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.
With nearly 47 million Americans not having any private health coverage, a sluggish economy caused by a recession, as well as increasing unemployment, spells diminishing positive cash flow for medical practitioners.
Given that, there are a number of things you can do to improve your internal medical billing collections. By implementing these six tactics, you can greatly improve your financial bottom line.
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 very important that you get accurate patient information during that first doctor visit. Get the patient’s full name, address, date of birth, home, work and cell phone numbers.
Gather their employer information: address, phone number, work title, supervisor, etc.
Obviously, the more information you can collect, the better. While some may be reluctant to give their social security number, its still a good idea, especially if the account has to be turned over to a collection agency later.
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. In the initial patient application, you need to detail clearly the patients’ responsibility to pay. You might also want to consider adding language that in the event the account is turned over to an outside collection agency for lack of payment, the patient will be responsible for collection costs.
Some states allow the business to recoup their costs for hiring an outside collections agency. This has to be clearly stated upfront in the original patient-signed application. (Be sure to consult with your attorney about this, as state laws vary)
5. Payment arrangements should be an available option for those patients experiencing financial difficulties. As many are either uninsured or under-insured, making reasonable payment installments gives them additional options, and it will help generate positive cash flow for your practice.
6. Know when to turn over delinquent accounts to a debt collection agency. As mentioned earlier, lack of health insurance, rising unemployment and a recession has placed greater financial strains on some patients ability 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.
As a general rule, after 90 days of non-payment, medical billing collections should be turned over to a collection agency.
These procedures are simple, but they’re very important. And they can prove very effective in reducing your medical billing delinquencies. If you put these into consistent practice, you will greatly improve your medical billing collections.
John Carmichael is a documented expert, industry consultant and additionally contributor in the subject of collection agencies services. He supplies further options and advice concerning business debt collection.