Physicians Practice - April 2008 - (Page 57)

BILLING & COLLECTIONS PLAYING HARDBALL B Y PA M E L A M O O R E ADVICE ON CHARGING INTEREST AND LATE FEES ON PAST-DUE PATIENT ACCOUNTS Chris Francis sounds a little frustrated. “Most people are not really prepared to meet their coinsurance or deductible amount,” he says, but “when we give people the option of rescheduling their procedure,” rather than proceeding without payment, many will ﬁnd a way to pay. “A lot of people are trying to test the system.” Waco Surgical Group, where Francis is the administrator, has considered charging interest on overdue accounts or even taking patients to small claims court to collect large, overdue accounts — and to release a little steam. In the end, though, it hasn’t yet adopted these more punitive measures, opting instead to work with patients one on one to ﬁnd solutions. The group feels like it needs to balance service against more aggressive collection tactics. IN SUMMARY As patient balances grow, it’s tempting to resort to interest charges and other hardball tactics to get even. But getting paid is better. • Tighten up your collection processes before looking at other options. The goal is to collect from patients faster, not to punish patients. comply with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act as well as state regulations. It may not be worth the hassle. practices charge a set late fee or assess a fee for sending accounts to collections. • Practices that charge interest must • Instead of charging interest, many “In a smaller market like Waco, we are the largest surgical practice. We want to be available to everyone we can possibly be available to,” says Francis. The Texas practice isn’t the only one struggling with the impact of consumer-directed plans. As overdue patient accounts stack up, more physicians feel like they’re playing the patsy. And there’s a temptation to retaliate with interest fees, court dates, or other hardball tactics. Why shouldn’t patients pay up? Whether patients pay, says consultant Judy Capko, “doesn’t have much to do with their own expendable income; it’s an attitude.” How frustrating. But hold up. Before you respond emotionally, tighten up your collection processes. If there are fewer outstanding accounts, there’s less aggravation. If you do decide to get tough, be sure you understand the best options. START WITH SOUND COLLECTIONS “Doctors are the worst business people when it comes to getting their money. They’ll send out the same bill ﬁve times,” complains Gregory Mertz, a consultant with The Horizon Group in Virginia Beach. Patients don’t pay because they ﬁgure that no one really expects them to. Mertz worked with a large family practice in Memphis that would send out statement after statement to patients and never collect. He had the practice set a ﬁrm policy, communicated clearly to patients in advance, to send out two statements then pass all patient accounts to collections. “Word got out,” says Mertz, and the practice APRIL 2008 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM 57 http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physicians Practice - April 2008

Physicians Practice - April 2008 Contents The Bigger Picture: Medicare Decision Time Letters Physicians Practice Pearls: Outsource Your Pain Noteworthy Cover Story: Trial Lawyers Tell All Management: When It’s Time to Change Ask the Experts Technology: Do You Know Where Your Data Is? The Tech Doctor: Are Your Discarded PCs Really Clean? Billing & Collections: Playing Hardball The Administrator's Desk: Recruiting for Patient Satisfaction Start It Up: Finance - Mastering the Numbers Game Coding The Great Practice Makeover: Taking Care of Business Associates Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - April 2008

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