The Need for Community

A while ago, I was posed an interesting problem.  The medical billing advocacy startup I was working with made the business decision to bring on independent contractors to work our advocacy cases.  The medical revenue cycle in America is a big hairy beast with lots of pitfalls and obscure laws and regulations - nobody understands all of it, and previous efforts using employee generalists did not lead to the creativity and tenacity this work regularly requires.  Contractors working for commissions based on total customer savings were financially incented to work harder for the big money win. 

The decision was made to find people with technical healthcare industry knowledge and professional patient advocacy experience and feed them new advocacy cases that they would fully own and see from start to finish.  We would provide lead generation and a software framework in order to empower people to start their own business.

But now what?  It quickly became apparent that ronin contractors out in the wild often disappear without a trace.  They would become frustrated with something they didn't know how to ask for help with, or other aspects of their lives would get in the way, or they would think that nobody was paying attention and they could just stop doing the work.  No matter the reason, they're gone, and the customers they've been working with feel upset and neglected - if they haven't given up on working with us entirely.

We needed some form of community for these independent contractors.  Patient advocacy is high motivation and emotionally exhausting work, and it's easy to feel all alone in the fight when you're working by yourself at home, hundreds of miles from your nearest colleague.  It's easy to get frustrated and give up.

Undaunted, I rolled up my sleeves and started learning how to build a community.  My experiences will be shared here in the hopes that I can teach and learn from other people who are facing similar situations.