Virtual medical assistant services
HIPAA-trained assistants who take on the phone and admin work that pulls your front desk away from patients.
Front desk staff in a practice do several jobs at once: checking patients in, answering phones, chasing authorizations, confirming tomorrow's schedule and fielding billing questions. When the phones get busy, the admin work slips, and that is when authorizations are missed and eligibility goes unchecked.
SFA Solutions provides U.S.-based virtual medical assistants who work inside your EHR, PM system and payer portals. They handle prior authorizations, insurance eligibility checks, scheduling and appointment reminders, EMR data entry and patient billing communications. Each assistant completes HIPAA training, follows our HIPAA-compliant processes, and works under our business associate agreement with your practice. Because the same team also handles billing, the admin work your assistant does helps keep claims cleaner. You choose the task list, and we report on volume and turnaround so you can see the work being done.
Who this is for
Virtual assistants suit small and mid-size practices whose front desk is stretched, practices with high authorization volume such as imaging, cardiology and behavioral health, and groups covering staff turnover or leave without hiring locally. They also work well for telehealth practices with no physical front desk.
Related services
What our virtual medical assistants service covers
Prior authorizations
Requests submitted and tracked through payer portals and fax, with approvals logged against the scheduled visit.
Eligibility checks
Coverage and benefits verified ahead of visits, with inactive plans flagged for your staff.
Scheduling and reminders
Appointment booking, rescheduling and reminder calls or messages to help reduce no-shows and fill open slots.
EMR data entry
Demographic updates, insurance card entry, document indexing and other chart housekeeping your providers should not be doing.
Patient billing calls
Answering balance questions, explaining EOBs in plain terms, and setting up payment plans under your policy.
Inbox and fax management
Sorting incoming faxes, records requests and payer letters, and routing each one to the right person.
How we deliver it
Scope
We list the tasks, hours and systems involved, and agree on how requests and escalations will reach your team.
Access and training
Your assistant gets user access to your systems and learns your scheduling rules, templates and payer mix.
First two weeks
Your assistant starts with a defined task list while an SFA lead reviews the work daily.
Ongoing
Weekly volume and turnaround reporting, with tasks added as your team gets comfortable.
Tasks a virtual assistant can take off your front desk
| Task | What the assistant does | Effect on revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Prior authorization | Submits and tracks requests, logs auth numbers and units | Can reduce CO-197 and CO-15 denials |
| Eligibility | Checks coverage 2 to 3 days before visits | Can reduce CO-27 and CO-22 denials |
| Reminders and confirmations | Calls or messages patients ahead of appointments | Fewer no-shows and more filled slots |
| Insurance data entry | Enters new insurance details and updates demographics | Fewer clearinghouse rejections for bad member IDs |
| Patient balance calls | Explains statements and sets up payment plans | Faster patient collections and fewer complaints |
Virtual Medical Assistants for your specialty
We bill for 28+ specialties. These are the ones we work with most.
Nurse Practitioner billing
Billing for NP-led and physician-NP practices, from the 85% Medicare rate and incident-to rules to split/shared visits and getting each NP credentialed under the right NPI.
Learn moreInternal Medicine billing
Billing for internists who manage complex, chronic patients, with E/M levels, wellness visits and care management codes captured when the documentation supports them.
Learn moreOphthalmology billing
Eye exam codes, refraction, diagnostic testing, cataract globals and high-cost injectable drugs all follow their own rules. Ophthalmology is one of the specialties we bill most often.
Learn moreQuestions about virtual medical assistants
Are your virtual assistants HIPAA compliant?
Assistants complete HIPAA training, follow our HIPAA-compliant processes, and work under a business associate agreement between SFA Solutions and your practice. They work with the system access your practice grants, which you can revoke at any time.
Are the assistants based in the U.S.?
Yes. SFA Solutions is a U.S.-based team. We agree on coverage hours with you during scoping so the assistant is available when your office needs the help.
Can an assistant work in our EHR?
Yes. Our team works inside most major systems, including Epic, eClinicalWorks, athenahealth, NextGen, Kareo/Tebra, AdvancedMD, DrChrono, Practice Fusion, TherapyNotes, Osmind and more.
Can we start part-time?
Yes. Many practices start with a specific block of work, such as authorizations or reminder calls, and add tasks as they see results.
Do virtual assistants replace our front desk?
Usually they support it. Your in-office staff keep the face-to-face work with patients, and the assistant handles the phone, portal and data entry work that piles up behind them.
Start with a free review
Tell us a little about your practice. We will look at where virtual medical assistants is costing you money today and walk you through what we find.
- No commitment
- Reply from an RCM specialist, typically within one business day
- No patient records needed to start
Get a free review
An RCM specialist typically replies within one business day.