If you Google “stop collection agencies” you’ll find roughly 13,400,000 results.
And when you Google “medical billing and collections” you’ll find about 3,260,000 results. So what does that mean for your medical practice in dollars and cents?
That there are many more sites helping people to avoid paying their bills rather than helping you collect what’s rightfully yours.
For this reason staying on top of your billing and collections is essential for your practice.
The only real questions is… how do you do this effectively?
Medical collection issues and your practice
You don’t need me to tell you that medical collections poses unique challenges different from other businesses. After all, some of the people who owe you money may be long time patients (or clients), and it’s never easy “going after” someone who you’ve had a long relationship with.
Couple that with the fact that many people cringe at the idea of using a collection agency, and that so many people hate bill collectors and the collection industry.
Whether the bad reputation of collection agencies is deserved or not, the point to keep in mind that the industry as a whole is not the problem, but rather a handful on unscrupulous companies who make collection calls “gangster style.” And no one can blame you for not wanting to use a company with a bad reputation or who is going to run rough-shod over your patients.
Which means that finding the right collection agency is absolutely essential for your practice.
Or just write off the debt.
Unfortunately, too many practices choose the second option. And it’s really a shame, since the economic times we live in makes it essential to collect every dollar of revenue possible that is rightfully owed to you. After all, you have overhead and expenses to pay just like any other business.
So what can you do?
When it comes to finding the best possible collection agency for your unique needs, asking a handful of questions should help you select one company over the others. For example, consider asking:
- how long they’ve been in business?
- if they work with other medical offices/practices?
- if they belong to a professional organization?
- what their success rate is for medical collections?
- how they will contact your patients?
- what their fee structure is?
- when they should get involved in your billing process?
The last questions is key, because an ethical agency will not use heavy-handed tactics in order to help you get paid. They will contact your outstanding accounts in a professional manner that helps you get paid without unduly upsetting the very people you need to collect from.
And best of all, they will assume liability for adhering to any and all collection laws that apply for your state, as well as the state(s) where you patients currently reside.
The fact of the matter is that collecting unpaid bills requires skill, expertise and experience. And only by working with a professional medical collection do you stand a chance of recovering some, if not all, of the outstanding revenue that’s owed to you.
Provided, of course, that you find the right agency to work with.
Find a medical debt specialist today
To find a medical collections agency that specializes in medical practices like yours simply request more information from qualified and reputable companies.
Click the link and compare free medical collection agency quotes today.
This way you can save time, money and aggravation by hiring a professional who can help you start collecting on your outstanding bills.
After all, you really have two choices:
- you can keep doing what you’re doing (expecting a different result), or
- you can hire an outside medical collections expert that can help you collect the money you rightfully deserve.
You decide…