# The Passel Group

> The Passel Group (thepasselgroup.com) is a forward-deployed engineering firm. Its engineers embed in medical billing companies, law firms, clinics and medical practices, and accounting and CPA firms to measure repeated manual work and automate it inside the client's existing tools. Every engagement commits in writing to at least 20 hours a month of staff time saved, or the work continues at no additional cost. Contact: info@thepasselgroup.com. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-passel-group. X: https://x.com/thepasselgroup.

Full text of every page: https://thepasselgroup.com/llms-full.txt

## What a forward-deployed engineer is

- A forward-deployed engineer (FDE) is a software engineer who works inside a client's organization, in its own systems and workflows, to build and ship working software rather than deliver a recommendation. The term originated at Palantir and is now used by OpenAI, Anthropic, and many AI companies.
- FDE vs consultant: a consultant's deliverable is a report or roadmap, priced on time; an FDE's deliverable is a running system, priced on an outcome.
- FDE vs solutions engineer: solutions engineers work pre-sale for a software vendor (demos, proofs of concept); FDEs write production code inside the customer's environment.
- FDE vs dev agency: agencies build new applications to a specification; FDEs connect and automate the systems a business already runs.
- Cost: published 2026 data puts average full-time FDE compensation near $238,000 a year after an ~800% rise in demand through 2025. Most mid-sized businesses engage one instead of hiring one.

## How The Passel Group's engagement works

1. A 20-minute call. The flat fee for the audit and the Observer's telemetry scope are agreed in writing.
2. Weeks 1–2: the Passel Observer, a lightweight workflow-telemetry agent, is deployed to each workstation. It captures application-level activity signals (which systems are in use, how often the same sequence recurs, how long each cycle takes), aggregated at team level and encrypted in transit and at rest. For healthcare clients a Business Associate Agreement is signed first.
3. Week 3: the Gap Report lists every repeated task, its time cost per person per month, what can be automated, and the build order. It is the client's to keep.
4. Week 4 onward: a forward-deployed engineer builds automations inside the client's existing tools (APIs where they exist, careful monitored browser automation where they don't) until at least 20 hours a month are measurably saved. A person stays in the loop for anything touching money, patients, or clients.

Pricing: one flat fee for the audit, given on the first call; the build is scoped per workflow. Guarantee: the agreed written outcome is reached, or work continues at no additional cost.

## Industries and the workflows automated

- Medical billing companies (RCM): eligibility and benefits verification, prior authorization tracking, demographics entry, charge reconciliation, claim scrubbing, coding review, claim status checks, denial management and appeals, ERA payment posting, AR prioritization, patient statements, client month-end reporting. Tools: Availity, Waystar, Change Healthcare, Kareo/Tebra, AdvancedMD, athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, NextGen, Office Ally, CollaborateMD, payer portals.
- Law firms and legal departments: client intake, conflict checks, engagement letters and retainers, document review and discovery, drafting from precedent, contract review, legal research memos, deadline calendaring, time capture, pre-bill review, collections, trust reconciliation, matter status updates. Tools: Clio, PracticePanther, MyCase, Smokeball, NetDocuments, iManage, Relativity, Everlaw, LawPay, QuickBooks, Microsoft 365, DocuSign.
- Clinics and medical practices: scheduling and waitlist backfill, intake forms, eligibility and copay estimates, referral and fax handling, prior authorizations, documentation support, results and inbox triage, care gaps and recalls, charge capture, claim status and denials, patient balances, KPI reporting, credentialing tracking. Tools: Epic, athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, NextGen, Kareo/Tebra, AdvancedMD, Practice Fusion, Availity, CoverMyMeds, Phreesia, Klara.
- Accounting, bookkeeping and CPA firms: document collection and chasing, classification and extraction, organizers, bank feed categorization, reconciliations, month-end close, sales tax and payroll filings, tax return preparation support, review notes and e-file tracking, client reporting, engagement letters, billing and WIP, client requests. Tools: QuickBooks Online, Xero, Karbon, Canopy, TaxDome, Drake, Lacerte, UltraTax, CCH Axcess, Bill.com, Gusto.

## Compliance

- HIPAA compliance program independently and continuously verified through Live Compliance (https://livecompliance.com/): security risk assessment, workforce training, documented policies.
- Operates as a business associate on PHI/ePHI projects; executes a BAA before any data is touched; minimum-necessary access; de-identification wherever the work allows; client data is never used to train models.

## Pages

- [Home](https://thepasselgroup.com/): positioning, what an FDE is, industries, how it works, the Gap Report, commitments, guarantee, FAQ, contact form.
- [What is a forward-deployed engineer?](https://thepasselgroup.com/forward-deployed-engineers): definition, what FDEs do, FDE vs consultant vs solutions engineer vs agency (comparison table), when to hire one, cost, FAQ, sources.
- [How it works](https://thepasselgroup.com/how-it-works): the call, the Passel Observer, the Gap Report, the build, what it costs, FAQ.
- [Industries](https://thepasselgroup.com/industries/): index of industry pages.
- [Medical billing companies](https://thepasselgroup.com/industries/medical-billing)
- [Law firms](https://thepasselgroup.com/industries/law-firms)
- [Clinics & practices](https://thepasselgroup.com/industries/clinics)
- [Accounting & CPA firms](https://thepasselgroup.com/industries/accounting-firms)
- [Partners — Live Compliance](https://thepasselgroup.com/partners): verified HIPAA compliance, BAAs, PHI handling, compliance FAQ.

## Optional

- [Full site text](https://thepasselgroup.com/llms-full.txt)
- [Sitemap](https://thepasselgroup.com/sitemap.xml)