As we discussed in the preceding article the fact that it's getting harder and harder to collect patient balances. This can definitely be frustrating, time consuming and often unsuccessful. The Commercial Collection Agency Association showed that after 3 months of an outstanding bill, the probability of collecting is 73%, after 6 months 57% and 29% after a year. When the amount of the bill is minimal the figures are even less.
Staff should be well trained as to how to collect payment from patients. When visiting a retail store and you decide on what you're going to purchase, do you walk past the registers and say "bill me", that would and could never happen. So why do physicians allow this to happen in their offices?
One way to tactfully implement payment is due upon service, is setting up signs in the office where they can clearly be seen. Staff members should also be trained as to how to ask for payment. Such as "how would you like to pay?" Then the staff member should start to write out a receipt to show the patient that payment is due. Reminding patients when confirming appointments is another opportunity to inform them of the policy.
Consider accepting credit cards and debit cards. This is a good way to collect payment due to the fact you have the assurance in a matter of seconds if the payment went through. One suggestion is due to some patient's having high deductibles and it's difficult to figure out what the exact bill will be, have the front desk take an imprint of the credit card and bill half the amount and then let them know that they will be billed the remainder and will receive a statement when they learn of the final amount from the insurer.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to use a collection agency. It's best to come up with a plan in this case. How many statements should go out before action must be taken? Some physicians send up to 6 statements. It should suffice to send 3 statements over a 3 month period. One method used by a physician's office was to send the 3rd statement as a certified letter; this ensures that it has reached the appropriate address with a person's signature showing that the statement was received. A phone call after the 2nd statement would do well also. After the 3rd statement is sent, give the patient 15 days to respond with an actual date printed on the statement of the day it will be sent to collections.
Collection agencies generally charge a percentage of the monies collected. Most companies fees range from 12% to 50%. It would do well for you and the patient to not have it get to that point but if necessary there are many good collections agencies to choose from.
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