Building a career in healthcare billing
Beyond care delivery, one of the most complex aspects of running a reliable medical practice is ensuring seamless insurance and billing operations. Medical billing is inherently complex. Not only do billers have to manage out of pocket billing, they also need to juggle billing through multiple insurance providers—each with its own plan types, billing codes and regulations. It is a career suited to those who thrive on juggling details, analyzing errors and meeting filing deadlines.
Cynthia Dane became interested in medical billing in the late 1970s: long before HIPAA when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services billing form, the CMS-1500, still had different rules for different states. She entered the field by chance when a family friend and physician asked for her help with his billing after hours.
Over the course of her long career, Dane has seen medical billing from nearly every angle. She worked at two billing system companies in roles spanning from customer support and account management to project management where she installed billing systems at university medical schools and large healthcare facilities.
Later, she became the physician billing manager at Detroit Medical Center, supporting about 250 physicians.
She then joined a healthcare research firm that held Michigan’s contract for “meaningful use”, advocating for providers to replace paper records and transition to electronic medical records supported by EHR systems.
It was in that role that Dane first discovered Tebra, which offered a comprehensive framework to electronically manage the entire revenue cycle.
Turning a billing system expert on to Tebra
With her in-depth experience in billing systems and process, Cynthia Dane was laser-focused on three things from a billing system which could be a powerful addition to healthcare providers’ new technology infrastructure. She found them all with Tebra:
- Easy registration. Patients change insurers often. The system must make updates clear and simple, terminating prior insurer data and adding new information without friction.
- Efficient and easy payment posting. Billing includes repetitive tasks that eat up much of a biller’s day. Reliable Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA) is critical.
- Support: Billing is time sensitive; lost time can mean lost revenue. Experienced and knowledgeable support speeds resolution.
“Tebra is a good, reliable billing system for producing claim forms, accurate patient statements, and posting payments. Registration works smoothly and payment posting and reports provide accurate data.“
“Electronic remittances and reports from the clearinghouses are also very good. Some people see 100 reports a day and find them a nuisance, but I appreciate the process checks between the practice, billing system, clearinghouse and insurance companies.
“I have lived through a time before Tebra when there wasn’t transparency of the remittance process and that resulted in finger-pointing and wasted time. So the smoothness of the process and having all those reports to back it up is extremely helpful to me.
“Tebra has the best support of any system that I’ve seen over the years,” says Dane. “Their team members are knowledgeable, patient and explain issues clearly. They also hang on while you make changes, work with you as long as it takes to get any issues resolved, and are good about sending follow-up emails. Small scale with big results
After years of leading billing at large organizations, Dane now brings her expertise to Dr. Mary Lee’s private practice. The practice serves a database of about 5,000 patients as of 2025.
Future-proofing with technology
“Dr. Lee has no plans to change her operational flow or technology providers,” adds Dane. “Everything works today. If major changes in the healthcare, insurance or billing landscape require it, we will be ready—and we’re confident that Tebra can and will support any such changes.”
Finally, this seasoned billing pro has advice for the next generation in this complex and ever-changing role:
“Do not worry that the role is going away anytime soon. Even if the country moved to a single-pager system, practices will still need accurate data on visit frequency and reasons for care. To keep yourself relevant, get as much formal procedure and diagnosis training that you can, so you can keep relevant now and in the future. And, of course, pay attention to how to leverage AI.”
