doctors used nationwide of Somerset-based billing system

Imagine a visit to the doctor that goes like this: You need an appointment, so you schedule it on the doctors’ Web site. You type in your symptoms and medical history so the doctor has all the information before your visit. You arrive at the office and scan your insurance card. By the time the appointment is over, your prescription is sent to the pharmacy electronically, with no chance for mistakes due to illegible handwriting. Before you leave, you know how much of the cost your insurance company has covered. You can even pay the balance on a kiosk with a credit card before you leave the office.

It sounds futuristic, but hundreds of doctor's offices across the country are using the system created by Medical Billing Transcription Corporation, a company based in the Somerset section.Marjorie Martinez can't say enough good things about it. As administrator in the Old Bridge office of Dr. Robert M. Schaefer, the system has made her job much easier."I've done this type of work for 35 years,'' she said. "I've seen the ins and outs, and this is top of the line. It's much more cost effective.''MTBC offers much more than cost effectiveness, according to its users. It greatly improves the patient-physician relationship. For patients, it means less time spent waiting in a doctor's office, no more confusion surrounding insurance claims and payments, and no unexpected billing charges. Perhaps most importantly, it means that patients get to spend more time with their doctors.
"We're excited every day about what we do,'' said David Rosenblum, president of MTBC. "Not one week goes by that we don't make some kind of enhancement.''Doctors benefit from the system because payment turnaround time often can be measured in days instead of weeks or months. And access to a patient's information is always at their fingertips.

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"Everything is Web-based, so the doctor can access all the pertinent information, even from home, '' Rosenblum said. "The doctor will never ask what brings you here today.''

Rosenblum was a business lawyer for 35 years when he joined the company, which was started by one of his clients, Mahmud Haq. Haq retired after years of working in the collection business. He decided in his spare time to use the techniques he had learned to create a more efficient billing system for his wife, who is a doctor. The system was introduced 10 years ago in Dr. Mehnaz Haq's North Brunswick office. To date, 600 doctors offices in 40 states have come on board with the system."We wanted to build a system to make billing and collecting more efficient,'' said Rosenblum. ""We've exceeded that horizon a thousand fold. The fees we charge the doctors are far overshadowed by their increase in revenue.''