Hi All! I work the patient ticklers (among many other things) in our practice's billing office and I'm having an issue with patients with very high balances $700+ who are making very small monthly payments of $5 - $10. The payments are consistent, but the AR for 120+ days is higher than it should be and that is obviously the reason why. The Billing Manager expects me to call these patients and tell them that our office cannot accept such small monthly payments on such a high balance. Every patient I call gives me a reason as to why they can't pay more: "I'm on a fixed income, it's all I can afford", "I'm out of work", etc. Never once has a phone call successfully raised that patient's monthly payment and I feel like I'm wasting my time, plus it's mentally and emotionally draining to spend 20 minutes on the phone with each patient listening to all of their woes. Does anyone perhaps have any suggestions and/or perhaps a template letter to the patient that they use which explains this that they would be willing to share? (These are patients that the physician has seen on rounds at the hospital - we have no way of collecting money up front to avoid this issue and most are self-pay, as well.)
Also, patients get very upset when they're making monthly payments and still get turned over to collections because the payments are too small. They assume that because they make consistent monthly payments we cannot turn them over. Does anyone know of a federal or state (Georgia) statute that I can refer to which states that we reserve the right to turn balances over that aren't paid promptly?
All advice and suggestions are welcome and much appreciated. Thanks!
Also, patients get very upset when they're making monthly payments and still get turned over to collections because the payments are too small. They assume that because they make consistent monthly payments we cannot turn them over. Does anyone know of a federal or state (Georgia) statute that I can refer to which states that we reserve the right to turn balances over that aren't paid promptly?
All advice and suggestions are welcome and much appreciated. Thanks!