Business Spotlight: MedTech takes care of business for health care providers

Nobody enjoys keeping track of medical claims. Nobody, that is, except Leesa Hamilton, who has made a business out of managing and collecting medical claims. Hamilton is the owner and founder of MedTech Medical Management Systems, which provides a variety of services to area doctors, medical clinics and small hospitals.

The company, which was founded in 1997, offers medical claim management and electronic filing services, does accounts receivable claims research, handles patient accounting and collections, creates custom "superbills" that list the individual services each patient receives, helps establish fee schedules and provides temporary personnel for clients located throughout southwest Missouri.

"I surveyed medical billing personnel in offices around the country before I started this business, and I found out what they needed," said Hamilton, who worked in the insurance industry for more than 14 years before opening MedTech. "What I discovered is most medical offices need help with many different tasks, not just tasks in one particular area."

Some clients, such as Family Medical Walk-In Clinics, use MedTech to manage their entire medical billing and collection system, while other health care practices use only a portion of MedTech's services. Several medical offices in the area rely on MedTech to provide them with temporary help, while others look to MedTech when their in-house staff needs training.

Some of this training is for staff members who use MediSoft, a popular medical-patient accounting software program. In fact, approximately half of MedTech's business comes through selling, training and providing support to MediSoft customers located in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Tennessee.

"We're a platinum dealer for MediSoft, which is the highest level given out by the company," said Greg Barton, billing operations administrator. "We don't just sell software, though. We offer our clients a total package. We can assist with computer network installation, MediSoft program implementation and train your staff how to use it."

In addition to providing on-site training, Med-Tech's 15 employees perform many tasks off-site at one of the company's satellite offices, which are located throughout the Springfield area. These tasks include researching accounts receivable claims, tracking Medicaid and Medicare claims and filing claims electronically. In fact, Barton said he believes having the ability to process and track medical claims via the Internet will enable MedTech to attract many more regional and national clients in the future.

"Thanks to the Internet, we can file claims electronically for clients who are located anywhere," Barton said. "The Internet is going to help us expand. Insurance companies have moved to electronic filing for claims, tracking and quicker payment."

Currently, most of MedTech's medical management services clients are located within a 120-mile radius of Springfield. However, Barton and Hamilton say many of the company's regional MediSoft software clients are beginning to use the medical management services, as well.

The two also foresee the potential to attract more business once the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which was passed in 1996, takes effect in 2003. Under the act, doctors, hospitals and insurance companies could face criminal or civil penalties if they fail to adequately protect the security and confidentiality of health information that's stored electronically.

"A lot of what we do is about trust," said Hamilton. "We're not only dealing with confidential medical records here, we track where the money is going in a medical practice or clinic. Sometimes, you feel like you're doing detective work. You have to figure out who has paid and where the money has been posted."

According to Hamilton, maintaining high ethical standards is paramount in medical management. To keep standards high, Hamilton requires each employee to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Recently, the southwest Missouri chapter of the Better Business Bureau honored MedTech with the 2000 Torch Award in the small business category. The Torch Award is given to companies that promote and maintain high ethical standards.