Take proactive measures to collect from patients
Take proactive measures to collect from patients
Front-office staff have a major role
While your billing staff are trying to get in touch with patients who have overdue accounts, one of them may be sitting in your office, waiting for an appointment. Don’t let an opportunity to collect go to waste.
Practices that take proactive measures to collect payments from patients are able to improve their bottom line, the experts say. Accounts receivable management involves far more than just focusing on collections, points out Dan Steck, director of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Consulting Group in Englewood, CO.
"Accounts receivable management should start the second the patient calls for an appointment or walks in the front door," Steck says. Begin by making sure your practice management information system allows your front-office staff to know if patients who schedule appointments have an outstanding balance, Steck advises.
Then educate your staff so they understand their role in the collection process. For instance, the front-office staff need to understand that collecting copayments when the patient checks in is their role and responsibility, and not something that should be left to the billing department.
Make it a priority for the front office to have the correct copayment information and information on the balance due. That should be as big a priority as follow-up, says Elizabeth Woodcock, MBA, FACMPE, Atlanta-based consultant with the MGMA.
Make sure the services you provide are covered and you are going to be paid for them. If patients have past-due balances, the staff should remind them of it when they call for an appointment and let them know that you would appreciate payment.
"Many practices have been very successful in tactics like this," says Woodcock.
When patients check in at the front desk, many practices ask them for payment at the time of service. "Practices are not saying they won’t give care. They’re simply setting the expectation that they will be paid," Woodcock says.
Inform the patient
Give your patients the opportunity to be informed and educated. "Most patients appreciate not getting a bill five months from now and wondering what it’s for. They’d rather take care of it in a more convenient way," she says.
Woodcock has worked with surgical practices that collect all the charges for elective surgery before it takes place. For instance, a patient who schedules a total hip replacement will meet with a financial counselor who calls the insurance company and determines how much the insurance will pay and how much the patient will pay. The financial counselor collects all of the patient balance or a deposit at that time.
"Practices report that there has been some grumbling. But if you take the position that you are informing and helping the patient, you come across in a different manner," Woodcock says.
If you use payment plans for self-pay patients or those with limited ability to pay, you should have written documentation on how the payment plan is implemented. That helps both the patient and staff understand any plans, Steck says.
Your written policies should include how you handle write-offs. For instance, if an account is old or uncollectable, you should have a policy that allows your staff to stop wasting time on it.
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