Negotiating Medical Billing Work at Home From Existing Jobs
Interested in doing medical billing work at home, but not sure how to convince your boss to let you? Here are some proven telecommunicating negotiation tactics...
The first thing to take note of is that asking your boss to work from home shouldn't be a casual conversation. Don't just stop them in the hallway and ask. This is likely to trigger an instant "no".
Instead, ask for a formal meeting time and come in prepared. If you go into a meeting with thoughtful answers to potential concerns, you'll be more likely to get a "yes".
Plan
Create a formal proposal that highlights potential cost savings and how you intend to spend your time.
You'll want to account for all hours of the working day. This is so that your employer can see that you're not going to spend your time watching TV or taking care of your children.
Take a look around your office and see if you can help streamline operations or consolidate office space by working from home.
Add these ideas to your proposal - it's a win-win for you and your employer.
While you're pointing out all the space-savings you can bring your office, also take the time to detail how your medical billing work at home office is set up. Showing that you have an equivalent space at home is a good way to allay the fears of a boss who may think you'll be sitting in a Starbucks with sensitive patient information.
Since medical billers also have the benefit of working largely on the computer, you can point out that your job is ideal for telecommuting.
The billing software will most likely be able to give your boss an accurate time report, allowing for performance checks.
Your Personality
Underline the parts of your personality that make you a strong candidate for telecommuting.
If your boss already knows that you work well, it will be easier for them to envision you maintaining your current level of performance working alone.
At this point consider proposing telecommuting on a trial basis or for only a few days a week to start. This gives your employer an out if they aren't finding the set up satisfactory.
Your proposal should also include an itemized breakdown of your availability, including...
- phone
- fax
- instant messenger
- any other standard forms of communication for your office.
If your employer agrees to a trial or your proposal in total, sit down with them and establish measurable performance indicators.
This way both you and your employer can make sure that you are complying with the responsibilities of your medical billing work at home position.
You should clearly include a few of these performance milestones in your initial proposal.
Timeline
Finally, establish a timeline for review.
If your boss initially agreed to a trial, establish a timeline for it. Include times for in-person meetings where both of you review how the set-up is working.
If your boss agrees to allow you to telecommute without a trial, still set up regular in-person visits to ensure that everything remains on track.
In summary: it is possible to create work from home arrangements as a medical biller.
You'll want to make your employer understand that you are serious. A well crafted, fully researched proposal will garner more attention than a meeting where you sit there and wing it.
The key to doing this successfully is ensuring that you enter negotiations in a professional way and that you have answers ready for all of your employer's questions. The best of luck!
If you found this page useful, please click "Like"! Thanks.
