Kareo is a healthcare IT company that does not offer direct billing services, but instead maintains a network of third-party billing partners that it can match with clients based on their specialties and needs. While this gives you more options, it also means that multiple parties will be involved in your practice's billing cycle. This model is unique among the medical billing services we reviewed and could further complicate the already-complex medical billing and coding process.
Editor's score: 8.6/10
However, Kareo offers a highly intuitive healthcare IT platform, which includes its EMR system and medical practice management software. You can use the latter to monitor your medical billing partners' activities in real time, so direct communication with billers remains possible despite Kareo's unique model.
Kareo Patient Collect, the company’s own payment collections solution, gives providers several patient payment options. The service sends billing statements and reminders via email, text message and paper copies. Kareo Patient Collect can also store credit card information and create billing statements that are easy to read and understand.
When you sign up for Kareo, you participate in the discovery process for Kareo to determine your needs. When it understands the services you need, Kareo will match your practice with two medical billing companies it believes are good fits. On the upside, this means you can determine which of these two companies is the best fit for your practice and ensures that your medical billing service will be experienced with your practice's specialty and circumstances. On the downside, it means you have to trust both Kareo and a third-party company for a successful working relationship; practices that work with a single company may find it easier to manage the billing partnership.
Kareo recently merged with the patient acquisition platform PatientPop. As a result, signing up for Kareo’s medical billing services – and thus its EMR – also now gives you access to top-notch healthcare marketing tools.
Kareo Patient Collect, the company’s own payment collections solution, gives providers several payment options to offer patients. The service sends billing statements and reminders in the form of emails, text messages, and printed copies. Kareo Patient Collect can also store credit card information and create billing statements that are easy to read and understand.