Perhaps one of the hardest tasks to enjoy performing is collecting from patients. This is mainly because this specific task is typically one that’s hard to get right, especially since messing it up could mean that your practice won’t end up getting paid for some of the services it provides; however, getting too aggressive could end up conveying that your practice is concentrating more on money instead of caring for patients.
Thankfully, there’s some good news that you can make note of that will help you with collecting from patients in a more efficient manner without actually undermining the relationships that you have with them.
The first thing to keep in mind is that surprise medical bills cause negative issues that can undermine a physician’s relationship with a patient. Many cases, however, can involve the “surprise” itself being caused by a patient’s general misunderstanding of rules involving health plans. While it may not seem like your job to educate a patient about their insurance, it’s always a good idea to be as proactive as possible and help them understand all of the complicated terms involving it.
Additionally, you should also consider taking the step of training the members of your front desk staff with the proper training in order to help them better understand how to collect from patients. For instance, make sure that the way they ask patients for payment doesn’t sound apologetic, nor does it imply that payment of any kind is optional.
Your practice’s billing process should also be optimized as well, which will help to reduce the risk that a patient will feel surprised by receiving a bill and thinking that they shouldn’t owe anything. For instance, consider utilizing technology to assist with this in the form of online bill payment.
Thank you for visiting the Quick Claimers blog, an online medical coding company. If you need a better way to bill patients contact us today for a free consultation.