Over the course of 10 years working in clinic revenue management, I’ve seen many situations where excellent doctors lost huge amounts of money due to chaos in their paperwork. I remember a case involving an ophthalmology center: they had nearly $300,000 tied up in unpaid claims. The owner blamed his staff, but the problem actually stemmed from simple coding errors and missed deadlines.

When colleagues ask how to avoid making the same mistakes, I share a simple piece of advice: Always use a well-developed medical billing vendor checklist when selecting a contractor. Don’t just look at the promises on their website—check the transparency of their reports, how quickly they handle denials, and the depth of their integration. This approach has already saved more than one clinic.