Like a handful of others, many years ago we made the decision to invest the necessary time and resources to properly serve the FEC Texas market. Even with our 30 years of revenue cycle management (RCM) experience partnering with Texas ER Physicians, properly assisting the FEC client is apples to oranges. Our introduction to the FEC industry came about over four years ago, from a referral from a long‐time ER Physician client who was working shifts at a local FEC location. Like so many others, the FEC owner had entrusted a RCM company proficient in billing the professional component of the ED visit, but after a year left the FEC hanging on financially by a thread.

The timing was ideal for us as we had just recruited a new Coding Manager with a wealth of experience in facility / ancillary services coding. Concurrently our programmer and long‐term clearing house partner completed the design and testing of the UB‐04 format vs. HCFA‐1500 format. Lastly, we created a separate “Customer Care” team to make outgoing and receive incoming calls from FEC patients. Speaking with the FEC patients allows us to educate them on the health claim adjudication process along with assistance understanding the health plan benefits – this has been a critical step for us and our clients.

Today, we serve 13 Texas FEC locations and continue to make this market a priority for us moving forward. Contrary to the poor press in recent years, we are convinced FECs are here to stay and will gain the acceptance of state and federal insurers much like Outpatient Surgery Centers experienced many years ago. We continue to change and improve our FEC specific services daily. For instance, today our clients have the ability to review all patient accounts prior to issuing billing statements, the ability to review and/or generate full patient account activity onsite, along with customized reporting illustrating key markers specific to FEC, to name a few.

Change in the RCM industry is imminent, so the ability to be flexible and adapt quickly has become imperative. Our association with TAFEC and others allows us to be on the forefront of what is taking place in the Texas FEC industry. Armed with this knowledge, we have the ability to prepare ourselves and our client partners before rather than after the rules of the game are modified once again!