Regardless of industry, it’s never going to be easy handling people who aren’t paying for their services. For the healthcare industry, specifically, there are greater healthcare expenses and a rise in HDHPs, also known as high deductible health plans. Both of these are making medical practices need to get inventive with how they collect payments from their patients. It sometimes gets to the point that people will choose not to have medical care entirely, simply so they do not have to pay for medical costs that they don’t think they’re able to afford. But, if you start using some of these tips, you can help patients and your medical practice receive bills on time.
Put Policies Into Writing and Let Patients Know About Expectations for Payment Upfront
First, establish a plan based on what has happened in the past. If there are problematic patterns in the behaviors of insured or uninsured individuals, have a policy put in place to address these problems. One policy you can establish is to have an expectation from your clients, asking that they pay any co-pays they have at the beginning of their visit. All patients need to be verified ahead of time so that they know what to expect before their visit. You should tell this information during the intake process for new clients and during all interactions, you have once an appointment is confirmed.
Put Effective Follow-Up Procedures in Place
If you have patients who aren’t keeping up with their payments, you need a plan in place to help follow up with those patients. You cannot ignore when bills aren’t being paid, and there are some patients who either don’t put priority on payments or are just forgetful. If you see delays in practice collections numbers continuously, it might help to have a recurring payment system put into place. This will decrease the likelihood of patients not making their standard payments.
Use Multiple Communication Methods to Let Patients Know about Past Due Balances and Practice Collections
You should place great emphasis on gathering payments from patients if they are falling behind on them. One way to help get payments is to let them know about those payments using multiple communication platforms. This includes sending an initial email reminder, followed up by regular emails, voicemails, and standard mail. The more communication options you use, the better. Patients typically want to pay on time, so if you let them know that payments are due, they will usually end up paying at some point.
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