Managing medical bill collections can be a challenge for healthcare providers. And the fact that over 70 million Americans have pending medical bills or debts adds salt to injury. So if you want to improve your billing collection process, here are six simple ways to do so.
Allow and Automate Financial Assistance
Some patients are eligible for financial assistance. So instead of accumulating bills until they’re written off as bad debts, allow your patients to get financial assistance automatically. With the right technology, you can perform financial assistance screening when registering new patients. This allows your practice to determine whether a patient is eligible for financial assistance. This can increase your chances of collecting payment.
Verify Patient Data
Most data needed for medical bill collections is usually obtained at the point of access. As such, ensure the data is correct for an efficient collection. When the data obtained is wrong, or entered incorrectly, it creates an obstacle when it comes to getting paid.
Verify Eligibility
The process of verifying eligibility can be time-consuming. To increase your odds of getting accurate data, employ both EDI and web-based searches. Scheduled batch queries enable you to check for new updates and changes in insurance coverage, while real-time queries give you the opportunity to get current information about a patient. Both strategies give room for collecting accurate information, improving patient expectations, and getting updates quickly. Taking time on eligibility verification also minimizes your chances of denials, which can increase your medical bill collections.
Set Up Payment Plans
With the right technology, you can set up suitable deposit and payment schedules for your patients. Most healthcare practices are even using retail-style collection techniques, such as upfront deposits and secure storage for credit card information to boost future collections.
Create an Easy Process of Collecting Payment
Most medical practices are now using online systems that allow patients to post payments. These practices often report increased medical bill collections. You can borrow a leaf and take your practice to a new level.
Make the Billing Process Simple and Clear
The surest way to improve your medical bill collections is to remove obstacles in your payment processes and make it clearer. For instance, you can consolidate family payment information, bills from the lab, physician, and hospital, and provide online payment plans. These approaches can even reduce the cost of your billing process.
Medical bill collections can be improved with the right approaches. To learn more, please consult the specialists at Advanced Reimbursement Solutions. Contact us today to book an appointment and speak with a member of our team in Phoenix or Wilmington.