Outsourcing medical billing services
Why Zento is affordable without cutting corners on quality
Author: Ben Dudley
Date: April 4, 2024
In today’s business world, many companies choose to work with international teams because it helps them save money while still getting the job done well.
Secure medical data management
Why we work with both an Australian and international team
It’s not different for us. To keep our prices fair and still give you the best medical billing and practice management services, Zento decided to work with teams based in both Australia and the Philippines.
The Australian team handles face-to-face interactions. For instance, some of our surgeon and physician clients have their own Zento secretary or receptionist. Our management team is also based in Australia.
The team in the Philippines takes care of tasks that can be done remotely, such as data management, data entry, and handling phone calls.
We know that in Australia, finding the best medical billing and private practice management company can be tough, and not all services are the same.
You may have heard about us, including that we outsource some of our work. If you’re worried about that, especially about privacy and security, we want to clear things up.
Privacy and security are our top priorities
We want to reassure you right away that your privacy and security are our top priorities.
Privacy is all about keeping your patients’ personal health information safe and confidential. We have taken significant steps to make sure we follow all the Australian Privacy Principles and keep everything secure.
Ensuring privacy and compliance for offshore teams
Following best practices and adhering to Australian privacy laws, we ensure transparency in managing your personal details. This commitment to security involves employing strong passwords and multifactor authentication to safeguard your data. We are legally obliged to use your information only for its intended purpose, especially critical in handling sensitive health information. In keeping you and your patients informed, we share our privacy policies and notify you about our international team’s involvement, particularly in the Philippines, to maintain these high standards of privacy and security.
When we say security is our top priority, it means we’re serious about keeping your information safe. We use advanced technology and strict procedures to protect your health data from cyber threats like hackers. This includes encrypting your data to make it unreadable to anyone without permission and setting up barriers to block unauthorised access. We also carefully control who can access your information and keep a close eye out for anything suspicious.
What is cyber risk insurance?
Cyber risk insurance is like a safety net for businesses when it comes to potential risks associated with their computer systems or online activities. It’s important because even if a company does everything right to stay safe online, unexpected issues can still arise. This type of insurance helps cover the costs if something goes wrong, like if there’s a cyberattack and the company has to pay money to fix the issue or compensate people involved. Having cyber risk insurance means a company can worry less about the financial hit from online security problems and focus on quickly resolving any issues that come up.
Transparency is key
A big part of how Zento handles working with teams in other countries is our focus on being open and transparent about this with you and your patients. We make sure to explain the privacy rules and let your patients know who is looking after their information.
By sharing this information and teaching your patients about privacy measures, we show our dedication to protecting their information and doing things the right way.
If your patients are still concerned after receiving this explanation, they always have the option to speak with one of our local team members.
Outsourced medical billing and practice management
What tasks are outsourced?
You may wonder, what exactly is outsourced? Well, most outsourced tasks are related to handling data and answering phone calls.
The team in the Philippines takes care of entering data, making sure everything is correct and follows rules, and checks that patient details are accurate. They also handle calls from your patients, whether it’s for questions, quotes, getting approvals, or taking care of payments, and our secure system ensures credit card details are kept safe.
“When your patients need to give their credit card details over the phone, Zento uses a special system. The patient types their credit card number into their phone’s keypad, and the Zento team member on the call never hears or sees the numbers. This way, the credit card info goes straight into the system safely, keeping it private and secure.”
Ben Dudley
Founder Zento
This method keeps patient details safe with Zento, making sure every phone call is secure, private and PCI DSS compliant.
The importance of training
The Australian healthcare system can be really complex, even for locals. That’s why we make sure to give our outsourced team comprehensive training and provide great resources.
By keeping our retention rates high, we ensure our doctors receive consistent service by team members they get to know and trust. We have found that providing good training and support is key to this. Just like we want to keep our Australian team members, we want to keep our Filipino staff too. They are an integral part of the Zento family.
Medical practice management company
Conclusion
We learned a lot when we started working with our team in the Philippines, especially that it’s not just about reducing our costs. It’s really about getting all our processes right, which means planning well, focusing on the finer details, and making sure we prioritise the privacy and security of our doctors’ and their patients’ information at all times.
Keeping information safe is super important, and our approach shows we’re committed to outsourcing responsibly. So, even though we want to be cost-effective, our main aim is to deliver comprehensive medical billing and administration services that are high quality, safe, and private, with well-trained staff, all while keeping it affordable.
More information about outsourced medical billing: Read our article on the benefits of outsourced medical billing and practice management here.
Join our group of independent specialists and physicians
“Zento is an outstanding practice management and billing service that set up my private practice as a new consultant a few years ago and the whole process couldn’t be easier for me!
Their billing system is simple, quick and transparent and their fees are amongst the lowest. They also help my practice by sending out patient questionnaires, facilitating my CPD and organising social events, just to mention a few!
I highly recommend their services to anyone in the medical field seeking guidance and support in launching a successful private practice or looking to streamline their billing process to save time and money.”
Mahsa Mirkazemi
“I had expanded my private practice and was paying a secretary to do my billing, but was still dealing with the hassle of incorrect bills and phone calls from patients. I decided I needed to take myself out of the equation completely, and found out about Zento from colleagues. Since then it has been smooth sailing, with Zento taking care of all my admin, and quickly and easily dealing with any billing problems. As a result, very little of my time is spent on admin now.”
Brian Morrow, Anaesthetist
“I found billing a nightmare – so much so that it was stopping me from doing private work. I heard that Zento provided a solution, and it revolutionised everything. The setup process was very straightforward, and now, they do all my admin – sending off the bills, checking they’ve been paid, chasing unpaid bills. I’m very happy with the service, and I would definitely recommend them to another anaesthetist.”
Helen Daly, Anaesthetist
“Coming from Europe, I was unfamiliar with the process of billing patients when I set up my private practice in Australia. Zento knew what they were doing when I came on board, and made the preparation of the paperwork a smooth experience. Now, I can tell patients that fees will be dealt with by another party, leaving my relationship with them positive. So many things have been taken off my plate, and if I don’t have to spend time preparing invoices, I’m happy!”
Thomas Ledowski, Anaesthetist
“I avoided private work because I was uncomfortable with gaining informed financial consent and didn’t have the mechanism to be able to charge a gap. I didn’t want to have the ‘money’ conversation with my patients, but when the opportunity to work with a private surgeon arose, I had to figure out a solution. After speaking with Ben, I knew Zento was the right service to fix my problems. Now I spend less than 30 minutes a month on financial admin for my private work, and talking about money with my patients is seldom required.”
Perth-based Anaesthetist
“Since I joined Zento I have been able to focus on what I’m good at which is giving anaesthetics rather than billing, chasing up bad debts, providing quotes. I was terrible at it! Ben’s team has always been very helpful and professional. Service fees have decreased! I’m very happy.”
Leah , Anaesthetist
“Has made my anaesthetic billing a breeze. Quick, reliable, efficient and highly transparent. My only regret is that I didn’t change to Zento years ago.”
Steve, Anaesthetist
“When commencing private practice there was a large learning curve in terms of the various health funds and their differences in terms of billing and rebates. Zento took away all of the stress associated with this so I could focus purely on caring for my patients. In addition, they took responsibility for other key issues such as provider numbers and accreditation at the various hospitals I wanted to work at.”
Nolan McDonnell, Anaesthetist
“They are professional, efficient and take a huge administrative burden off.”
Perth-based anaesthetist
“Zento helps me concentrate on my core job: looking after patients.”
Perth-based anaesthetist
“Huge burden lifted from my shoulders. Zento takes all of the admin load.”
Perth-based anaesthetist
“Since using their service I am consistently impressed by the level of service and attention to detail offered by the Zento team.
Knowing that my administration, reception and PA services are taken care of allows me to focus on my patients, my clinical activities and building up my practice.”
Perth-based cardiologist
“As a new Fellow I had no experience in how a practice is run let alone set up and I wanted to start my own practice. The Zento group have taken my idea and made it a reality. They are available, and thorough. They take time to understand what you need and work with you to achieve those goals realistically and practically. I am especially impressed by how they work hard at facilitating my vision for my practice.”
Perth-based obstetrician and gynaecologist