Hiring virtual medical staff for a orthopedics practice in Montana
Orthopedic practices win or lose on surgical case volume and DME margin. Our orthopedic virtual medical assistants manage the entire surgical pipeline - from initial consult scheduling and MRI/X-ray prior authorizations to pre-op clearances, surgery scheduling with hospitals and ASCs, DME ordering, PT referrals, and post-op outreach. Trained on workers' comp, personal injury, and commercial workflows, our remote orthopedic staff keep your OR block full and your post-op patients on plan.
Montana has more than 3,000 active physicians serving a large rural population across long distances, with hubs in Billings, the fast-growing Bozeman and Missoula corridors, and Great Falls. Strong demand from primary care, orthopedics, and regional referral groups where rural geography makes virtual staff especially valuable.
Montana local market intelligence
What orthopedics practices in Montana need to know before hiring virtual staff
Where Montana orthopedics demand is concentrated
Demand is concentrated in the Billings metro (regional referral and multi-specialty practices), the fast-growing Bozeman and Missoula corridors (primary care and orthopedics), and Great Falls and Helena. Rural geography makes virtual staff especially valuable, and Billings and Bozeman primary care and orthopedic groups generate the largest staffing requests.
Montana payer mix and prior auth volume
Montana runs roughly 55% commercial / 30% Medicare and Medicare Advantage / 15% Medicaid in private practice, serving a large rural population across long distances. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, PacificSource, and UnitedHealthcare drive most prior auth volume; Montana Medicaid, largely fee-for-service with a passport primary-care case-management program, dominates eligibility checks.
Compliance and licensing notes for Montana practices
Montana's data breach notification statute and the state's Uniform Health Care Information Act impose consent rules stricter than HIPAA on disclosures of health records. Staffing For Doctors virtual staff sign MT-compliant BAAs and are trained on the state's records and consent rules before placement.
“Our Bozeman orthopedic group serves patients across hundreds of miles. Two Staffing For Doctors VMAs handled scheduling and prior auth, and our authorization turnaround dropped from nine days to two.”
Practice Manager, Orthopedic Group, Bozeman, MT
Montana orthopedics roles we staff
DME Specialist
An orthopedic DME specialist manages the practice's durable medical equipment program - knee braces, walking boots, slings, CPM machines, bone stimulators, post-op cold therapy, and back braces. They verify DME coverage with commercial, Medicare, and workers' comp payers, secure prior authorizations, document medical necessity, dispense in clinic or coordinate vendor drop-ship, and submit DME claims with correct HCPCS codes and modifiers.
Learn moreOrthopedic Virtual Medical Assistant
An orthopedic virtual medical assistant is a dedicated remote staff member who runs the daily admin workload of an orthopedic practice - scheduling office visits, MRIs, X-rays, surgical consults, and post-op visits inside Modernizing Medicine ortho, Athena, eClinicalWorks, NextGen, or Epic Ortho. They route portal and phone messages, manage refills, coordinate DME orders, and follow up on workers' comp and personal injury cases.
Learn morePre-op Authorization Specialist
An orthopedic pre-op authorization specialist owns prior auths for surgical procedures - total knee, total hip, ACL reconstruction, rotator cuff repair, spinal fusion, hardware removal, and arthroscopy. They submit through eviCore, Carelon, payer portals, and workers' comp adjusters, attach the required conservative care documentation (PT notes, injection records, imaging, conservative care duration), and chase status to approval before the case is booked.
Learn moreSurgical Coordinator
An orthopedic surgical coordinator owns the entire surgical pipeline from decision-to-operate through post-op follow-up. They book OR or ASC time with the hospital, secure pre-op clearance from primary care or cardiology, schedule pre-op labs and EKG, secure prior authorizations for the procedure and implants, send pre-op instructions to the patient, coordinate anesthesia, and confirm the case 48 hours out.
Learn moreWhy Montana orthopedics practices choose Staffing For Doctors
- Coverage scheduled to Mountain Time business hours
- Orthopedics-specific training on the EHRs and payers Montana practices use
- HIPAA compliant with signed BAA and secure devices
- Onboarded in 48 hours with a dedicated Customer Success Manager
- Starts at $14/hour, no setup fees, no benefits overhead