If you just learned that your billing company has closed its doors—suddenly, without warning, or with little notice—you’re facing one of the most stressful situations a healthcare practice can encounter. We know this because we’ve helped dozens of practices navigate this exact crisis over our 25+ years in the industry.
The good news? With immediate action and the right partner, you can protect your revenue, recover your data, and even emerge stronger than before.
TIME IS CRITICAL: Every hour of delay increases your risk of permanent data loss, claim submission gaps, and cash flow disruption.
Understanding What Just Happened
When a medical billing company closes—whether due to bankruptcy, owner retirement, acquisition gone wrong, or simply walking away—the impact on your practice is immediate and severe:
- Claims stop being submitted, creating revenue gaps
- Denials and appeals go unaddressed, aging into uncollectible status
- Patient statements cease, halting collections
- Access to your billing software and data may be lost, potentially forever
- Bank deposits stop, threatening payroll and operations
- Your aging accounts receivable continues to age, decreasing in value daily
Most practices don’t realize they’re sitting on a ticking time bomb. Claims have filing deadlines. Denials have appeal windows. Patient balances have collection timeframes. When your billing company disappears, the clock doesn’t stop—it accelerates.
The Hidden Dangers You’re Facing Right Now
Beyond the obvious disruption, there are critical risks that many practices overlook:
1. Permanent Data Loss
If your billing company hosted your practice management system or stored your data on their servers, you may lose access permanently. Without proper backups, years of patient accounts, payment history, and financial records could vanish. We’ve seen practices lose access to $500,000+ in accounts receivable simply because they couldn’t retrieve their data.
2. Regulatory and Compliance Violations
You remain legally responsible for timely claim submission, proper coding, and HIPAA compliance—even if your billing company is gone. Any billing gaps or compliance failures during this transition period are your liability, not theirs. The Office of Inspector General doesn’t care that your billing company closed.
3. Timely Filing Deadline Losses
Most payers have strict filing deadlines—typically 90 to 365 days from date of service. If claims aren’t submitted before these deadlines expire, that revenue is gone forever. When a billing company closes, claims can sit in limbo, silently approaching their filing deadlines with no one monitoring them.
4. Banking and Clearinghouse Access Issues
If your billing company set up your ERA/EFT enrollment, clearinghouse accounts, or payer portals using their information, you may have lost access to critical systems. Insurance payments might still be going to accounts you can’t access. Worse, the billing company may have had signing authority on your bank accounts.
5. Staff Knowledge Gaps
Your front office staff likely relied on the billing company for coding questions, eligibility verification procedures, and denial resolution. Without that support, errors multiply quickly, and your staff doesn’t know what they don’t know.
Your 72-Hour Emergency Action Plan
Time is your enemy right now. Here’s exactly what you need to do in the next three days to protect your practice:
HOUR 1-4: SECURE YOUR DATA (DO THIS FIRST)
- Immediately download/export ALL data from any systems you still have access to (patient accounts, claims, reports, everything)
- Access your practice management system if cloud-based—change all passwords immediately
- Print or save PDF copies of all open A/R reports, aging summaries, and work queues
- Document all payer portal login credentials (Medicare, Medicaid, major commercial payers)
- Save all recent correspondence between your practice and the billing company
HOUR 4-12: ASSESS YOUR FINANCIAL EXPOSURE
- Review your most recent aging report—what’s your total outstanding A/R?
- Identify claims approaching timely filing deadlines (focus on anything 60+ days old)
- Check your bank accounts—when was the last insurance deposit? Are payments still coming in?
- Pull unbilled charge reports from your EMR—how many encounters haven’t been billed?
- Review your contract with the closed billing company—what are they obligated to provide?
HOUR 12-24: ESTABLISH INTERIM OPERATIONS
- Resume basic charge entry if you have EMR access (don’t let charges pile up)
- Assign someone to monitor insurance payments and post them manually if necessary
- Contact your clearinghouse directly—ensure you have independent access to submit claims
- Notify major payers that you’re changing billing representatives (update contact info)
- Begin interviewing emergency billing partners who can take over immediately
DAY 2-3: ENGAGE PROFESSIONAL HELP
- Schedule emergency consultations with experienced RCM companies (like MBC)
- Provide access to your systems for assessment and data recovery
- Get immediate priority claims submitted—anything approaching deadlines
- Establish transition timeline—what gets done in weeks 1, 2, and 3
- Execute the engagement agreement and begin the formal transition process
How MBC Rescues Practices in Crisis?
We’ve done this many times. When a billing company closes and a practice needs emergency help, we have a proven 3-phase rescue protocol:
PHASE 1: EMERGENCY STABILIZATION (Week 1)
- Data Recovery: We work with any available data sources to reconstruct your accounts receivable
- Critical Claims Filing: Priority submission of claims approaching timely filing deadlines
- System Access Restoration: Establish/restore clearinghouse, payer portal, and ERA/EFT access
- Cash Flow Protection: Get payments flowing to your accounts immediately
- Communication Plan: Notify all relevant parties of the transition
PHASE 2: OPERATIONAL RECOVERY (Weeks 2-4)
- Current Claims Processing: Resume normal billing operations for new encounters
- Denial Management: Address backlog of denials and appeals
- Patient Collections: Restart patient statement cycles and payment processing
- A/R Clean-Up: Begin systematic work on aged accounts
- Reporting Restoration: Establish regular financial reporting and KPI tracking
PHASE 3: LONG-TERM OPTIMIZATION (Months 2-3)
- Revenue Recovery: Aggressive pursuit of all recoverable accounts from the transition period
- Process Improvement: Identify and fix systematic issues that may have existed before
- Staff Training: Ensure your front office team understands improved workflows
- Performance Analysis: Compare current metrics to pre-closure baseline
- Future-Proofing: Establish safeguards to prevent this situation from happening again
Why Practices Trust MBC During Their Darkest Hour?
When your world is falling apart and you need help immediately, you need a partner who:
- Has Been There Before: We’ve successfully rescued dozens of practices from billing company closures over our 25+ years. We know exactly what to do and how to do it fast.
- Can Start Immediately: We have emergency onboarding protocols that get you operational in days, not weeks.
- Is System-Agnostic: We work with any EMR or practice management system—you don’t need to change software to work with us.
- Assigns a Dedicated Account Manager: You get a single point of contact who understands your crisis and coordinates all recovery efforts.
- Has Deep Expertise: Our certified coders and billing specialists handle everything from routine claims to complex specialty billing.
- Is Financially Stable: We’ve been in business since 1999 with a proven track record—we’re not going anywhere.
Real Recovery Story: From Crisis to Thriving
Multi-Specialty Clinic, 8 Providers, $3.2M Annual Revenue
The Crisis: Their billing company of 7 years closed suddenly on a Friday afternoon with zero notice. On Monday morning, they discovered they had lost access to their practice management system, had no idea which claims had been submitted, and had $680,000 in outstanding A/R they couldn’t track.
The Response: They called MBC on Tuesday. By Wednesday, we had a team on-site doing data recovery. By Friday, we were submitting priority claims. Within 2 weeks, we had restored normal operations.
The Results:
- Recovered 87% of at-risk A/R that could have been lost forever
- Zero claims missed their timely filing deadlines
- Cash flow restored to normal levels within 30 days
- Denial rate actually improved from 15% to 8% within 90 days
- Practice administrator stated: ‘What seemed like the end of our practice became the best thing that happened to us.’
The difference between survival and catastrophe is having the right partner in your corner.
Critical Mistakes to Avoid
In the panic of a billing company closure, practices often make these costly mistakes:
- Waiting to see if the billing company returns. They won’t. Every day of delay costs you money.
- Trying to bring billing in-house without expertise. This is not the time to learn billing. You need experienced professionals now.
- Hiring the cheapest replacement. You need competence and stability, not the lowest price. This is about saving your practice.
- Failing to secure your data immediately. Access could disappear any moment. Download everything NOW.
- Not documenting everything. You may need to pursue legal action against the closed company. Keep records of all impacts and losses.
We’re Ready to Help You Right Now
If your billing company just closed or if you’re concerned about your current billing company’s stability, you need to act immediately. Every hour matters when it comes to protecting your revenue and your practice.
EMERGENCY BILLING CRISIS HOTLINE
Call: 888-357-3226
Available Monday-Friday, 8 AM – 8 PM EST
Or email info@medicalbillersandcoders.com with ‘URGENT’ in the subject line
When you call, be prepared to provide:
- Your specialty and the number of providers
- What EMR/PM system you use
- When your billing company closed
- What data/access you still have
- Your approximate monthly charges/collections
Within 24 hours of your call, we will:
- Conduct an emergency assessment of your situation
- Provide a detailed action plan with timeline
- Begin data recovery and critical claim filing
- Assign your dedicated account manager
For Practices Not in Crisis: Warning Signs to Watch
Even if your billing company hasn’t closed, these warning signs suggest you should have a contingency plan:
- Declining quality of service or responsiveness
- Frequent staff turnover at your billing company
- Delayed or irregular reporting
- Unexplained drops in collections
- Difficulty reaching key contacts
- Requests to change payment terms or advance payments
- Loss of key leadership or owner retirement without succession plan
If you see these signs, it’s time to evaluate alternatives—before it becomes an emergency.
About Medical Billers and Coders (MBC)
Since 1999, Medical Billers and Coders has been the trusted partner for thousands of healthcare practices across the United States. We’ve built our reputation on stability, expertise, and an unwavering commitment to our clients’ success—especially during their most challenging moments.
Our Emergency Transition Services include:
- 24-48 hour emergency response for critical situations
- Data recovery and reconstruction from any available sources
- Priority claim filing to prevent timely filing losses
- System access restoration for clearinghouses, payer portals, and ERAs
- Complete RCM services with certified coders and billing specialists
- Dedicated account management throughout transition and beyond
Why practices choose MBC:
- 25+ years of proven stability—we’ll be here tomorrow and 25 years from now
- System-agnostic platform—work with any EMR without costly changes
- All-specialty expertise—from primary care to complex specialty billing
- Transparent pricing—no hidden fees or surprises
- No long-term contracts required—though our clients typically stay for years
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
Whether you’re in crisis right now or want to prepare for the future, we’re here to help.
Emergency Hotline: 888-357-3226
www.medicalbillersandcoders.com
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Medical Billers and Coders (MBC)
Your Lifeline When Billing Companies Fail
Serving Healthcare Practices Since 1999 | Available 24/7 for Emergencies
FAQs: When Your Billing Company Closes?
Access can disappear within hours or days of closure. You should immediately download all patient accounts, claims, reports, and login credentials from any systems you can still access before they’re shut down permanently.
Claims stop being submitted immediately, and existing denials go unaddressed. If claims aren’t filed before timely filing deadlines (typically 90-365 days from service date), that revenue is permanently lost.
This is risky during a crisis unless you have experienced billing staff. Without proper expertise, you’ll likely make costly errors with claim submissions, denials, and compliance while trying to manage the emergency transition.
Yes, you remain legally responsible for timely claims, proper coding, and HIPAA compliance even if your billing company abandoned you. Regulatory agencies don’t accept “my billing company closed” as an excuse for violations.
With an experienced emergency response team, critical operations can resume within days. Full operational recovery typically takes 2-4 weeks, with complete revenue recovery and optimization achieved within 2-3 months.
