Medical Billing Marketing Lessons: The Blind Spots

There’s a widely held perception that marketing and sales in revenue cycle management (RCM) is exceptionally challenging, and organic growth is difficult to achieve. However, my recent experiences suggest the opposite might be true—and there’s a valuable medical billing marketing lesson to be learned from understanding why.

The Expert’s Blind Spot

I recently had a revealing conversation with two seasoned RCM professionals—operators who had built multi-million-dollar billing companies from the ground up, eventually selling to larger entities. While discussing marketing categories and strategies, I encountered surprising resistance to basic marketing concepts.

Our discussion involved categorizing different marketing activities, and several fundamental misunderstandings emerged:

1. They insisted websites and social media belonged under “advertising” rather than recognizing their distinct functions
2. They categorized email and lead generation together, failing to recognize that numerous activities (including social media and pay-per-click) generate leads
3. They confused marketing attribution, believing websites themselves generated leads rather than serving as conversion points

Despite attempting to explain these medical billing marketing lessons, the conversation went in circles, with these industry veterans firmly holding onto misconceptions about marketing fundamentals.

The Irony of the Situation

What struck me most was the irony: these undeniably accomplished RCM professionals—true experts in medical billing—were unable to recognize the limits of their marketing knowledge. The same industry that routinely criticizes physicians for believing they excel at everything demonstrated the same blind spot.

According to Healthcare Success, this pattern is common in the RCM industry, where technical expertise often doesn’t translate to marketing competence.

Medical Billing Marketing Lessons for Growth

This experience offers two important medical billing marketing lessons for RCM companies seeking growth:

1. Recognize Knowledge Gaps

It’s perfectly acceptable not to be an expert in every aspect of your business. Marketing and sales require specialized knowledge different from RCM operations. For companies seeking to improve their medical billing performance, acknowledging these knowledge gaps is the first step toward improvement.

2. Seek Expert Guidance

Rather than assuming marketing expertise, successful RCM companies should:

• Consult with marketing professionals
• Be open to learning from those with specialized knowledge
• Recognize when to defer to subject matter experts

The Healthcare Financial Management Association notes that RCM companies that bring in outside marketing expertise typically see 30-40% improvement in lead generation compared to those relying solely on internal knowledge.

The Competitive Advantage of Marketing Literacy

If the experience described is emblematic of the broader RCM industry—and substantial evidence suggests it is—there’s an important medical billing marketing lesson here about competitive advantage. Companies that develop even basic marketing literacy gain a significant edge over competitors.

When RCM companies develop proper medical billing strategy targeting alongside fundamental marketing knowledge, they often find it surprisingly easy to win business from competitors who still operate with marketing misconceptions.

Conclusion: A Market Opportunity

The widespread marketing blind spot in the RCM industry represents both a challenge and an opportunity. While many billing companies struggle with effective marketing, those willing to acknowledge their limitations and seek expertise can gain substantial competitive advantage.

Perhaps the most valuable medical billing marketing lesson is that in an industry where marketing literacy remains low, even modest improvements in marketing approach can yield outsized results. Rather than viewing marketing as an insurmountable challenge, RCM companies should recognize it as an opportunity for differentiation in a crowded market.