Top Providers Make Payment Collection a Priority (and It Shows)

What the top 10% are doing 

Your odds of collecting on patient accounts drop dramatically with time. In fact, research suggests practices have less than a 15% chance of collecting patient accounts once they’re 90 days past due. Reduce your risk of leaving money on the table by following the steps that lead the top 10% of providers to a 123% collection rate.  

1. Verify benefits with patients before treatment: Verify benefits in advance and ensure the correct fee schedule and employer plan is attached in your practice management system to calculate an accurate patient portion at check out. You should also be reviewing the expected out of pocket portion with the patient pre-treatment to ensure they're prepared to take care of the balance, then document the financial arrangements on a signed form. 

2. Follow up consistently and often: Send bills daily and investigate any balances on the patient account 1-2 days prior to their scheduled visit. If insurance has underpaid and left a balance on the account, you want to be prepared to explain why the balance exists so that it can be confidently collected along with the day's copay. 

3. Automate your processes: Consider how much time and money you can save by automating even three manual, time-consuming tasks required for every patient visit:

• Info retrieval: Card scanning capabilities make it easy for patients to simply scan their driver's license and insurance card via their personal device, and then such information will be stored automatically in the PMS.
• Image attachment: With the ability to post imaging codes and other attachments to your ledger, you can improve the submission of clean claims, reduce rejections, and speed time to payment without manual intervention and investigation.
• Electronic statements: The right RCM software makes it easy for offices to send statements via email or text and track the status of statements in real time. 
  
  

4. Simplify the payment process: Your practice should be offering electronic statements and online payment options to accommodate patient preferences and provide the opportunity for them to review their statement digitally. Not only does this save time and money spent on paper bills, but electronic billing and statements have been shown to reduce the speed of collection by up to 14 days. Want to make it even easier for your patients? Allow them to keep cards on file with options to trigger monthly or bi-monthly credit card payments.

Interested in the full results of our Henry Schein One Industry Report? Download the full report. 

* A collection exceeding 100%, such as 123%, indicates that collections received have surpassed the revenue recorded in a specific period. This scenario often arises due to the lag between when revenue is generated and when collections are received.