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Tables of Content
1. Introduction
The field of medical billing and collections has always been the backbone of the entire industry of medical health care. It has borne witness to a near-continuous journey of evolution in line with the contemporary developments in the American healthcare reform.
While a shift of payment responsibility has been noticeable primarily from third-party payers to patients, there are still many practices that have failed to adapt themselves well enough to handle this change. With a rise in the financial obligations of the patient, there is also an increased strain on the physician's ability to secure his payment from the patients.
A failure to collect important bills will impair the budget of the clinic and affect its working. However, recently this issue has attracted quite a bit of attention from the concerned parties and hence a wide variety of probable solutions have been widely reached.
These vary from all round improvement of the service collection processes, better training to office staff to improvise collection abilities, drafted financial policies, and the use of modern technology to make payments hassle-free.
2. Billing Tips To Maximize Collection
Presence of a lucid and Documented Collection Process-
The intricacies of the payment collection process must be prepared beforehand and had to be properly documented and presented to the staff and patients in an understandable format. Every staff member must be able to understand his or her responsibilities completely and there must not be any ambiguity.
For new hires, emphasis has to be put on bringing them into the system and they must be made to attend required training lessons presided by human resources. This will help them come to terms with all the details of the collection process. A similar lucid approach has to be taken whenever new patients arrive at the clinic.
They must be told to fill out their intake forms mentioning the exact details of fees payment at the end of the service period. To prevent possible confusion, all information related to this issue must be present in every paperwork, company update, and even on the online page on the company website that concerns the payments. The website with the frequently asked questions folder must also be laden with this information.
This payment system must be bolstered by a policy that provides a suitable reason behind the strict guideline framework and the necessity behind its strict adherence. If the available payment options are made conspicuous from the very start then it will infuse a sense of responsibility in each patient regarding the payment and the options they would like to use to pay. For the sake of safety, it is also ideal if a post regarding the collection process is made attaching all the responsibilities on a sign to be filled in the waiting room.
Collect Payments Upfront-
It has been observed that the best time to make a payment for medical services is on the date of appointment when the patients come into the office. If the patients are made to pay on the same day as they come to tell them their issues, the problem of chasing them down with extra resources will never appear.
The entire thing must be phased out in lucid and understandable language to the patients so that they feel inclined to make the payment on the spot. There also has to be a reasonable amount of trust in the system such that they would not ask the doctor for any insurance fees on the processing.
Collect Detailed Patient Information-
Doctors have to be extremely proactive about collecting data about patients as soon as possible. There should be a lot of data collection that includes the name, current address, multiple phone numbers, recent photo ID copies and other documents of identification.
This information will be helpful for sending the notifications or bills if it is ever required in the future. For patients receiving treatment for an extended period of time, the patient information has to be kept extremely up-to-date and it is best managed automatically with suitable software.
Use the Latest in Technology-
In a bid to stay relevant it is important that all institutions start adopting the most advanced technology solutions to maximize the efficiency of patient collections. The latest medical billing software has to be applied as it has the type of applications that includes all the necessities regarding staff needs that is crucial to the management of the billing process.
Online superiority is key nowadays as most of the patients today are accustomed to doing everything online including their bill payments. Paper statements are compensated in favor of web browser applications that help them pay their bills over the Internet. The creation of an online patient portal where the patients will be able to reach the doctor at any time is helpful. It will present a number of benefits that extends from allowing the patients to discuss issues with the staff and receive quick responses.
They would get reminders about their pending visits from staff members and even secure a quick appointment in case of emergency. Technology also improves the overall efficiency of service by allowing a quick check of all debtors and eliminating all chances of erroneous recording. Also, an online statement regarding pending dues is expected to be received with greater enthusiasm than a paper statement that gets thrown into the trash.
3. Key Takeaways
As humans progress into the modern age, several changes have come to the fore that has defined the system of medical payments
It is the duty of the parent organization to decide if billing has to happen in-house or to decide to bring third-party professionals into the issue.
A clear and documented technique of presenting the payments tends to help the entire process.
It is better for the payment to be collected at the time of service. Proper convincing by the staff expert in public relations will guarantee a positive reply from patients.
Implementation of modern software and technology tools will prevent any inconvenience to the patients.
4. Conclusion
The health care system is overwhelmingly dependent on revenue receipts. With an enforced demand on documentation and the changing attitude of patients who prefer paying a co-payment, staff members face pertinent issues while collecting revenue from the insurance and patients.
The foundation of a proper revenue collection machinery lies on the base of a transparent collection process. A simple and lucid collection system helps patients better understand the expense of therapy ahead of time and encourages them to choose the particular private service.
By educating patients in detail about the treatment charges, the collection system helps in churning out patients with better understanding of the entire process. With every visit, the verification of the patient’s eligibility is enhanced as it helps to reduce claim denials. All of this helps in creating a healthy ecosystem.