Practice Management Alert

Save this option for when other collection methods have failed. You've offered discounts, payment plans, and more,but you still haven't received payment from a patient. You may be forced to do a write-off at this point, says Steve Verno, CMMC, CMMB, NREMT-P, a medical billing consultant and educator in Orlando, Fla. Your practice is justified in writing off a patient's balance in the following situations: 1. The cost of collecting a balance is more than what the patient owes. For example: A patient's balance due is $3 after all insurance payments. The administrative cost to bill and collect is at least $15 per statement. "You don't spend $15 to collect $3," Verno says. 2. The provider uses all available methods to try to collect, including submitting the account to a collection agency. 3. The patient files for bankruptcy. This does not automatically initiate a write-off, however. The court could discharge [...]