Wiki Patient statement

Metroderm

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I would like get an idea how other practices are handling the situation.
We have not sent patient balance statement and started again in Nov 2020 after cost share waiving period has ended.
A lot of patients are not paying bills and should be sent to collection.
Considering the situation, I don't think it's fair to send any acct to the collection, but we can't seat and watch the balance grow as well.
Please share if there is any options or ideas.
Thank you.
 
We paused collections at the start of the pandemic period but continued to send monthly statements. We have not yet resumed collections but will likely do so soon because, as you say, balances are growing. Unfortunately, in my specialty, we have recurring patients with large balances so it gets out of control quickly.
 
We basically have not changed. We are (and always were) understanding of patients who contacted us and requested extended payment plans. However, if a patient has received months of bills, a phone message or 2, reminder letter, and is choosing to ignore their bill, why should my staff waste their time and the practice's money?
Anyone making any type of payment plan does not go to collections. We also offer financial hardship (patient must apply and submit proof).
As long as it's above the amount the collection agency will take, it should go to collections.
 
I would like get an idea how other practices are handling the situation.
We have not sent patient balance statement and started again in Nov 2020 after cost share waiving period has ended.
A lot of patients are not paying bills and should be sent to collection.
Considering the situation, I don't think it's fair to send any acct to the collection, but we can't seat and watch the balance grow as well.
Please share if there is any options or ideas.
Thank you.

By my understanding, cost share was waived for COVID-related services only, so I'm not sure why your practice would have elected to stop sending all statements - I would have advised against such a policy. Though it may be well-intended, it's not a good practice to let the entire accounts receivable age like this as it makes the debts harder to collect and can also raise compliance issues for your practice if you are not making an attempt to collect the patient share. I recommend you resume statements, perhaps initially with a cover letter explaining why there was a pause in your billing but making it clear to the patients that the amounts are still owed.

I agree with Christine's post above and think that it is a good business practice as long as a patient/customer is making an effort to pay their bills, or is at least communicating with the practice to let you know why they are unable to pay, then as a courtesy and to maintain a relationship with the patient it's best not to send their account to collections. But for patients who simply ignore their bills, it is wasteful to continue to keep those accounts active - the practice should decide to either turn them over to collections or otherwise treat them as bad debt and discharge them from the practice according to your policies for this.

Any time patients have received services from your providers for which the practice has not yet been paid, then there is a debt obligation. It is up to the owners of the practice to decide how and whether to pursue collection of those debts. If they wish to forgive those debts for patients with a demonstrated inability to pay, then that is their prerogative, but physicians and business owners make their living from the services they provide and, like anyone else, shouldn't be expected to give away their work for free without their consent.
 
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We paused collections for several months during the pandemic but have since resumed. We had continued sending monthly statements during that time. We send a notice that the patient's account has been flagged for collections and that they have two weeks from the time of the notice to settle the bill or it will be sent to collections. We offer the patients options such as Care Credit or an in-house payment plan, up to 18 months, that exempts them from collections. It is set up according to what the patient feels comfortable paying.
 
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