TIPS FOR SMALL PRACTICES TO ACCELERATE MEDICAL BILL
COLLECTION:
Healthcare providers are facing a lag between rendering services and receiving payments. As almost every health revenue cycle is reimbursed by third-party payers after the patient has already come and gone. This could be challenging for their small practices.
Physicians only get 60% of their patient’s co-pay rather than 20% of the practice revenue. This will harm your practice if you are working on a small tight budget.
It is rightly said by a chief operating officer of PCG software that a medical practice must be profitable as it focuses on the well-being and care of patients. Its billing, collection and accounts serve as the blood that gives life to it.
Build patient’s trust:
As a healthcare provider, it is a part of your job to build trust with your patients. By doing so your patients feel comfortable with you and can easily open up and share their problems.
There are many ways to build trust in your patients
1. Divulgence:
Divulgence should be a top priority for every healthcare provider. This can be done by returning calls, following up on their emails, and by sending voicemails. Staff managers should remind patients on a schedule by sending emails, text messages, voicemails, and calls. You must be accessible to your customers by mentioning the correct contact details and email addresses to them.
2. Be reliable:
You must be faithful to your patients. There should not be double reservations of appointments. Avoid cancellation of appointments without any extremity or periphery. Physicians should conduct their sessions on time and show civility to their patients.
3. Build a website:
There should be an academic website of your practice where you can discuss all nuts and bolts of your services. It helps you to enlighten your patients’ endorsement. You must add blog posts, fact sheets and FAQs along with your introduction. Each service you offer must have a proper write-up with price and significance on the website.
4. Be pellucid:
You must be transpicuous to your clients and have to explain each and everything clearly in a respected manner. There should be a well-explained privacy policy and billing schedule, it will help your clients to approach you easily.
5. Maintain confidence:
Staff members should be confident when dealing with clients. By doing so you can develop trust and they feel safe with you. They feel that the person talking to him knows his job well.
6. Ask for referrals:
The referral marketing game is very helpful in gaining trust with your clients before convocation. You can market your services in this way. So, never hesitate to ask for referrals from your patients. People trust their family members and friends more so if they seek any referral from them, they consider it.
WAYS TO ACCELERATE MEDICAL BILL COLLECTION:
Several ways can help any small practice to accelerate its medical bill collection.
1. Reminder:
Set up a daily reminder for the patients you have delayed unpaid bills. Your staff should remind them of every next appointment call and email.
2. Setup new software:
This is the era of technology. Many new software systems help automate steps in the billing process. This software suggests medical codes and checks medical claims against insurance payer refund rules.
3. Use the patients portal:
Small practice physicians can use patients’ portals to collect their unpaid bills via credit card or online. These applications help patients to communicate and interact with their healthcare providers.
4. Train front desk staff:
Front desk staff members are more exposed to the patients so they must be well-trained. They should make an effective bill collection without undermining patients’ relationships
5. Billing policy:
You have to make a clear billing policy and post it on your academic website. It can be pasted in your office and sent via emails to the patients for more convenience.
6. Be transparent:
Practitioners should be transparent to their clients while clarifying the bills to their patients. This will show their confidence and honesty to them.
7. Use third-party:
Staff members can use third-party collection agencies to get their unpaid bills. Insurance companies are the most common these days. They take responsibility for their clients’ unpaid bills.
8. Create payment plans:
For large bills, you can provide little concessions to your patients. Further, you can make other convenient payment plans and post them on the website.
9. Convince your clients:
Your billing collection staff members should call on your patients frequently once a week and try to convince them it’s time to pay their bills. They can do so by sending voicemails, calls, text messages, emails, and posting random reminders on websites to notify others of unpaid bills too.
10. Check bill error:
Your management should keep an eye on the errors that could be made in the billing process. So always check the bill before pursuing your patients.
11. Contact details:
Another most common issue is that the patients who are not willing to pay the large bills, often misguide you in providing contact details. This is the job of your concerning staff to keep an eye on patients' movements if they are not informing their new address.
You can use the U.S postal service to get the correct address of your patients.
12. Sign a contract:
You can assign healthcare laws, federal and state regulations, and insurer contracts to make the collection easier. Besides, you can advocate for your practice and your patients when they are facing denials.
