P age A6
A ugust 2 4 , 199 4 • T he P ortland O bserver
Firm Helps Hospitals Make Financial Recovery
When Holly Singleton was
rushed to Central Florida hospital in
February with a massive heart at­
tack, her family had no idea how she
would pay the enormous medical
bills. After two days of battling for
life. Holly fell victim to one of the
leading causes o f death in this coun­
try Before Mrs. Singleton’s tragedy
was over, she had run up a hospital
bill o f SI 3,400 dollars. In addition,
her doctor's tab was topping the
S4.000 mark. Her son as in desperate
need assistance to pay his mother's
debt.
Mrs. Singleton's son turned to
the hospital for help. The hospital
administrators quickly referred him
to Healthcare Billing Associates, Inc.
(HBA), a medical billing company
located in Brooksville. Florida, which
specializes in recovering medical
payments.
“ When my mother passed away,
her death left my family with many
details to resolve.” said Nicholas
Singleton in a letter o f gratitude to
HBA. "Among these were medical
bills which had been incurred and
for which we had no means to pay.”
When Gregory Rosas, manag­
ing partner o f HBA received this
case, he immediately began research­
ing means to meet Mrs. Singleton's
financial obligation. Within 30 days.
Healthcare Billings Associates had
co llected o n e -th ird o f Mrs.
Singleton's bill, which was the maxi­
mum amount allowed by Medicad.
“ Mr Rosas w as able to help me
and my father sort out many intrica­
cies of the healthcare system,” Mr.
Singleton wrote. "His efficient solu­
tions relieved us of great pressure at
a very traumatic and painful time i
our lives.”
Mr. Singleton's bettersweet ex­
perience is a trademark for the team
at Healthcare Billing Associates, Inc.
There are numerous cases where
Rosas and his partner, LaChan
Knowles, have turned unfortunate
situations into comforting moments.
“Our primary goal is to help
hospitals and other medical facilities
collect money that is ow ed by former
patients,” said LaChan Knowles,
m anaging p artn e r for HBA.
"Through detailed screenings and
interviews, we are able to tap other
resources where funds may be avail­
able to cover unpaid medical bills.
“Unfortunately, our business
deals w ith many tragedies. We must
use tact and be very delicate when
sealing with our clients’ families,”
Knowles added.
Know les, a seven-year veteran
in social services decided to try' en­
trepreneurship with her former boss
Gregory Rosas, who has been in the
medical collections and receivables
business for 13 years, felt that
Knowles’ field experience and his
managerial skills would give their
newly formed company a firm foun­
dation
Both Knowles and Rosas left
one o f the leading medical billing
facilities in the Eastern United States.
To make their company a success,
they knew there would be long and
grueling days ahead. They built
healthcare Billing Associates from
the ground up. They began by ac­
quiring the latest industry' software
to keep accurate records. They pur­
chased powerful computer technol­
ogy-
"We knew that we were enter­
ing the arena with established com­
panies,” said Rosas. “We needed to
make sure that we had the same
equipment at our disposal as our
competition.”
Knowles and Rosas set up shop
in the small, but busy town o f
Brooksville, Florida. They leased an
eight hundred square foot office and
began knocking on doors and solic­
iting business. It wasn’t long before
their knocks were answered.
"In our first month ofbilling, we
collected a mere $28,000,” said
Rosas. “But, in the later part of 1993
and the beginning of 1994, we col­
lected more than half a million dol­
lars”
Rosas claims that their success
has not come easy. They have liter­
ally traveled great distances to get to
where they are today. Rosas, a fam­
ily man, admits that the responsibil­
ity o f owning your own business can
weigh heavily on a relationship.
“I travel more than 70 miles to
and from my office each day,” said
Rosas. “The nine to five workdays
no longer exists for me.”
Knowles travels a greater dis­
tance. Her round trip is 86 miles each
day.
“ We have to go where there’s
business,” said Knowles. “People
underestimate the profits that can be
made in the smallertowns with medi­
cal facilities. Fortunately, we have
been in the billing recovery business
long enough to see opportunity, and
be able to open the door when that
opportunity knocks.”
Both Knowles and Rosas know
that there are many obstacles for
them to overcome to sustain their
business. As an African American
and a H ispanic American doing busi­
ness, they admit that their challenges
are even greater. Knowles and Rosas
feel that their ethnicity should not be
a factor ifa doctor or medical facility
administrator is looking for a com­
pany to do quality work and get
results.
“Some people may see our eth­
nic backgrounds as an issue,” said
Rosas. “But those administrators who
are ch arg ed with m an ag in g a
hospital's finances are smart enough
to realize that the only color that
matters is the green on dollar bills.”
North And NE Portland
Residents To Breathe Easier!
The fed era l g o v ern m e n t
has ju st concluded that nico­
tine is in fact addictive, while
the Surgeon G eneral has called
nico tine “the m ost addictive
substance know n to m an.” A S­
PIRE Stop Sm oking Program
(fo rm e rly P a tric ia A llis o n ’s
BreatheFree Stop Sm oking Pro­
gram ) will teach a w eek long
sem inar on how to confront and
co n tro l this deadly and d is­
abling addiction. The sem inar
will be held A ugust 22-26 at
Emanuel Hospital (2801 N Gan-
ten b ein) for 7-9:30, M onday
through Friday. The first two
classes are educational, free and
w ithout risk or obligation!
A SPIRE has been helping
area residents to stop sm oking
s in c e c o m in g to P ortland in 1980
and offers one o f the m ost com ­
preh en siv e stop sm oking p ro ­
gram s available. ASPIRE is the
stop sm oking program for 12
m edical centers in the Portland
m e tro p o lita n re g io n and has
helped alm ost 5,000 people re ­
cover from nicotine addiction
over the past 14 years!
“ W ithout the ASPIRE p ro ­
gram I could never have done it.
I wish your program was av a il­
able to everybody in the U.S.
You are saving lives and re sto r­
National Campaign to
Reduce Incidence of
SIDS Launched
ing h o p e ” . M a ria n n e Itk in
(Form er 2 pack-a-day sm oker)
The first two sessions are ab­
solutely free and without risk or
further obligation. The entire pro­
gram including follow up services,
fees and the ASPIRE guarantee is
explained at the end of the first
session. ASPIRE is guaranteed and
costs considerably less than smok­
ing for most smokers.
ASPIRE teaches a unique,
intellectual and cognitive ap ­
proach unlike any other m ethod
or program av ailab le. In ter­
ested individuals can get more
inform ation and or register by
calling 243-2881.
Drowning Still Leading Cause of Toddler Death
A coalition o f Federal and private agencies is launching a national
education campaign to persuade parents to put healthy babies on their back
or side to sleep to help reduce the risk o f Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
(SIDS). Nearly 6,000 U.S. infants, more than 1 in 1,000 live births, die of
SIDS each year, making it the leading cause o f death among infants one
month to one year of age.
The primary message o f the "Back to Sleep” campaign is that healthy
babies should be placed on their back or side to sleep. This includes nap
times as well as nightly sleep. This recommendation was first made by the
American Academy o f Pediatrics in 1992. At that time, however, many
experts felt that, before starting a major campaign, more information was
needed to evaluate the relevance to the U.S. o f observations made in other
countries that have advocated back or side sleeping for infants. These
countries include New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, Norway, and the
Netherlands, all o f which have had decreases o f 50 percent or more in the
incidence of SIDS since recommending back or side sleeping for infants.
Since 1992, experts have surveyed international data and reviewed
preliminary data on SIDS and sleep position in the U.S., and no adverse side
effects from back or side sleeping have been found. Surgeon General M.
Joycelyn Elders, a pediatrician, said at the June 21 press conference
launching the campaign that “The simple act o f putting a baby to sleep on
its back or side provides us with the most promising intervention we have
ever had to reduce the number o f babies who die o f SIDS in the U.S.”
If you have any questions about your b a b y ’s sleep position or
health, first talk to your doctor. For m ore inform ation about the
"B ack to S leep” cam paign, call free o f charge, 1 -800-505-C R IB
O r you can w rite to: Back to Sleep, P. O. Box 29111, W ashington,
D C. 20040.
Among toddlers aged one and
two years, the leading cause of unin­
tentional injury death is drowning.
And, despite the widespread avail­
ability of such prevention strategies
as swimming-pool fencing, drown­
ing rates in toddlers have changed
little in 18 years, according to an
NICHD-supported study.
To identify trends in childhood
drowning rates in the United States
from 1971-1988, investigators ana­
turbances, such as diabetes; in­
fertility; acne; m ale-pattern bald­
ness; upper-body obesity; and a
skin d isorder, called acanthosis
nigricans.
These sym ptom s may result
from any o f several d isorders in­
cluding polycystic ovarian syn­
drom e (PC O S), C u sh in g 's syn­
d ro m e . c o n g e n ita l a d r e n a l
hyperplasia, adrenal or ovarian
tu m o r s ,
an d
h y p e r-a n d
hypothyroidism C ertain subsets
o f h y p e r a n d r o g é n ie w o m en
(E G., w om en with PCO S) may
be at g reater risk o f diabetes,
h y p e r te n s io n , c a r d io v a s c u la r
problem s such as a th ero sclero ­
lyzed national mortality data and
found that, in the time period stud­
ied, 45,680 children died due to un­
intentional, non-boat-related drown­
ing.
Am ong toddlers aged 1-2,
drowning rates had only a slight de­
cline of 1.6 percent per year. In in­
fants (<1 year old), drowning rates
actually increased by 1.6 percent per
year.
In olderchildren, drowning rates
Taxicab Board Creates
Accessible Vehicles
P o rtlan d ’s taxicab may be­
com e the first in the nation to
com ply with the A m ericans with
D isabilities Act (A D A ) req u ire­
m ents under rules adopted by the
C ity ’s T axicab Board o f Review.
The Board voted unanim ously to
require that at least 20% o f each
T a x ic a b c o m p a n y ’s fle e t be
w h e e lc h a ir a c c e s s ib le . A ny
Board authorization for new ve­
hicles m ust be met with acces­
sible vehicles until com panies
Impact of Androgenic Disorders on
Women’s Health Addressed
Androgenic disorders are the
most common endocrine abnormal­
ity in women.
They affect an estimated 5 to 10
percent o f women, but, because they
are so often overlooked, their exact
prevalence is unknown. To address
the effects of excess androgen pro­
duction on w om en’s health, the
NICHD recently held a landmark
meeting, notable for being the first at
which specialists from multiple dis­
ciplines met to discuss these disor­
ders. Som e o f the sym ptom s due
to excess androgen production
include hirsutism (excessive hair
grow th); am enorrhea (absent or
irregular m enses); m etabolic d is­
National Medical Association (NMA) officials greet US Surgeon General Joycelyn M. Elders, M.D. (2nd
from left), who was a keynote speaker at NMA’s 99th Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly in
Orlando, Florida. Flanking Dr. Elders are newly elected NMA President Tracy M. Walton, M.D. (left),
Ezra C. Davidson, Jr. (2nd from right), Chairman of NMA Board of Trustees, and Leonard E. Lawrence,
M.D. (right), immediate past president.
sis ) a condition in which plaques
form in the arteries), and early
developm ent o f endom etrial can­
cer.
T here is also some evidence
that upper-body obesity and in­
creased testosterone secretion by
the ovaries m ay be associated
with an increased risk o f breast
can cer, both before and after
m enopause. At the NICHD con­
ference, experts agreed that phy­
sicians need to be m ore aw are o f
the signs o f these com m on d iso r­
ders, which are often subtle or
disguised, so that they can offer
the n e c e s s a ry tre a tm e n t and
screening to their patients.
can provide equal response tim es
for both accessible and non-ac-
cessible service requests.
Board member Park Woodworth
chaired the subcommittee that de­
veloped the regulations. He stated,
“the question is really very simple:
are Portland’s taxicabs going to be as
safe and as available for disabled
customers as they are for non-dis­
abled people? I think the answer is
“you’re dam right” and the Board
agreed with that answer.
declined sharply, by 5.8 percent per
year in 10- 14-year-olds, and 5.4
percent in 15- 19-year-olds.
Toddlers are most likely to
drown in residential swimming pools,
although drownings also occur in
other sites, such as whirlpools, hot
tubs, buckets, bathtubs, and toilets;
in 1988, approximately 40 percent
of infant drownings occurred in bath­
tubs. One o f the easiest ways to pre­
vent toddler drownings is to ensure
that pools are surrounded on all sides
by a fence with a self-latching gate,
said the NICHD's Ruth A. Brenner,
M.D., M.P.H., the study's principal
investigator. (JAMA, May 25,1994,
Vol. 271, No. 20, pp. 1606-08)
Candidates Needed For
Contact Lens Studies
The Pacific University College o f Optometry is in need of candidates
for a variety o f contact lens research studies offered at the Pacific
University Family Vision Centers in downtown Portland and Forest
Grove.
Candidates will help researchers evaluate a number of criteria includ­
ing the fit and comfort o f new types o f contact lenses, new contact lens
solutions, and various contact lens fitting techniques. Those who are
currently wearing soft or hard contact lenses are needed as well as person
who have never worn contact lenses. Candidates o f all ages are needed,
depending on the specific subject of each study.
Those accepted for study may receive free contact lens materials such
as a pair o f contact lenses and/or supplies o f contact lens solutions.
Subjects will be required to pay a fee covering contact lens care rendered
during studies.
For more information, please call the Pacific University Portland
Family Vision Center at 224-2323, Ext. 402.
Early Identification
Information on early identifica­
tion of speech, language & hearing
problems helps parents ensure suc­
cessful development of children’s
social and academic Lives nearly 8
million children in the U.S. have a
speech, language, or hearing disor­
der that interferes with their ability
to learn to speak, to do well in school,
and to develop positive social rela­
tionships, according to the Ameri­
can Speech-Language-Hearing As­
sociation (ASHA). Parents are ad­
vised that early identification, evalu­
ation, and treatment of speech, lan­
guage, and hearing disorders are criti­
cal to reducing developmental de­
lays and to expanding communica­
tion skills.
A Ithough children's speech and
language skills develop at vary ing
rates, parents should be concerned
about speech and language skills if
their child doesn’t speak by the age
o f 1 year; if speech is not clear; or if
speech or language is different from
that of other children o f the same
age Parents should be concerned
about a child’s hearing if there is no
startle reaction or cry in response to
noises, or if the child doesn't re­
spond to familiar voices. Because
language develops so rapidly in the
first few months o f life, a child can
quickly fall behind academically and
socially if speech and language learn­
ing is delayed or if a hearing loss
goes undetected
An evaluation o f a c h ild 's
speech, language, and hearing
skills can be form al or inform al
and can in clu d e stan d ard iz ed
tests by a team o f professionals
in c lu d in g a u d io lo g is ts and
sp e e c h -la n g u a g e p a th o lo g ists;
direct observations of play and inter­
actions with caregivers: reports by
parents, teachers, or physicians; or
the collection and detailed analysis
of spontaneous speech samples.
ASHA is the national p ro ­
f e s s io n a l,
s c ie n tific ,
and
cred en tialin g o rg a n iz atio n for
77,000 au d iologists and speech-
language pathologists, the p ro ­
fe s s io n a ls w ho s p e c ia liz e in
evaluating and treating speech,
language, and hearing problem s.
For more information on speech,
language, and hearing development,
or to obtain a free copy of How Does
Your Child Hear and Talk? call 1-
800-638-8255.