Michael N. Brown, Fellow Health Partners, Inc. Founder: ‘Our Large, Full-Time Tech Team Customizes the Integration of Systems and Software with our Clients, Helping to Make our Clients More Money with Less Stress’

“Our highly trained staff delivers personal service using proprietary compliance-driven technology.”

Doctors work hard for their money. They help people and save lives. But when it comes to getting paid, they face more hurdles than ever. Insurance denials. Rising staff costs. Lower reimbursements. Just to name a few.

In light of the foregoing, we’re thrilled to present Fellow Health Partners, Inc.

Fellow Health Partners has earned the trust of hospitals, doctors, and practice administrators across the country because of its unique balance of customer service, technology, and training, which enhances transparency, responsiveness, and quality in medical billing.

The company was established in 2016 and is headquartered in Long Island, New York.

Michael N. Brown, Fellow Health Partners, Inc. Founder, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt.

Q. Why was the company set up? And how did you expand your company and its offerings over the years?

Fellow Health Partners was developed to meet an identified need in medical billing, specifically that medical care providers often have only two options when it comes to billing. They have to choose either a) service focused, American-based “mom and pop” billers who often lack both resources to scale and up-to-date technology or b) large, impersonal “offshore” assembly-line type companies that prioritize technology above customer service. Fellow Health Partners was created to meet both needs – a combination of “high touch”, responsive customer service and “high tech” billing and workflow processes, to guarantee accuracy and quality. The company scales with no loss of quality because it is committed to the on-going training of all employees in both technical and people skills.

Q. How successful was your first project roll out? Share the experience.

Our first M&A transaction had only a few bumps, mostly because our executive team knew what not to do, allowing us to avoid some traditional pitfalls. However, we did learn some very valuable lessons which we applied to our second and third transactions, enabling us to realize tremendous improvements in profitability and throughput, especially when applying our technology and workflow solutions.

Q. What kind of responses have you received from your consumers over the years? How have they motivated you to shape your offerings/grow the company?

To date, our clients have told us they are very happy with the combination of service and technology that we provide. They tell us they like the transparency in our “real-time” billing reports as well as the timely access to team members. And, our large, full-time tech team customizes the integration of systems and software with our clients, helping to make them more money with less stress.

Q. What challenges did you face in your initial years? What can your peers learn from it?

The biggest challenge for us as a start-up was to raise all the money we needed to grow before we started growing. We had a different model from other billing companies. We built our infrastructure for accelerated growth before we began to grow fast. This included our Knowledge College™ curriculum, our SAVi™ workflow, and billing software, compliance programs, accounting processes, and talent acquisition/retention strategies. We built our advisory committees and trusted members of our Board of Directors. When it comes to what we learned, our situation is similar to that of many entrepreneurs – it’s important to have enough capital and important to build people- and technology-focused infrastructure first.

Q. Building a culture of sustainability inside an organization is very important to maintain a reputation in the global market. How is it true for your company?

In our view, a culture of sustainability is only part of the equation. The other part is to build a culture of growth that doesn’t stress the people or the processes. It was clear to us that a world-class training environment would be needed to execute our strategy because if our employees used all their skills “consciously”, they would replicate the same level of excellence each time they applied the skills.

Q. A company’s behavior is as important as its economic performance or the quality of its products. How do you interpret this saying?

To us, this means we have to behave the same way with our clients, our employees, and even our vendors. Treat everyone with respect, put yourself in their shoes and see the world from their point of view, and then act accordingly. A company’s collective behavior is the company’s culture, which is effectively created by management.

Q. If you have to list four factors that have been/are the biggest asset to your organization, what would they be and why?

Our people — we hire the best, train constantly, support them, and encourage them to grow in their job.

Our collaboration with Clients— we work closely with them before we even start the onboarding process. We help them, they provide feedback on how we can do an even better job, and then we apply the learnings to continuous improvement.

Technology— everything from EHR solutions to our SAVi™ system is designed to make things easier and more accurate for both our team and the client.

Training— our Knowledge College™ is one-of-a-kind. Our people have enhanced technical and people skills, which helps with everything from billing to improved results when dealing with insurance company personnel and patients.

Q. What do you feel are the reasons behind your company’s reputation?

Our clients have told us that it’s because they feel valued and served, as we work to get them the most money for their services as quickly as possible. We work denials diligently, which many billing companies just don’t do. We ensure that the relevant coding is current and accurate while ensuring that A/R is kept to a minimum. These are all important in building and maintaining trust.

Q. Are there any factors that have played key roles in shaping your organization’s road map?

When I look back I think constantly of Strategic Thinking. It helped us map out what we would need to reach our goal and think about the future, not only the current environment. This included building an organizational and human resources infrastructure to support and sustain accelerating growth; on-going training; a clearly articulated and managed organizational structure, supported by current job descriptions; and our diligent focus on our clients while staying on the leading edge of all relevant technology

Q. Where do you see your company a couple of years from now?

We hope to continue to be recognized and trusted as a leader in customer service and medical billing solutions, with a 5-star rating from our clients.

Michael N. Brown:  A Charismatic Entrepreneur

Fellow Health Partners was founded by Michael N. Brown who identified the need for a highly scalable Billing Solutions company that fit between “mom and pop” billers and assembly-line offshore giants that often fell down on customer service. Then, he recruited the executive team to meet the need, drawing on more than 15 years of business consulting experience at companies such as Price Waterhouse Coopers and Loughlin Management Partners + Co, where he worked with large multi-nationals as well as smaller companies ranging from $50 million to $2 billion. Michael holds a BA in Accounting and an MBA with a specialization in Accounting, Finance, and Taxation.

The executive team is seasoned in helping companies grow their people (Human Capital), customer service, sales, marketing, and technology. Fellow Health Partners has a large, in-house tech team, a seasoned Advisory Board of top doctors, and a strong Board of Directors consisting of top legal, entrepreneurial, and medical experts.

We work with clients and locations across the United States, acting as an extension to any medical practice or facility—providing billing expertise, office and workflow solutions, customer service assistance, and administrative support.