Interview: Leigh Marcus, VP of Professional Claims Bureau, Inc

insideARM.com recently sat down with Leigh Marcus, Vice President at family-owned medical collection agency Professional Claims Bureau, Inc.  Marcus gave us his insights into where the healthcare ARM sector is and where it's heading.

Q. How did you get into this industry?

A. After attending Indiana University, Bloomington, and graduating from the Kelley School of Business with a degree in finance, my natural inclination was to pursue a job in the industry that I had followed since I was a young kid: Wall Street.  Ironically enough, my first day of employment at a Wall Street trading firm was the day the NASDAQ hit its all time high.  It turned out to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise.

Professional Claims Bureau, Inc. (PCB) is a family business that was started by my grandparents in 1964.  Shortly afterwards, my father joined the business and the evolution of a family business had begun.  Initially they operated in all industries and slowly grew the company into a local powerhouse, striving to succeed while always focusing on the need to maintain an excellent reputation within the industry.  With an opportunity at a local hospital, PCB changed gears and became a specialized medical collections agency.

Growing up with my grandparents and parents working at the company, I always knew that this is where my future career path was headed.  The job on Wall Street was just something I had to experience before I settled down in the world of collections and a family business.  And honestly, September 11 hastened my departure from Wall Street.

Q. Describe your agency.

A. We focus exclusively on the healthcare industry, servicing many of the major hospitals and large physician groups in the New York area.  Our service offerings range from early-out outsourcing functions, in which we act as an extension of the client’s billing office, to aged self-pay collections at the secondary placement level.  Our goal is to help our clients in any and all functions of the post service/pre-payment period of the revenue cycle. 

In the past two years, while continually growing our self-pay collections division, we have also focused on the growth of our early-out self-pay and insurance follow-up services.  Both current and prospective clients have met this diversification through additional service offerings with a great response.

Q. How much of your operation is devoted to healthcare collections?

A. Currently 99% of our business is in the healthcare industry. What continues to vary with the changing industry is the percentage of our revenues from varying services within the healthcare industry.

Q. What are the advantages/disadvantages of solely collecting healthcare?

A. I do not believe that there is either an advantage or disadvantage in focusing solely on the healthcare industry.  I believe that, given the fact that we are a medium-sized, family-owned business, our focused approach to a single industry allows us to produce the best results for our clients without spreading ourselves too thin.  Both my father and I are hands-on executives capable and willing to take part in any function of the business in order to ensure success. 

My desire to stay focused on the healthcare industry comes from my belief that we are assisting patients resolve what is, in most cases, a stressful and unwelcome situation.  My belief is that, through education and courtesy to all parties involved, the situation is usually able to be resolved in an amicable manner.  Healthcare collections is a totally different animal than collections in other industries, most often because the individual did not walk out with a tangible product and in most cases did not willingly pursue the services that they had.

Q. Does a smaller agency’s size hinder its ability to collect, or do businesses prefer a smaller, family-owned operation?

A. In many industries I assume an agency’s size can help or hinder its ability to collect.  More importantly, however, in the healthcare industry, in addition to securing payment on an account, it is essential that patients be treated ethically and with respect.  Hospitals and physicians need to be community minded and avoid any unnecessary bad press.  In dealing with an agency such as Professional Claims Bureau you are not doing business with a large conglomerate, but rather a medium sized company in which the principals are involved 100 percent in the day-to-day operations.  It is for this reason that I believe businesses (hospitals and doctors) would rather deal with an agency such as ours, conditioned of course that we could continue to produce results.

Q. What effect, if any, do you think single-payer healthcare might have on medical collections?

A. First off, I do not believe we will see a single-payer healthcare system in the United States any time soon.  That said, I do believe that if there were a single-payer healthcare system it would dramatically change the industry as we know it today.

I look at the possibility of a single-payer healthcare system with a glass half full approach, however.  Change always yields opportunities, and a massive change to our structure would, I believe, offer collection and billing agencies a myriad of opportunities.  Just in case, I have already begun to jot down numerous pages of notes!

Q. How will healthcare collection agencies need to evolve to remain competitive?

A. Given the growing amount of healthcare debt in this country, I believe the opportunities continue to be vast.  Differentiation is a key to success, as well as excellent customer service for both the client and the individual patients.  As previously stated, we have focused on expanding our service offerings to help our clients in varying stages of the revenue cycle.

Another way that I believe we will need to evolve is to form strategic alliances with some of the largest debt collection agencies out there -- including the debt buyers.  This is something that we are extremely open to, and I think there will be a need amongst the largest of players for help in servicing these massive portfolios that they continue to acquire.  Hand in hand with this, I anticipate continued consolidation within the industry via mergers and acquisitions as some of the largest players seek expertise in new debt classifications and as a means to obtain new client bases.

Finally, an openness to adopt new technologies that are becoming available will be crucial to an agency’s future success given the shrinking profit margins within the industry. 

Q. How, if at all, does HIPAA constrain your operation?

A. As someone who believes strongly in an individual’s right to privacy, we always make sure to follow all privacy laws and FDCPA regulations.  Privacy rules affect us more in the transmission of data with our clients and with the destruction of old data.  Technological advancements have allowed for the encryption of personal data during transmission, which, once adopted, really eliminate any potential headaches.  Overall, privacy regulations do not have a negative affect on our operations.

Q. What conference/resources do you find helpful as a small, family agency in order to stay current on healthcare collections?

A. Given the fact that we are a family owned agency located on the East Coast, it has been difficult for us to get to many of the industry conferences over the year.  At the few that we have attended, I believe the most beneficial part was the opportunity to see new technologies in action.  Networking opportunities are always great; however, I haven’t felt that the time out of the office or away from our clients has been entirely worth the travel. 

I do read many of the industry newsletters and articles including the insideARM.com daily news feeds.  I find this both informative and helpful in growing our business and following new legislation in our industry.