"Doctors without Limits" - shills without scruples

Shills aplenty who use a name similar to a worthy charity.

https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-389-6538
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-424-230-1428

"Doctors Without Limits is a work-at-home scam. Victims pay $199 up front and receive medical billing software on a CD but victims can't get the software to install and no one answers the phone when they call for help. There is a legit organization called Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ whose staff work courageously, sometimes under incredibly difficult/dangerous conditions, but Doctors Without Limits is a scumbug company scamming on the good name of the legit Doctors Without Borders. You have to be a real [***] to pick a company name so close to Doctors Without Borders. SCUMBAG!"

"Guys -- don't lose your money on this one. This is a total scam. Their 'software' is bit of billing information from. 2005/06. They don't even call Medicare "CMS", they still call it "HCFA". And there is no program to install. It says to call to get set up but there is no number provided. The posts in support of this "company" are posted by the same guy (jack) that is trying to take your money. Each post has an as on the bottom and an extreme overuse of apostrophes. No matter what name it is, they are posted by the same person who is trying to scam you. There is no billing work to be done here."

Their MO is similar to that of American Standard Online/ Anchor House Financial, which demanded $199 up front for a list of "rent to own" properties that can be had elsewhere for free.

I will add to your very good post, that having become involved in the management of a medical practice when a physician friend unexpectedly passed away some years ago, I do not see medical billing as a big "work at home" opportunity.

The records involved are sensitive, and they are also the financial heart of the practice.  Not the sort of thing you want to send to someone's house in a cardboard box.  There is a certain expertise required, it is not adequate just to have a copy of Medisoft installed on your computer.  And a lot of follow up is also required, the sort of thing that requires communication among the practice staff, as well as with the payors.

I have been seeing this sort of thing hyped for years.  Those jobs are virtually non-existent, and to the degree that any do exist, it normally involves a trusted employee who needs to work at home, not some cold caller trying to sell "Suzy's Medical Billing".

There are, of course, outsourced medical billing activities involving established companies, but they have a traditional business presence, and a process that does not rely on a single person, working in a house, and handling vital records there.  Such (home based) arrangements, when not being conducted by a physician family member, or trusted employee, are rare, and ill-advised, both from a business and from a liability point of view.

In other words, don't fall for the "Get rich at home with medical billing" come on when you hear it.

Thank you, we cleaned the pages.

Work at home Scams
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/invest/workhome.shtm
Excerpt from FTC Consumer alert  

Medical Billing. The ads lure you with promises of a substantial income for full- or part-time work processing medical claims electronically — no experience needed. When you call the toll-free number, a sales rep tells you doctors are eager for help, and in exchange for your investment of hundreds — or thousands — of dollars, you’ll get everything you need to launch your own medical billing business, including the software to process the claims, a list of potential clients and technical support.

But companies rarely provide experienced sales staff or contacts in the medical community. The lists they give you often are out-of-date and include doctors who haven’t asked for billing services. The software they send may not even work. Competition in the medical billing market is fierce, and not many people who purchase these “opportunities” are able to find clients, start a business or generate revenue — let alone get back their investment and earn any income. Many doctors’ offices process their own medical claims, and doctors who contract out their billing function often use large, well-established firms, rather than someone working from home.

To avoid a medical-billing scam, ask for a sizable list of previous purchasers so you can pick and choose whom to contact for references. If the promoter gives only one or two names, consider that they may be “shills” hired to say good things. Try to interview people in person where the business operates. Talk to organizations for medical claims processors or medical billing businesses and to doctors in your community about the field. Finally, consult an attorney, accountant or other business advisor before you sign an agreement or make any payments up front.

Even if you get their proprietary software to load and work...Medical Billing from home is a scam.  Period.  You can't do that from home because of HIPAA regulations and patient privacy concerns.  I did Medical Billing for a national company some years back.  I know.  In order for a biller to be able to guarantee patient privacy, the biller has to have absolute management over secure internet connections.  These can't be guaranteed on a network of home computers, none of which run the same security software, versions of such software, have multiple users who are all capable of 'looking,' etc.  It's a federal regulation nightmare.  As such, no one reputable will do it.

The same goes for Medical Transcription work from home opportunities.  You're typing in personal patient data and along with billing, it's under the aegis of HIPPA.  Can't be done.  So, if you are doing it, you are most likely in violation of federal patient privacy regulations and the person/organization who set you up doing that is a few key strokes away from prosecution for HIPAA violations.

So, if either of these contacts you, despite how poor the job market is right now, don't do it.

Wish so much that I would have known this back in 2009. Newly separated from my ex, I was struggling to get by. I'd been a stay-at-home-mom for 27 years, so I hadn't been in the work force in ages. I signed up for one of these (a family member gave me the $400 to start), and I lost it all. SCAM.

Working from home as a medical transcriptionist or medical billing has been commonplace since the late 1990s.  I am a RN and did it for a year when I was being treated for cancer in 2001.  Medical facilities prefer these workers to work from home because then they don't have an office they have to pay rent on or for the electronics needed to do the job.  In order to ensure confidentiality of the information traveling between the office and the worker's home office, VPN lines and other software is required.  My husband is also a RN and has worked from home as a teleohine triage/advice nurse for 10 years.

Why did you dredge up a dormant thread to reply to a post from 6 years ago?

You are an RN and you replied to a 6 year old post?  Home based medical care?  I don't think so.

Plus, aren't nurses supposed to know how to spell properly?

Yes, and they are supposed to know actual treatment times.  I find it hard to believe that she was only treated for a "year" for cancer in 2001.  I find it hard to believe that she was working from home, online since the 90's considering the slow internet speeds.  I find it hard to believe that she had to supply her own software, which at that time would have been in the high thousands.  I find it hard to believe that she had VPN service in the 90's, which if it existed would again have been excessively expensive.  I went by a sewage treatment plant the other day and that post smells worse that that plant did.

Agreed

"A" didn't claim to have used a VPN in 2001 or finance her software, nor is it clear if she worked as an employee or an indie contractor. I'd expect a person to bring her own tools in only the latter case, and would also expect that not to happen in this case to ensure security and quality control.

Several years ago a friend of mine with medical problems was granted leave to perform much of her consulting job at home. Often the projects concerned building and maintenance of legal compliance systems in the banking and pharmaceutical industries. You can imagine the measures needed to ensure security, including a thumbprint reader and a dongle for generating dynamic passcodes. Either she was given an approved laptop or supplied her own which conformed to standards, but point being it was treated like a dedicated office machine and she owned nothing which it contained.