Medical billing collections is increasing in usage, as many physician practices, medical clinics and hospitals face ever-growing past due debts from slow pay patient delinquencies and backed up insurance claims.
As nearly 47 million Americans live without any private health insurance, a bad economy and recession, in addition to ever-increasing unemployment forecasts, also means shrinking positive cash flow for professional medical personnel.
With that in mind, there are some things you can do, which if put into consistent practice, you can greatly improve your internal medical billing collections. The use of these six tactics will greatly improve your financial picture.
1. Make sure you have a payment procedure that’s plainly understood by patients. This needs to be placed clearly visible at the front of your office so there’s no confusion. New patients should clearly understand what, if any, payments are expected upfront, concerning co-pays, etc. This needs to be clarified BEFORE service is rendered.
2. Its vital to collect ample and accurate client information at the first visit to the doctor’s office. Gather the patient’s full name, birthdate, address, work, home and cell phone numbers.
Get their work information: address, phone number(s), position/title, manager/supervisor, etc.
The point is the more information you can get here, the better. While some patients may be hesitant about giving their social security number, its still a good idea to ask for it, in the event the account has to be later turned over to a collection agency.
3. If the patient has private health insurance, its important that you verify coverage at this point. The hectic pace of the doctor’s office during peak times shouldn’t be an excuse for ignoring this crucial step. Verifying coverage here will save you, and your staff, many headaches later.
4. Include written information in your patient application detailing the patients’ responsibility to pay. Also, include language stating in the event the account is turned over to a collection agency for non-payment, that the patient will be responsible for collection costs.
In some states, the business can recoup their costs for hiring a collections agency, if it is stated in the patient-signed application upfront. (Check with your attorney about this, as state laws vary)
5. Allow patients to make payment arrangements for those going through financial difficulties. Because so many are either uninsured or under-insured, making reasonable payment arrangements via installments gives them more options, and greater peace of mind. It will also help generate cash flow to your practice.
6. Know when its time to turn problem delinquent accounts over to a debt collection agency. As covered earlier, rising unemployment, a recession and slow economy, and lack of health coverage has caused greater financial burdens for some patients, making it more difficult to pay for health care.
Most people intend to do the right thing and honoring their debt obligations. But the reality is that some others are less responsible. By using the before-mentioned procedures, consistently and early on, you can better identify the patients experiencing temporary financial problems from the “problem” delinquent accounts. Payment arrangements, and continued communications can better address those problems.
However, the non-paying, more difficult clients need to be identified earlier as well. These are the accounts that should be outsourced to professional collection agencies, since they are better equipped to work with these types of accounts.
Failing to do so only means wasting valuable time, money and labor dealing with these difficult clients. Time is an important factor, in that the longer your account goes unpaid, the lesser the likelihood of ever getting paid. By turning these over earlier, you greatly increase your chances of at least getting some money.
A good general rule of thumb you should practice is after 90 days of non-payment, medical billing collections should be placed with an outside collection agency.
These simple, but very important tips are very effective in shrinking your medical billing delinquencies. Put into consistent practice, you can greatly improve your medical billing collections.
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