Strategies to Collect Past–due Patient Accounts

Strategies to Collect Past窶電ue Patient Accounts

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The changes in policies and regulations due to the Affordable Care Act has affected

the

every

aspect

of

physician

practices,

from

procedure

documentation and coding, to medical billing and coding, and even the collection of patient balances. As patients are overwhelmed with increasing expenses and higher co-pays and deductibles, they may tend to either delay

paying their medical

bills. This will significantly impact the

physician’s revenue cycle. So it’s important for the practices to have measures in place to collect overdue balances from patients. Here are some effective strategies for this:

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Call: 1-800-670-2809

Compliance Program Essential for Medical Practices and Facilities

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Front-desk Staff Reorientation – The most important step is to retrain the staff as they are the primary link of contact with the patient. Give them training about looking at the past-due balances when checking up on a patient in the practice management system. They can also remind them about the past due balance in a polite way and ask how they would like to pay it. Avoid asking yes or no questions as it is easy for them to give a negative answer. Rather, asking open-ended questions such as ‘How would you like to pay the bill” works much better.

Payment Options - Make it easy for them to pay the balances. Ask them to pay via credit card or debit card. If the patient’s account becomes past due, contact them immediately through phone for payment. If they are not able to pay the entire balance, suggest suitable financing alternatives or payment plans.

Have a Proper Policy – The number of calls or letters to be sent to the non- payer must be pre-decided. It is not advisable to keep chasing payments. Each call or letter costs money, and can collectively impact your balance sheet quite significantly. Have a proper policy on how to proceed and stick to it.

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Payment errors must be reported, particularly payments that were not entitled to come to your practice. The CMS is very firm regarding this and has revealed the for self-disclosure.

Remindrequirements Non-payers About the Consequences - Have defined policies

about due payments. Write to non-payers of the consequences such as indicating that they you can no longer provide services if they don’t pay their balance.

Terminate the Relationship as a Last Resort – After receiving the past-dues, it is up to the physician to decide whether to continue seeing the patient. While you should be kind to struggling patients, be firm with those who simply refuse to pay and end the doctor-patient relationship with them. Give them a 30-day grace period for emergency consultations.

The best way to carry collect due balances is to avoid being aggressive or discourteous. Letting a professional medical outsourcing company handle the matter is a good option. Such companies have trained personnel on the job and can manage your accounts receivable in a hassle-free manner.

Outsourcing your medical billing cycle management to a reliable service provider is much more economical and reliable solution than maintaining inhouse staff for the task

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About Outsource Strategies International Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a reputable medical outsourcing solutions provider based in Tulsa, Oklahoma offering advanced medical billing and coding solutions for hospitals, physicians, physicians' groups, clinics and other healthcare entities. Find more details at: www.outsourcestrategies.com

Contact Us 8596 E. 101st Street, Suite H Tulsa, OK 74133 Main: (800) 670 2809 Fax: (877) 835-5442 E-mail: info@managedoutsource.com URL: www.outsourcestrategies.com