Healthy collections: North American Credit Services expands Chattanooga campus
By Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Bunton recalls the most successful debt collector in
"I never dreamed I'd be a bill collector, but I always thought if I was, I wanted to be like that guy because he was so nice to people and ended up getting paid back far more than other collectors who were more threatening and mean," Bunton said.
It's a lesson Bunton has used to build his
At age 64, Bunton is still growing his 275-employee business in
The new office comes a year after Bunton acquired a nearby junk yard on
"I've always tried to run a company that treats people like you want to be treated, or you don't stay with us very long," Bunton said. "It's a model that has worked."
Bunton, who left home with only
At age 32, he was recruited to
The small
But Bunton quickly grew the business and erased the debt by 1985. The entrepreneurial manager was eager to expand the business beyond medical bill collections, but
"I have always been a visionary and wanted to provide more services to hospitals and their physicians than
In 1992,
The debt collection portion of the business he acquired now represents only about 20 percent of the work done by
But the growth of the company hasn't always been steady. In 2003, North American Credit lost a key physician group that changed its operating and billing procedure to electronic health records that didn't match up with the business plan for North American. In response, 30 employees were moved out of one office building and about half of those had to be laid off.
While Bunton has diversified the business into handling most aspects of doctor and hospital billing, patient records have not been part of the business plan.
"The model has been built for customer service throughout the customer billing cycle," said
The company serves hospitals ranging from the 27-bed
The company makes its money only when it collects from the patient, insurance companies or other third party representation for clients. Thousands of calls, both personal and automated, are made each day from the company's
"It's still our people that make the difference," he said.
The North American Credit owner, who had open heart surgery last year, says he has a succession plan to keep the business in his family.
"I regularly get offers to sell the business," he said. "But for all of its challenges, it's still a lot of fun."
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