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How
To Avoid Medical Collections
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by: Steve
Austin
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Medical
Collections True Tales:
Confessions of a Dental Debt Deadbeat
Medical collections are costing doctors millions. Here are the secrets
of why patients don't always pay their bills, from a real-life
deadbeat.
With medical collections costing doctors millions upon millions of
dollars in unpaid bills and collection fees, many people have just one
question: Who are these people who are trying to stiff the doctors who
delivered them from great physical pain (or the flu, hypochondria,
not-so-white-teeth, or a nose that didn't look enough like Brad
Pitt's)?
Well, I'm here to tell you who these people are, or at least some of
them.
They're me.
Yes, I admit it: I left a dentist's bill unpaid for three months.
OK, so dentistry isn't technically considered "medical," but it's the
same situation: a doctor left in the lurch.
Why did I do such a horrible thing, especially when I, a small
businessperson myself, know how difficult unpaid debts can make cash
flow, and how it could very easily make me persona non grata in that
office?
Why Medical Collections Happen
Or, Possible Reasons for Me Being a Deadbeat
Here are reasons commonly advanced for why people like me might not pay
a doctor's bill.
They don't have enough money, plain and simple. After all, if they
couldn't afford insurance, they probably are going to have trouble with
the bill.
They don't care about the poor doctors and either don't know about or
don't care about the potential for damage to their own credit ratings.
They are chronically lazy, stupid, or just don't know what they're
doing. OK, the terms used aren't quite that specific, but that's the
general idea.
All of these possible reasons why a patient might not pay could be
pretty discouraging for a practice looking to get the money it's owed.
After all, there's not much even the best doctor can do about a
patient's poverty, venality, or fecklessness.
But is there really so little hope for collecting on medical debt?
Why Medical Collection Isn't Necessarily So Hopeless
Or, The Real Reason I Didn't Pay My Dentist's Bill
I just signed and mailed a check for my outstanding dentist's bill.
That just goes to show the situation isn't so hopeless after all,
doesn't it? Here's at least one case of a healthcare practice getting
its money back., and after three months at that
No, my financial situation did not improve dramatically, nor did my
slothful ways correct themselves.
Wondering what the dentist did to make me pay? Plead? Cajole? Shame?
Threaten to put the tartar back?
Actually, the dentist didn't do anything, and that's the problem.
Here's what happened: I remembered I had the bill to pay.
I had forgotten ever owing the dentist money. Since I wasn't expecting
the dentist's bill, unlike all the bills that come every month, it got
lost in a pile of credit card offers, appeals to help save trees being
cut down to make paper, and news about really great products for
writers. The follow-up letter reminding me to pay met a similar fate.
It probably didn't help when I took a trip to Las Vegas and then threw
away the junk mail en masse when I got back.
I finally remembered the bill when someone asked me to write an article
about medical collections. Sure enough, the follow-up letter (though
not the original bill) was there in the pile of newsletters and
friendly reminders from various businesses to schedule this or that
appointment.
The Moral of the Story
If you are a patient, make sure to check your mail for letters from the
doctor's office. If you're running a healthcare practice, follow up
with your patients who have outstanding invoices-a phone call is
preferable, since it's less likely to get lost at the bottom of a pile
of correspondence.
Don't have time for that? Worried about the legal issues of collection
law compliance? Don't let that stop you. Go to a company that
specializes in medical collections and accounts receivables management
for healthcare practices.
It's not about "putting debts in collection" anymore. Many of these
companies offer everything from sending out a few polite phone calls
and letters to end-to-end accounts receivable management. None of this
has to impact your patients' credit rating or cost you a fortune.
Your office can go back to healing people. Isn't that why you got into
this business in the first place?
About the author:
Written by: Steve Austin
Find out more about how to find the best collection agency for your
business at http://www.let-no-debt-remain-outstanding.com
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