Seven ways to improve patient collections in your medical practice
Patient collections has always been a thorny topic for healthcare providers. It’s never easy to ask for money when people are sick and vulnerable. This is especially true when you know they have a high deductible health plan and will probably be responsible for the entire medical bill. Still, patient balances often make up 30% or more of a provider’s accounts receivables, which means collecting this revenue is a necessary step toward building and maintaining a successful medical practice.
The patient collections process recently made headlines when the Biden Administration announced several initiatives to increase consumer protection related to medical debt. One of these initiatives is to hold medical providers and debt collectors accountable for harmful practices. This means it’s time to rethink patient collections with a focus on accuracy, empathy, patient engagement, and patient empowerment.
Consider these seven tips to improve your patient collections process:
1. Make it easy to pay. This may sound obvious, but it’s an aspect of the patient collections process that many medical practices overlook. Don’t let limited payment options be a reason why patients don’t pay their medical bills. Instead, accept payments via cash, checks, debit cards, and credit cards. Also permit patients to pay via the patient portal, the practice’s website, and in the office at the front desk or via a check-in kiosk. Some medical practices even offer paperless intakes where patients complete registration and pay any outstanding balances and medical debt using their mobile device.
2. Invest in patient education. This starts with staff education. Provide training and patient collections scripts and tips for front desk employees so they can answer common questions about insurance billing. Also consider creating a medical practice brochure or quick reference guide to help patients understand basic insurance terms like deductible, co-insurance, and copayment along with contact information for each of the insurers with which the practice participates.
3. Be clear on what patients owe (and why). Sometimes patients don’t pay their medical bills simply because they don’t understand what they owe and why. It’s helpful to include the date of service, specific services provided and by whom, the total dollar amount billed, what the insurance paid, and what the patient owes. Note that it may be more cost effective and efficient to work with an outsource coding vendor that can manage the entire revenue cycle, including the collection process for patient accounts. This includes generating and sending accurate patient statements in a timely manner.
4. Know whether you’re in or out-of-network. This makes a big difference in what patients may owe. In addition, if you’re out-of-network, you may be legally required under the No Surprises Act (NSA) to notify patients of your out-of-network status before balance billing them.
5. Promote price transparency. Patients may be more likely to pay their medical bill when they can plan ahead. Consider providing a dollar amount range for various common services so patients know what to expect. For patients without insurance (and patients who don’t plan to use their health insurance to cover costs), the NSA actually requires providers to give a good faith estimate of expected charges before an item or service is scheduled. This includes an itemized list of each item or service as well as the associated healthcare code and expected charge.
6. Understand evolving payer waivers related to COVID-19. Some payers continue to waive copayments and/or co-insurance amounts for COVID-19-related services during the public health emergency. Before sending a medical bill to patients, take the time to understand how each payer is currently handing any applicable cost-sharing waivers.
7. Offer a payment plan. Explore what options are available to help patients pay for the care they need during times of financial hardship. For example, the practice may choose to partner with a company that provides patient financing options, or it could offer an internal payment plan for patients with medical debt. If going the internal route, be sure to document the specifics of the plan, including payment terms and what happens if a patient misses a payment. Obtain the patient’s signature as well.
Conclusion
Now is the time to make patient collections a priority in your medical practice. What are you waiting for? Learn how edgeMED can help by visiting https://www.edgemed.com.
