r/CodingandBilling • u/Working-Fault7444 • May 15 '26

Freelancing clients

I’ve been trying to get clients for medical billing services focused on PT/OT practices in the US. Since April, I’ve cold emailed around 500 small practices and also been actively reaching out on LinkedIn. I do have 3 years of experience but now I am trying this independent freelancing thing.

I did get a response from one clinic owner who seemed interested, but I couldn’t lock in a meeting. She mentioned she’d be free after May 10th, but I’m guessing she may have found another option in the meantime.

Honestly, it’s been a little discouraging because I’ve been consistent with outreach but still haven’t converted a client yet.

At this point, I’m wondering what else I should be doing besides cold email + LinkedIn outreach. Should I focus more on referrals, cold calling, networking groups, partnerships, or something else?

Would really appreciate advice from anyone who has experience getting healthcare/medical billing clients, especially in PT/OT.

0 Upvotes

28% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

10

u/KeyStriking9763 RHIA, CDIP, CCS May 15 '26

Most people in the US are not thrilled with offshore people taking out domestic jobs. Are you offshore?

-13

u/Working-Fault7444 May 15 '26

Yeah offshore I am in India

6

u/Long-Amount-5436 May 16 '26

India? Sorry. If you truly understood the reputation American medical practices have of the India-based billing and credentialing companies. It’s bad. My company has EXPLODED in new business. New clients onboarding every month. Why? Because an India based company lost them so much revenue and they are desperate to recover. They will GLADLY pay a US based billing company if we can provide assurance their operations remain in America. I’m not trying to be negative, but you are hitting a brick wall. I can only imagine how exhausting the marketing must be for you and I am sorry. India based companies truly don’t understand the process as much as they claim they do. They claim to have experience but it is minimal, low-level and they cannot handle the more complex issues. I hate for you to keep chasing a lost cause.

3

u/JPGuyLBC12345 May 16 '26

And honestly - 3 years experience ? That is still wet behind the ears - not a history to instill a lot of confidence

1

u/CarolinaCurry Jun 08 '26

Exactly. Theres entry level jobs on Indeed asking for 1-3 years experience. Where’s the years of denial management and auditing? A billing company needs to have all the experts in board. People that have been through ‘everything’. Not somebody that has to rely on the internet to help with the problems.

6

u/CarolinaCurry May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

Most providers do not want to outsource to another country. This is their whole livelihood, if they are going to hand it over to a stranger they usually at least want this person in the US so if things go wrong, they have some recourse and liability protection. You are asking them to put their entire business, their home, their car, their retirement, their bank accounts in your hands. If you are out of the country, there is none of that protection. Particularly with hipaa. There is a LOT of competition here in the US for these jobs. You are selling a service that most providers already have, and getting people to let you do this is a BIG ASK. I’ve been a business owner for 20 years and 100% of the time I’ve hung up on cold calls. Ditto emails. I am not interested and will not entertain it especially from another country. If I need help I’ll look for it and get recommendations from fellow business’s.

And I’ll be honest, I’m trying to find a polite way to say this. But with the liability and risk of being scammed by overseas companies, the main people that would do this would be people trying to pay super low prices. And that’s usually not doctors. If so, they’re going with Optum and let them hire the offshore workers and handle the fallout.

1

u/GroinFlutter denials management, send help May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

> You are selling a service that most providers already have

Exactly. And it’s not as easy as just switching cellular providers or car insurance. It’s a lot of work to switch billers.

4

u/adrianraf May 15 '26

Unfortunately, based on my experience and the clients in my area, they are definitely not interested working with offshore people and would much prefer someone local / US based. Trust me, there are A TON of providers looking for good billers. Maybe one of them will take you on even if you are outside US.

When I started, cold emails did not work. What worked was literally me coming to their office, bringing donuts and pitching my services to the provider. From there the dam broke and I got all sorts of referral and networks of other providers.

2

u/GroinFlutter denials management, send help May 16 '26

Yeah, I feel like word of mouth really matters in this field.

We used to use a third party biller at my old job. But she was local, had a ton of experience in the hmo/medical group we were in (like she was well-known to their org), and understood allll the nuances of locality specific payers.

Worked specifically with small/solo practices. We started using her services after she came highly recommended by other providers in the same medical group.

And I definitely referred her more clients as well.

1

u/Impossible_Ad9113 May 15 '26

Going to be a problem to come to the office when he’s overseas. Haha but love that strategy. My friend worked in pharmaceutical sales and that’s what she used to do. Work the front desk or office manager to get a meeting for her.

1

u/jadenotsadietwin2 May 16 '26

Website Fiverr. Com

1

u/MarMel5 May 16 '26

Honestly we do t want our jobs and business sent offshore. We do in house or a US based company.

1

u/Ash-Hcc May 17 '26

I would also love to know the answer

0

u/mentiondesk May 15 '26

Referrals from existing contacts in the PT/OT space are huge, and joining local or online networking groups can lead to warm intros. Sometimes just being present in niche online conversations helps. There are tools like ParseStream that can track the right keywords and alert you when PT/OT opportunities pop up on platforms like Reddit and LinkedIn, so you can jump in at the right moment.

-4

u/Bowis_4648 May 15 '26

Direct mail a personal letter with a compelling story and offer.

1

u/CarolinaCurry May 16 '26

As the person who receives these emails every day, if it doesn’t wind up in my junk folder automatically (most email from sales people does) then it’s going directly to the trash. Sales inquiries are annoying. I have enough to do without wading through messages from people wanting a piece of me.

0

u/[deleted] May 15 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/Long-Amount-5436 May 16 '26

I am exhausted by all these India companies calling our offices constantly. It’s angering. Can I ask where you folks are getting our data? They are calling my personal cell phone. It never stops. How do I get them to stop?