NikoHealth Announces ISP Business Relationship with Allegiance Group

BBMK Technologies, the company that’s changing the home healthcare industry with its latest cloud-based solution NikoHealth, announces that it has entered into an agreement with Allegiance Group, a firm specializing in strategies to improve private pay collections in the home care and durable medical equipment markets, as an integrated solution provider (ISP). Through this business relationship, NikoHealth will offer the users of its homecare software solutions access to COLLECTPlus^TM, a billing service product offering offered by Allegiance Group. COLLECTPlus will provide NikoHealth customers access to proprietary private pay billing collections solutions, which enable its users to achieve better financial results.

“This relationship will complement the services offered by NikoHealth in the HME/DME market,” said Michael Kutsak, NikoHealth’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are really excited about the new integration of these products which will provide our customers additional tools to further improve their financial position,” added Kutsak.

“By integrating COLLECTPlus and NikoHealth’s innovative patient management solutions, both companies agree the collaboration will increase productivity and allow our providers to capture more of their private pay dollars more efficiently and cost effectively,” said Bruce Gehring, SVP, Business Development Manager for Allegiance Group.

About BBMK Technologies

BBMK Technologies is a healthcare technology-focused firm that looks to provide a deep, effective and long-term approach to changing the healthcare industry. Its aim is to create a valuable eco-system of healthcare delivery models built on the backbone of new application development. Its innovations have risen from the desire to help make life easier for all those involved in the healthcare continuum including patients and healthcare organizations.

Maximizing DME Cash Collections in 2018

High deductibles, larger copays and HSAs have grown A/R portfolios. How do you slow down the growth? Learn the ratios to track and which processes will help you recover your A/R balances faster, reduce your collection costs and improve staff productivity. Join “Maximizing DME Cash Collections in 2018: 5 Ways to Grow Cash and ROI”

You will learn tips on how to:
• Assess your A/R portfolio’s health
• Establish and introduce financial policies to help your company
• Monitor your progress
• Implement a new culture

Software Companies at Medtrade Spring 2018

Bruce Gehring, svp, was a contributer to the Medtrade article – Software Companies at Medtrade Spring 2018.

“Medtrade Spring attendees already know that ruthlessly efficient billing/reimbursement software (in-house or outsourced) is essential in 2018. Providers looking to upgrade and/or switch their billing system will have an amazing chance to sample, see, and speak with representatives from several different companies when Medtrade Spring convenes March 27-29, 2018, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.”

“For those who have already registered for Medtrade Spring, or who may be pondering registration, advance rates are still in effect. In part two of its software spotlight, Medtrade Monday again spoke with additional exhibiting software companies to get a feel for what Medtrade Spring attendees can expect when the show starts on March 27 (Expo Floor opens March 28).”
Read full article in Medtrade

See you there! Allegiance Group will be exhibiting in Booth 655!

Choosing your private pay billing partner wisely

(as published in HME News)

Are you struggling trying to collect your private pay balances?

If so, you are not alone. Outstanding private pay balances can create
problems for business small and large. Your staff gets too busy to
mail statements or make collection calls. And in the back of your
mind you know the longer a balance goes unpaid, the harder it will be
to collect. Where can you turn for help?

Read the full article on page 7 in HME News

Live Webinar: Selecting a Private Pay Billing and Collections Partner

Are you struggling trying to collect your private pay balances?
Do you focus your limited staff resources on the higher private pay balances?
Are some of your patient balance not getting the attention they deserve?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may want to consider a billing and collection partner to help you with your outstanding balances.

Join our webinar on December 12 at 10:30 CT to learn the Five Steps to Hiring a Billing & Collections Partner.

Discover questions you can ask in each step as you assess your need and research a partner, so you can make the right choice for your organization.

Learn how a partner can help you accelerate the billing and collection process so you recover your A/R balances faster, educe your collection costs and improve staff productivity.

Register now!

Medtrade17 – Poising for Growth!

Exhibiting at Medtrade17 is an exciting time, especially when it is your first show in Atlanta. Although I heard the show was smaller than in the past, it is an impressive conference. The variety of vendors and products gave me a better understanding of how providers help their patients. By attending some of the sessions, I learned about the impact congress can have on the industry and how competitive bidding has changed the landscape.

Watching the exhibit area, I viewed attendees consulting with experts about industry trends, examining new products, discussing management practices—the list goes on and on. The owners and managers were in a different mindset. They are taking a break from their daily responsibilities to focus on their strategic plans. With their SWOT in the back of their mind, they were pondering topics from the growth projections in the HME industry and the continued impact of high deductible health plans to reimbursement cuts to reducing DSO and increasing staff productivity.

Although the attendees were in research mode, they may not have realized they are also experts. They are the best of the best, surviving the volatile environment HME. They led their business through some tough times and now they are poising their companies for growth. They are streamlining workflows, expanding their retail floors, meeting with investors, outsourcing processes and fine-tuning their compliance procedures. They are forging the future of the industry by embracing technology and banding together to make an impact at CMS.

It was invigorating to collaborate with these owners and managers – the forward thinkers of HME– listening to their visions, hearing them describe the solutions they need to grow and brainstorming the new product features to help them reach their goals. They see the light at the end of the tunnel and want to be ready to take advantage of the new opportunities. Their enthusiasm is contagious, and I am looking forward to an exciting future in this industry.

Sharon Bock, Marketing Manager

Opportunities Abound at 2017 HME News Business Summit

The 2017 HME News Business Summit prides itself as the premier education event for HME leaders and this year’s Summit certainly lived up to the expectation. The Summit provided countless chances to better understand the trends in the industry from the HME owners’ point of view.

From the Welcome Gathering on Sunday to the Financial Benchmark Survey on Tuesday, there were a variety of educational opportunities — participating in workshops and panel discussions, listening to industry experts and talking with owners one-on-one. Topics ranged from the Affordable Care Act and Medicare to business models focusing on manufacturer- and customer-based relationships to using automation to reduce costs.

Keynote Learnings

Our keynote speaker, Donald Carroll of Cleveland Clinic, explained how 80% of our healthcare determinants were outside of the US healthcare delivery system. Our health behaviors (diet, exercise), our social and economic factors (education, income) and our physical environment (quality of air and water) had a greater impact on our health than our access to care and the quality of care we received. Carroll wondered if healthcare expanded into the other areas, could we create a true public health system.

“Population Health,” which is the process of strategically and proactively managing a patient’s care while reducing costs, is a new buzzword in the industry. Can we achieve population health by coordinating the efforts of pharmacies, fitness centers, imaging centers, surgery centers, hospitals and recovery facilities? The end goal would be improving the patient’s experience of care by treating them at home as much as possible. Carroll proposed that the first step toward Population Health might be shifting reimbursement from a volume-based to a value-based model with the role of the provider receiving payment based on a patient’s outcomes. By managing the care continuum through all of the patient’s touch points, the provider can provide personalized care that transcends time and physical location which may help control the cost of care long term.

2017 HME New/SRA Financial Benchmarking Survey Learnings

The Summit concluded with its state of the industry presented by Rick Glass of Steven Richards & Associates. The HME industry has changed greatly over the last several years, and is continuing to evolve–we have fewer, but larger players. The reason Glass explained, “Profitability shrank from 12% to 10% and growth slowed marginally over last year, as providers continue to focus on improving efficiency of operations.” He does not see this trend reversing since providers continue to struggle with reduced reimbursements. Glass shared that of survey responders, 23% of the providers are focusing on efficiency, productivity and reducing costs.

Reflecting on the summary of the industry overview, I was glad to reaffirm that Allegiance Group is part of the solution. Our signature product, COLLECTPlus^TM, can free your staff from the billing and collection process so they can focus on retail sales and other activities to grow your business.

I look forward to next year’s Summit!

Bruce Gehring, SVP Business Development

More Optimism at Medtrade Spring

According to the organizers of Medtrade Spring, the industry outlook is moving from cautious optimism to optimism. As we were talking to attendees, we could hear the optimism in their voices.

We know the HME/DME industry is continuing to change. Today, HME/DME is a $46.5 billion industry. It is projected to grow to more than $60 billion by 2020 according to Harris Williams & Co. In 2010, one in ten companies only offered High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) to employees, Last year, one out of three only offered HDHP plans. This means private pay portion in the HME industry will continue to rise. By 2020, the industry expects to nearly 37% of the industry’s A/R to come through private pay. Business owners need to be prepared for this change. We were happy to demonstrate how technology and automation can help them incorporate best practices in their private pay collection process.

Medtrade provided many opportunities for attendees to learn about new products and ideas–the exhibits, the panels, the discussions. We heard both presenters and attendees enjoyed the new panel format for some of the educational sessions. The interaction of the panelists brought a new dimension to the session. Allegiance Group was proud to sponsor Andrea Stark, one of the panel presenters at two of the educational sessions.

We want to thank Medtrade for providing us the opportunity to meet with so many HME providers at this conference.

We look forward to Atlanta!

Allegiance Group finds the MedTrade Expo as a positive sign for future business.

Thank you!
Your participation in Medtrade 2016 has been greatly appreciated. We have received very positive feedback from attendees and they greatly value the knowledge and product offerings received from your participation. We value your support and look forward to continuing to work together to connect and provide solutions to the ever-evolving HME industry.

What exhibitors are saying
We’ve spoken to quite a few of you already and here is what some have been saying about the show so far:

“We had a lot of good traffic, good contacts, and good conversations. We had some strong and interested prospects, which really made the show. It’s what you do to prepare to do business at Medtrade. At Medtrade, people from all over the country can see you at one time. It’s just more efficient.”

Erin Tyler and Bruce Gehrig
The Allegiance Group

The Allegiance Group Unveils New Branding

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (September 23, 2016)—The team at Allegiance Group knew their clients were looking to create more sustainable business practices for the health of their patients and their organizations. The private-pay patient billing and collections company went to work to complete interviews, surveys and focus groups to take a look at their own practices. They believe their new branding effort paid off in their re-commitment to focus on purpose.

“We knew we needed to take a hard look at our self as well,” said Bruce Gehring, senior vice president, Allegiance Group. “Offering an all-in solution for collecting private pay revenue didn’t mean enough. We are unlike other private-pay billing and collection alternatives. Like our clients, it wasn’t just the bottom line we cared about. Our partners wanted to spend more of their time making a difference in the lives of the patients they serve. And we feel the same way.”

As a result, A/R Allegiance Group created an enhanced brand anthem and brand purpose. The branding is reflected in their new logo.

About the logo

Besides being the universal symbol for healthcare, the plus or cross symbol represents the abstract spark that ignites possibilities for our clients. It is the source of ignition, uniting the blue and red colors in the logo, and completing the shape of the lower case “a”. The gap in the lower case “a” provides the opening for the spark detailed in our brand anthem/purpose. It also represents our openness in helping our clients make a difference in the lives of their patients. Our colors are also significant. The blue is indicative of our position as a trusted, secure and dependable partner; red is indicative of excitement, boldness and warmth; these colors nod to our Brand Anthem and together represent the colors of an igniting spark! The cool calm shade of the blue complements the warm rich red in the remainder of the logo, making the logo appealing to the viewer’s eye.

Visit allegiance-group.com for more information.