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BUSINESS ADVISOR
for a significant deposit at the time of service.
Track down patient balances
Rather than sitting idly by while the missed payments pile up,
call patients if they haven't paid at least one-third of their balance
after their first statement. "We haven't gotten your full payment," we
tell them. "We need to talk to you about this." Know what we've
found? Patients appreciate this call because we're connecting with
them. We're working through a problem with them, person to person,
and giving them options, rather than letting the case go to collections.
If insurance denies a claim, call the patient and tell him you're going
to appeal, but mention there's a chance he might have to pay the full
amount. Send the patient a statement with the balance. If it's not paid
off after 1 statement, call the patient and offer to let him pay the balance off in 3 monthly payments. You'd rather have an outstanding
patient balance on your accounts receivable than write it off to collections, especially if you have a plan to collect it.
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Taming unwieldy patient balances
The goals of your collections program are simple: to improve cash
flow and to collect all that you're owed. The fewer delinquent patient
accounts you have to turn over to an outside collections agent or,
worse, write off, the better.
Unwieldy patient balances are difficult to tame. They leave a messy
trail of small payments and missed payments. We've found it's best to
take control at the outset. Here's what I mean. You file a claim with an
insurance carrier, and 60 to 90 days later you're paid a portion of the
billed charges. The balance transfers to the patient. And so begins the
Great Money Chase. You generate an initial patient balance due state3 2
O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | J U N E 2013
