My name is Merry Schiff and I am the founder and Executive Director of NEBA. I have been in the medical billing business for over 40 years. In the early days, we had no electronic claims and there were fewer medical insurance companies. Dental insurance did not exist and no one had heard the words, "managed care." As you are probably aware, this field has changed dramatically.

As a medical reimbursement specialist, I have been installing computer systems for medical and dental providers since 1978 and for two years (in the mid 80's) I was IBM's only authorized installer for its medical software. I have helped design several medical claims packages and I have been selling and training in this specific market for many years.

NEBA was founded in 1996 to assist people who were entering the medical billing industry or who were currently working in the field. We saw that many people were spending $5000 to $10,000 to get into the medical billing business, and once they had completed their training, they still were "lost." Ongoing support was lacking and many people did not succeed.

As part of the pre-sales process, prospective medical billers have been told that this business is easy, that the doctors will knock down your door to do business with you, that the software provider will be there for ongoing support, and that you will make tons of money in just a short period of time. You need to know the truth. This is a complex business, though it can be extremely rewarding and lucrative if you are willing to learn and develop the necessary skills. Doctors will not simply hand over their claims to you; it takes time, as in any start-up business, to achieve your financial and business goals.

And so NEBA was born: an organization for people who are medical billers or who want to be . . . and an organization that will tell you the truth and not try to sell you anything that you do not want or cannot afford.

Merry Schiff, C.H.R.S.
Executive Director NEBA