Professionals in the medical field provide an essential service for the people they see. There’s nothing more rewarding than being able to help a patient, but problems can arise when it’s time for them to pay.
It’s no secret that medical care can cost a considerable amount of money. Patients who become delinquent on payments can be difficult to deal with and can take up a lot of time and effort from your already busy staff.
If you haven’t had a chance to work with a medical debt collection agency, it’s time to look into their incredibly helpful services. The right debt collection agency can do more than get you the money you’re owed. Here are 5 important reasons why every doctor’s office, clinic, and medical service provider should work with a solid debt collection business.
1. Get True Expertise
We do not doubt that you already have an incredibly skilled and dedicated front office staff that has been managing your debt collection so far. They’ve been a great help, but you’ll want to bring on an expert for medical debt collection.
Your staff members are true experts in how deductibles, health savings accounts, and insurance payments can affect your patient’s invoice. However, can you say they know everything there is to know about managing delinquent accounts? Would they know the right language to use in past-due notices?
It’s important to do everything by the book when you’re dealing with medical debt. Working with professionals that understand the right techniques can make the collection process easier for everyone involved.
When you work with an agency that specializes in medical debt, you aren’t just dealing with someone that knows how to issue paperwork. They’re experts in US debt collection laws. Having that professional and legal expertise can come in handy to ensure that you’re doing everything to protect your practice.
2. Preserve Relationships
People tend to forget how personal medical care can feel for both patients and practitioners. Patients tend to stick with doctors and providers they feel comfortable with, and you may have friendly relationships with most of the people that come into your office.
You may have to send past due notices to people that you know are going through hard financial times. The patient you’ve seen grow up could be thousands of dollars in medical debt.
Receiving these notices is no less difficult than having to dole them out. Some patients may react badly to the news, regret what they said, then sever ties.
Having a debt collection agency handle things can be better for everyone involved. You don’t have to worry about having any difficult conversations or straining any relationships. The agents will have the utmost professionalism and will know the right way to take a positive approach to communicate with patients and find a way to pay off their debts.
3. Encourage Quicker Payments
You’d be surprised at how much easier payment collection and processing gets when you have the right techniques in place. Once you bring in help you won’t just get caught up on payments, you could help encourage people to pay even faster.
Tracking and following up on past due accounts can be tough for an already busy staff to handle. Instead of having to fit everything into regular payments, you’ll have an agency that’s able to keep track of all your delinquent accounts with plenty of documentation.
All of that tracking can pay off with the proper expertise. Your debt collection agency could see patterns in some of your past due accounts. They could suggest improvements to invoices, clarifications to payment terms, and other helpful strategies.
4. Free Up Time
The front office staff in the average medical practice has very full days. So much clerical work needs to be done from keeping patient records updated and contacting insurance firms. On top of that, they also have to check in patients, answer questions, and help out doctors and nurses.
Expecting your staff to stay on top of past due payments can be too much. Remember, some of these accounts could go back years. Tracking down patients and keeping up with communications can be too much to handle.
Bringing in a medical debt collection agency can free up a lot of time for your busy staff. It’s one less thing that they have to focus on, and they can rest easy knowing that their accounts are in good hands.
Think about how much more efficient their days will be when they have more free time! Soon they’ll have enough time to invest in new software, do career training, or make other important improvements to their work.
5. Prevent the Past Due Problem
It’s easy for accounts to fall by the wayside. Changing addresses, different staff priorities, and time can all play a role in why your office has so many past due payments.
Bringing in an agency is one of the easiest ways to help prevent delinquent accounts and late payments. They’ll be able to quickly follow up with people so their missing payments don’t become a long worn problem.
Along with being able to take action on past due accounts, their expertise in debt collection could help identify certain problems with accounts and payers. They can see who has a record of paying late and be sure to follow up with them a little earlier than usual.
Find Your Medical Debt Collection Agency
Working with a medical debt collection agency can be one of the best things you can do to manage medical debt. Whether you want to improve things for your existing staff or come up with strategies to encourage people to pay, a collection agency can help you achieve what you need.
Are you ready to work with a collection agency that can understand your unique needs? Do you have questions about how debt collection can help your practice? Get in touch with us so we can talk about the best way to serve your practice and get you moving towards more freedom from money woes.
First Federal Credit Control (FFCC)
