Why UnifiedRCM
Ask us the hard questions first.
Most practices come to us having been burned once already — by a partner that went quiet, a contract they could not leave, or an offshore team nobody could reach. So rather than make you dig, here is where we stand on the questions that actually decide this, answered before you ask them.
Our approach
A partnership is a structure, not an adjective
Every billing company calls itself a partner. What makes it true is whether the structure behind it survives a bad month — who you can reach, what you can see, and whether you can leave.
A named team, not a queue
You get specific people who know your account, your payers and your specialty, reachable by phone. No ticket system as the only channel, no rotating support pool, no explaining your situation from scratch every time.
Reporting you can pull, not wait for
A/R aging by payer and denial reason, available any day of the month rather than at month end. Plus a standing review call, so the numbers get discussed rather than just delivered into an inbox.
Accountability that includes bad news
If a metric moves the wrong way, you hear it from us first with the plan already attached. A partner who only reports good months is not reporting.
Transition
The part everyone worries about, planned in the open
The single biggest fear in changing billing partners is not price. It is what happens to cash flow during the switch. Typical transitions run 30 to 60 days.
Weeks 1–2 — Discovery and access
We map your current state: systems, payer mix, fee schedules, open A/R, denial history and workflows. Access is established in your systems. We agree the treatment of legacy A/R and the cut-off date in writing before anything moves.
Weeks 2–4 — Build and parallel run
Workflows, edits and reporting are configured for your specialty and payers. Where practical we run in parallel so nothing falls between the old process and the new one.
Weeks 4–8 — Cutover
Live claims move to us while aged A/R is worked in parallel. Your named account manager is in place from day one, not assigned after go-live.
Days 60–90 — Baseline and review
We report against the baseline we measured at the start: clean claim rate, first-pass resolution, days in A/R, denial rate, net collection rate. You see the before and after, including anything that has not improved yet.
Specific timelines depend on your systems, payer count and volume. The schedule above is the typical shape of a transition, and the actual plan is agreed with you in writing before work begins.
Our position, in plain English
The contract terms that trap practices — and where we stand
Billing contracts are where the real risk sits, and most of it is invisible until you try to leave. These are the clauses practices get caught by, and our position on each.
| The common trap | Our position |
|---|---|
| Auto-renewal for a further full term unless you give 90 days’ notice in a window you forgot about. | Clear notice terms, stated plainly, with no renewal you have to remember to escape. |
| Liquidated damages calculated across every month remaining in the term, including a renewal you never wanted. | No liquidated damages. |
| Termination only for proven material default, meaning you cannot leave for poor performance. | Poor performance is a legitimate reason to leave. We would rather earn the renewal. |
| Data held pending payment — your records released only after invoices are settled and a release is signed. | Your data is yours at all times and is returned in usable form regardless of any open fee dispute. |
| Fees charged on collections from any source, including copays, capitation and money collected by your own staff. | Fees apply to the work we actually do. The basis is defined in writing before you sign. |
| Service suspension over an unpaid invoice, with no cure period — exactly when cash flow is already the problem. | No abrupt suspension of claims work. Billing disputes are handled as billing disputes. |
| Assignment without consent — the company is sold mid-term and you inherit a new owner. | Independently operated. You are told, and consent is sought. |
| Forced platform migration onto the vendor’s EHR or PM system. | Never. We work inside the system you already use. |
For UnifiedRCM before launch: every position in this table must be confirmed against your actual client agreement and reviewed by your counsel. Published contract commitments are enforceable representations, and the FTC requires substantiation to exist before a claim is published. Do not launch this section until the agreement matches it.
Where your work is done
US-based, and specific about it
Providers remain liable for what their billing partner does with patient data, which makes “where is my data being handled” a reasonable question and a vague answer a red flag.
- Your work is handled by a US-based team
- We execute a Business Associate Agreement with every client
- Access to your systems is limited to the specialists assigned to your account
- Staff are background-checked and trained on HIPAA obligations
- If any function were ever handled elsewhere, you would be told which one and what controls apply before signing
Note for UnifiedRCM: claims about staffing location and security posture must be accurate and verifiable. Name any certification you actually hold (for example SOC 2 Type II, with the audit period). Do not use the phrase “HIPAA certified” — no such federal certification exists and the claim carries deception risk.
Everything else
The questions worth asking any billing company
If you are evaluating more than one partner, ask all of these of each. The answers tell you more than any capabilities deck.
How is your fee calculated, and on what?
Revenue cycle services are most commonly priced as a percentage of net collections, typically in the mid single digits, with per-claim and flat-fee models also in use. What matters as much as the rate is the basis: whether the fee applies to collections from any source, including copays and money your own staff collect, or only to the work the partner actually does. Ask for that in writing.
UnifiedRCM to confirm its published pricing model before launch.
What is included, and what costs extra?
Common add-ons across the industry include setup and implementation, software or platform fees, clearinghouse charges per claim, patient statements, credentialing per payer per provider, and in some contracts denial rework billed separately. Ask for a written list of what is included and what is not.
Do you require a long-term contract?
See our position on contract terms above. Look specifically for auto-renewal windows, early termination fees, and liquidated damages clauses — these are where practices get trapped.
Who owns our data and how fast do we get it back?
You should own it outright and be able to retrieve it in a usable format at any time, including during a fee dispute. Any answer that conditions data release on payment is a reason to walk away.
Where are your staff located?
Ask directly, and ask which specific functions are handled where. A partner who is vague about this is telling you something.
What are your actual numbers?
Ask for clean claim rate, first-pass resolution rate, net collection rate, days in A/R, percentage of A/R over 90 days, and denial rate — with the method behind each. Widely referenced targets include days in A/R of 30 to 40 (AAFP), net collection at or above 95% (AAFP), and denial rates below 10%. Be sceptical of any figure quoted without a definition attached.
Do you work every claim regardless of dollar value?
Under a percentage-of-collections model, small balances are where attention quietly goes to die. Ask whether there is a dollar floor and who authorizes write-offs. Our answer: no floor, and no write-off without your approval.
Who is our day-to-day contact and how fast do they respond?
You should have a named person, not a queue. Our commitment is a response within one business day from someone who already knows your account.
What happens to our existing A/R during transition?
Ask whether legacy A/R is worked, at what rate, and from what cut-off date. Aged A/R is often the fastest recovery in a new engagement, and a partner who will not touch it is leaving your money on the table.
What happens if your systems or your clearinghouse go down?
This became a real question after the 2024 Change Healthcare outage, when some practices moved revenue cycle work back in house rather than depend on a vendor they could not reach (MGMA, 2024). Ask about redundant clearinghouse routing and documented downtime procedures.
Do you handle credentialing and payer enrollment?
Slow credentialing is silent lost revenue — a provider who cannot bill is a provider working for free. Ask whether it is included and what it costs per payer, per provider.
How do you handle our patients?
Patient financial experience is a retention issue, not just a billing one: 93% of patients say the billing experience could dissuade them from returning to a provider, and 25% would leave a negative review after a poor one (Cedar, 2021). Ask who answers billing calls, from where, during what hours, and who sets the collections posture. It should be you.
Find out what your revenue cycle is actually leaving behind.
Request a consultation and a revenue cycle specialist will walk through your denial patterns, A/R aging and payer mix with you. No obligation, and no software to install.