mail shop that offers variable data printing, in which patients’ names and other unique data can be included in the mailings for customized, meaningful communication.

To ensure security and confidentiality protection, insist upon a direct mail provider that has a HITRUST and HIPPA certification, which is the most common security framework for healthcare data in the U.S.

Preferred Direct has HITRUST certification and keeps up to date with all HIPAA requirements so that we can serve our insurance industry customers.

Not only are we attentive to the healthcare industry requirements, but we also offer highly efficient direct mail services. Since we use match mailing and postage automation services, we can efficiently process and send an Explanation of Benefits statement to their members while saving the customer money.

We create and maintain customized printing products for our customers, and we update our in-house stock with measures for inventory control. This way, we’re always ready for your next mailing. Whether you’re looking to outsource all of your medical statements or only need help with EOB mailing, we can take care of everything quickly and accurately.

Conclusion

Eye glasses witting on top of a Medical Billing statementWhen you are dealing with Explanation of Benefits you must be certain that all HIPPA rules are met.  Be especially careful with any and all information relative to the person, and that information should be treated with the utmost confidentiality.

There are savings to be had by outsourcing the EOB statements to a competent print and mail production house.

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What Is Transpromo Marketing?

What Is Transpromo Marketing?

What Is Transpromo Marketing?

Transpromo Marketing? It sounds like you might be doing a Transatlantic crossing! That would be exciting, but in this blog, we are talking about Transpromo marketing or transpromotional marketing. It’s a way for companies to market to existing customers through existing customer communication channels like statements and bills sent by mail. In this blog, you will learn about transpromo marketing, its uses, and benefits.

Reaching repeat customers is an important part of maintaining a profitable business. How well is your business reaching and retaining your existing customers?

bill printing transpromo marketingTranspromo Marketing is a form of advertising in which businesses place marketing messages in transactional documents. The word transpromo comes from the combination of the terms “transaction” and “promotion.” The marketing messages are placed in the white spaces of these documents, integrated marketing messages on bills, statements, and other important communications. 

How Does Transpromo Marketing work?

Using cutting edge print technology, called variable digital printing, individualized bills, statements, and other transactional documents are printed. The targeted marketing message is printed on these statements and then mailed out to customers.

direct mail marketing estimate

Types of Messages Used in Transpromo Marketing

Coupons – Coupons make great use of white space on a statement, attracting the customer to come back and make another purchase.

Call to upgrade current product or services – Companies can advertise upgrading their current product or services for to new, improved options. An example of a service upgrade might be a telecommunications company advertising their combined internet, cable, and telephone packages to a customer who only subscribes to internet.

Sale or promotion announcement – Announcing sales and promotions helps to give customers a reason to make an additional purchase. An example of this might be a customer who just purchased a new dishwasher receiving word on their billing statement that there will be a sale on other kitchen appliances such as refrigerators and stoves.

Coming soon announcements – Coming soon announcements work toward customer loyalty. By announcing new products or services, exclusively to existing customers. This gives your customer something to look forward to with the company and become an advocate for your brand. Also making it exclusive, customers feel like they have the inside scoop! An example might be a bank announcing they’ll soon be offering a new type of savings account.

Promoting a local charity – Companies looking to promote their social awareness, can use transpromotional marketing to bring awareness to their favorite charity, encouraging their customers to donate.  READ MORE on how companies can use their print marketing to support nonprofits and increase their bottom line.

Draw customers to a website – Do you want your customers to read more about your products or services? Give them a reason to go to your website and read about what’s new and happening, while increasing web traffic at the same time.

To fully capitalize on the power of direct marketing for your business, you should only work with professionals. At Preferred Direct, we offer a vast range of personalized marketing services, including direct mail, third party billing, and commercial printing services. We are focused on increasing your ROI and helping you to make the most out of your budget.  From design to finishing and mailing, Preferred Direct takes care to make sure you receive deliver high-quality print products that can help increase your company’s ROI.


 

Call or click for a quote. (757) 461-2730 or Toll Free 1-833-425-7007

Sources: smallbusiness.chron.com, pitneybowes.com, tgidirect.com

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