Streamlining Patient Collections: A Three-Step Guide to Managing Accounts Receivables
This three-part blog series explores how outsourcing patient responsibility collections to a collection agency equipped with advanced technology can optimize your practice. By leveraging technology to streamline account data, collection agencies can help improve your cash flow, reduce administrative burdens, and safeguard your practice’s financial health.
Learn three steps to identifying the problem and recovering balances using outside resources. This three-part blog series will discuss the 3 steps to improving patient AR.
- Part One – Identify Outstanding Patient Accounts Receivable.
- Part Two – Extract Data.
- Part Three – This post covers recovery through patient communication.
How to Maximize Patient Collections Without Compromising Care: Best Practices for Recovery
I now have all data needed. My staff do not have the time or training for patient balance follow up. How can a collection agency help without harming the patient-provider relationship?
Patient collections can help you recover past dues and improve the financial outlook of your organization. When done correctly, patients feel relieved and supported through the past due process.
3 Best Practices in Patient Collections to Maximize Recovery
Here are three best practices to help you learn how to maximize collections from patient services billing without compromising care:
- Statements are sent timely post insurance billing. Once insurance billing is complete, patients receive a statement every 30 days and at least 3 times.
- Soft collection actions occur prior to bad debt. Soft Collections, also referred to as first party collections, early-out collections, or extended business office services includes internal communications to a patient beyond sending a statement. Communication methods enhance the typical 3-4 mailed statement workflow utilized by most healthcare providers. The earlier and more varied the communication methods, the more likely a patient will make payment arrangements. This may include phone calls, voicemails, text messages, and/or emails.
- Bad debt write-offs occur after all other efforts are exhausted. Typically referred to as the Bad Debt stage, hard collections involve outsourcing significant past dues, typically 150-180 days past the due date, to a third-party debt collection agency. Debt collection agencies, overseen by federal (see Fair Debt Collection Practices Act | Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov)) and state regulations communicate through letters, phone calls, and other communication methods.
How can external resources help maximize collections from patient services billing?
Healthcare business offices typically struggle with communication after statements. Staff are focused on higher dollar tasks (insurance billing, denials, prior authorization), are typically trained in insurance claim billing over negotiating payments with patients via phone, and most offices lack the technology to have multi-channel communication methods. Healthcare collection agencies are skilled in communicating with patients about balances and many invest in the technology to communicate with patients and consumers in their preferable method. Some agencies even offer pre-collect (soft collection) services; this provides the skillset of discussing balance resolution with patients while branding communications to your entity.
Is there a vendor that provides both technology and patient collection services?
Yes! Commonly referred to as Full-Service Collections, technology and services co-exist in a few companies. Looking for the best of both worlds? Choosing a vendor who can provide the technology and knowledge to determine accounts needing patient follow-up, as well as the services of pre-collect and debt collections can decrease effort of vetting multiple vendors, save staff time following up with patients, and bring much needed focus on the final phases of the healthcare revenue cycle.
Common misconceptions. Does Hard Collections have to be “hard?”
Debt collection has a history and reputation as being harsh, and many small-to-midsize practices avoid their services at the expense of having higher uncollected patient past dues.
But not all collection agencies use harsh methods. New regulations are preventing medical bills from being reported to credit bureaus (How Does Medical Debt Affect Your Credit Score? – Experian) and innovative agencies are using more customer service friendly methods (Successful Debt Collection: How Nurses Improve Results Through Ethics and Empathy | Beyond Green Solutions).
At Beyond Green Solutions, we understand the complexities of patient collections and are here to help you recover past-due balances while maintaining the trust of your patients. We’re here to help you learn how to maximize collections from patient services billing and if you need a third party service for assistance, we can help further. With our full-service collections solution, we combine advanced technology with empathetic, multi-channel communication to maximize recovery and improve your cash flow. Don’t let overdue accounts hinder your practice’s financial health.
Ready to improve your patient collections process?
Contact us to learn how we can help you efficiently manage accounts receivables and streamline your collections while preserving the patient-provider relationship.
