How to Collect Debt From Patients in Washington, DC

Photo from Unsplash

Originally Posted On: https://bippermedia.com/how-to-collect-debt-from-patients-in-washington/

Did you know that 19% of US households can’t pay their medical debt right away? This percentage is only increasing with the spike of high-deductible health insurance plans. Alongside this problem is the patients’ confusion over what they owe. Getting delayed on paying bills happens quite often. No matter what the reason is, collecting debt can be a struggle. In most cases, asking a collection agency is the best way to handle patient payments. However, this is not the case every time. Many DC physicians hire medical collection agencies in Washington DC for debt collection.

While it gets things done, rushed decisions can affect your business. Do you know the best ways to collect a patient debt? Here are six steps to take before asking for help from a medical collection agency in Washington, DC area.

Make sure that your patients are aware of their financial responsibility. Sit and discuss with them your payment expectations like payment dues.

Aside from that, you also need to ensure all your staff is aware of your clinic’s payment policy. It would also help to give them training on patient communication and engagement. Doing this will help your patients understand the need for paying for the services they will get.

Your main goal is to provide medical service to patients, but remember that you’re also in business. Receiving no payment can put your clinic at high risk.

When scheduling an appointment, your staff should let the patient know their responsibilities. Always remember to include payment dues at that time of service.

Most, if not all, patients are more worried about the costs they pay for their treatment. Because they don’t know the total expenses, they get more confused about their total debt. This confusion will then lead to more unpaid medical debt.

You can help by reviewing their insurance information. When you do this, you give an accurate estimate of your service costs. Not to mention, you can also offer payment advice about it.

Before sending an account to a collection agency, make sure to offer the patient a payment plan. Whenever the patient fails to pay their outstanding balance, follow it up with a mail or a call. You can do this when they didn’t pay off their debt within three months.

In your statement mails and calls, be firm and generous. One way you can do this is by offering them a payment plan.

A payment plan will help give your patient a clear and detailed timeline to settle their bills. After you had them set up with a plan and they still haven’t paid, send them follow-up calls and letters. These follow-ups will warn your patient about what will happen if they can’t pay off the balance.

If unsuccessful, notify them that you’re sending their account to a collection agency. By then, professional debt collectors will handle their unpaid dues.

You can avoid collecting debt from your patient by reviewing their insurance eligibility. That way, you know about their health insurance coverage and copayment options. Your staff can also verify the patient’s insurance carrier to check if it’s still active.

By reviewing their insurance, you can understand how much the insurer will pay. Doing this can also result in a more accurate payment the patient has to cover.

Giving your patients convenient payment options like online payment methods is beneficial. Sometimes, people’s accounts get transferred to a collection agency because they forget to pay. But you can avoid this by texting them about what they owe and how they can pay for it.

Many DC practices find a medical collection agency in Washington, DC and do this for them. For small businesses, getting a collection agency is more beneficial in debt collection. Doing this will only give you half of the efficiency you need.

Clinic staff members should always send text reminders to their patients. You can include secured links where they can pay in these messages. They become more aware of their responsibility and pay their debt through the link.

Another method is to allow your patients to self-pay. Doing this will help reduce outstanding payments.

When collecting patient debts, many collection agencies recommend that you make calls. Calling your patients for their outstanding balances ensures that they received your notification. Not only that, but it’s also easier to answer their questions and confusion.

Make yourself clear about their debts by sending a clear but brief billing statement. Medical collection agencies also do this for a faster response from the people. Aside from that, clarifying between copayment and co-insurance amounts is also essential.

In collecting debt, you also need to be sensitive in the calls you make. Instead of only asking for money, ask about your patient’s current situation. How you treat your patient can impact how they react to their debts.

But don’t relax your processes too much. Doing this can be troublesome for your business. Some patients can abuse this and demand indefinite leniency.

Medical practices always put offering medical services first. But without the cash flow, providing these services can be impossible.

This situation is often a big concern to small medical businesses. That’s why many of them use collection agencies to help collect unpaid dues.

But doing this can often lead to you recovering less in all patient debts. Before you opt to use a collection agency, make sure to start an internal collection process. Your staff will undergo training to communicate with patients who have unsettled balances.

This collection process also includes routine calls and payment plan discussions. Give your patients time to pay you their debts. When it becomes too troublesome, only then should you use the help of a collection agency.

Starting up a medical practice in DC can be a difficult task. Often, some of your patients can have medical debts. Before you use a medical collection agency in Washington, DC, you should know what you can do to collect patient payments.

Get to know more about collecting agencies today. Contact us for more details.