Top 3 Patient Collection Strategies
Managing
patient collections is one of the most dreaded tasks of any medical facility.
Of course, most healthcare providers want to offer the best possible services
to the patients, but that collection process becomes the biggest distraction.
Yet, a patient collection is vital for any facility or practice or hospital to
stay running to offer the best services and ensure they can improve the revenue.
Though
it may prove to be tedious to continue the practice, it is essential.
Unfortunately, the patient collection is quite challenging and often results in
revenue loss. For example, a study conducted by J.P. Morgan found that a healthcare
provider fails to collect a balance of up to $1,000 in 30 days.
It
indicates that the uncollected payments affect the revenue and eventually
affect the practice.
If
you have been facing a similar problem with your patient collection, here are
three simple strategies to improve it.
1. Developing A Proactive Collection Strategy
The
most essential and first part of ensuring a proper patient collection is to
have a proactive approach when developing the collection strategy. It is not a
standalone practice. Instead, it is the cornerstone of developing the entire
collection practice strategy that is connected to different actions and
sensibilities.
It
requires involving the internal medical billing and coding team and admin staff
who interact with the clients for the collection and the patients.
For
instance, a proactive collection strategy plan would need you to customize the
payment procedures while being flexible enough to meet future changes and
requirements. It should include different medical billing and payment
technology and multiple payment options.
A
part of the proactive strategy would also require the facility to train the in-house
medical billing and coding team and communicate them about technology and other
payment awareness.
2. Offering Multiple Payment Options
As
mentioned earlier, the proactive strategy needs to include different payment
options. This indicates that the patients need to be made aware of different
terms of payment methodologies. For instance, setting only one or two payment
options and expecting the patients to adhere to those only, you are reducing
the chances of getting paid. Instead, you should offer different payment
options as a practice.
A
healthcare facility that has a proactive patient collection strategy will have
different payment options such as:
•
Insurance
coverage’s which co-pays can
supplement, and deductibles.
•
Debit and
credit cards, cash, and bank number payments that can be done with the checking
account
•
Personal or
medical loans against the line of credit
While
these options should be offered, the onus is on the facility to ensure that the
payment is collected and completed while the patient is on the premise. You are
open to unpaid bills when you let the patient leave without completing the
payment.
At
times patients can make honest mistakes and leave, or there can be instances
where they engage in fraudulent methods such as giving wrong information before
going. So you must keep the patients on the premise until the bills are paid.
3. Using Latest Technology
Consider
every platform and technology options that can enhance patient payment. It is
especially vital to use the latest technology when you have patients receiving
partially or fully remote services. Every patient should be able to access a
simple payment platform on the same dashboard where they consult and get the
treatment. In addition, the implementation of client-faced software is vital.
By offering a seamless, automated, and streamlined payment option to patients,
you would not only facilitate better collection but also develop a long-term
relationship with the patient based on trust.
How To Implement These 3
Strategies?
One
of the most comprehensive ways to optimize the collection from patients by
implementing all these strategies is to outsource the collection to a trusted medical
billing and coding company such as 24/7 Medical Billing Services.
A
medical billing and collection agency like
24/7 Medical Billing Services has the technology and resources to optimize the
collection procedure. They can help you in maximizing the payment collection
with ease and swiftness while you can focus on taking care of the patients.
About
24/7 Medical Billing Services:
We
are a medical billing company that offers ‘24/7 Medical Billing Services’ and
support physicians, hospitals, medical institutions and group practices with
our end to end medical billing solutions. We help you earn more revenue with
our quick and affordable services. Our customized Revenue Cycle Management
(RCM) solutions allow physicians to attract additional revenue and reduce
administrative burden or losses.
Contact:
24/7
Medical Billing Services
Tel:
+1 888-502-0537
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