Medical Billing Service Owners

Group health insurance plans first developed in the 1940s as a result of the growing expense of medical care. Since then, doctors have received much of their payment from insurance companies, rather than individual patients. With more patients using these "third-party" payers, doctors began to need assistance in dealing with the extra work of completing and submitting insurance forms. Medical billing services developed in response to this demand. Accountants, administrative assistants, and people working at home took on the bookkeeping responsibilities of doctors' offices.

When personal computers came into common use in the 1980s, medical billing changed from paper-based claims to electronic claims. Filing claims electronically required modems and specially designed software, and medical billing services were in even greater demand; doctors did not have the time to learn the complexities of submitting electronic claims. Demand for outside billing services increased even more after 1990, when the federal government ruled that doctors, and not elderly patients, were responsible for submitting claims to Medicare. The passage of universal health care by Congress in 2010 created health insurance coverage for more than 30 million additional Americans who had not previously been covered. As a growing number of individuals enter the health care system, demand will be created for medical billers to help physicians obtain payment for services.