ClaimTek Medical Billing Success Stories

Life's a beach for Yemi

Santa Barbaran enjoys freedom from corporate America

Yemi Olayemi can see the Pacific Ocean from his Santa Barbara, Calif. home while chatting on the phone with far away clients. He can knock off work whenever he wants to sit on the warm sands along the fashionable resort town.

It seems life a world away from his former retail manager job in Los Angeles where the pressure never ended, unrealistic quotas couldn't be satisfied and the push to make the corporate world even more money never ceased. Now the owner of YKM Medical Claims has doubled his income while working half the time.

"I wake up and think about how lucky I am every single day," Yemi said. "When I want to have fun I jump in convertible and go down to the beach. I wish I started this 5 or 10 years ago."

Yemi turned 40 last year, which he even likes to joke was his last milestone for awhile. There's nothing like hitting the "Big 4-0" while working a job that is well, frankly, boring, to make someone think about their life.

Handling an electronic retail store was the same old, same old. Yemi stayed for the same reasons most people stick with boring jobs -- it paid well. Yemi couldn't complain about the money, but decided it was time to make a change and invest in himself.

"It gets boring when doing the same thing over and over," he said. "The same pressure, the same goals. No matter what you did it was never enough. What share of the cake was I getting out of it?"

Today, Yemi handles medical claims for seven medical practices ranging from a dentist to a speech pathologist. It would be easy to grow to 20 groups. Indeed, he has resisted the constant growth so he still has time to enjoy time on the beach. After all, Yemi wants more out of life than working.

"You get what you put into it," he said. "That's what I love about it. It's not 80 hours a week. I work 3-4 days per week. Being independent and controlling yourself is so great."

Yemi was looking for a business when a doctor he knew asked about becoming his medical biller. Yemi knew computers, but nothing about medical claims processing. No problem, said the doctor. He knew Yemi was diligent, goal oriented and could learn the business. Indeed, Yemi quickly saw a niche in handling workman's compensation claims that few other companies processed. Bingo -- he had an edge.

"I knew zero," Yemi said. "It was a little intimidating in the beginning. I am a nervous person and if I don't know something about a business I'll learn about it."

So Yemi started researching medical claims software and found ClaimTek Systems, a Portland, Ore. company founded by Kyle Farhat whose software and technical support have become industry standards. Yemi compared ClaimTek to another company and discovered the latter's tech support was only a website with a FAQ.

That wasn't enough for someone like Yemi, who wants a real live person on the other end of the line who can answer questions. Codes? Software? Billing snafus? You name it, Farhat was on the other end teaching Yemi the business.

"I never enter into any business where I can't get support," Yemi said. "When ClaimTek promises something they deliver it. Everything needed was there. I have confidence Kyle will be there if needed."

Yemi is a gregarious person -- the kind who is your best friend after five minutes. Getting doctors really wasn't hard for him. However, gaining doctors' confidence took more than presentations. You have to prove yourself.

Yemi took over one doctor's billing with $1.5 million in outstanding claims. That's right, $1,500,000.00 uncollected. Yemi went to work.

"Doctors like to hear you can do it. It gives them confidence," he said. "In the medical offices, thing happen and billing stops. That's the last thing you want. You need somebody to take care of that. I become the person they rely upon. When doctors know you have their backs they'll do whatever."

Yemi has since updated several doctors' aging computer systems that were geared towards paper claims. He even showed one physician how to buy the building he was renting space. One surgeon calls between operations just to chat.

Maybe he likes hearing the ocean in the background.