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Let’s face it. When it comes to debt collection, it can be a delicate balancing act. Whether you are part of a larger medical group or running a solo practice, trying to get some patients to pay for the necessary, professional care and treatment you provided, without alienating them as a customer, is sometimes a difficult, costly, and time-intensive task.
Outside or In-house Help?
Doctors have been told there are only two ways to manage debt collection – either outsource it to an outside debt-collection agency or assign it to in-house staff to handle. Using outside agencies presents quite a few problems. First, collection agencies often have a collection fee of 15-40 percent of the amount they collect, leaving a much smaller portion of recovered funds for the provider. Second, an outside debt collector must offer a dispute period of 30 days after the first demand for payment is made before continuing the recovery process. Third, outside agencies will report delinquent payments to credit agencies, causing untold financial harm to your patients. And finally, fourth – and perhaps most crucial to your business – having an overly aggressive, outside debt-collection agency go after your patients and ruin their credit score is a sure way to lose those patients in the future. That’s no way to build a practice.
The other option doctors hear about is tracking down payments using their own, in-house staff. The advantages to using your own staff are numerous. For one, you won’t be giving up to 40 percent of the charges recovered to an outside agency. Furthermore, you can keep unpaid charges from showing up on your patients’ credit reports, helping relieve their financial stress. Additionally, in-house staff can begin the recovery process immediately upon nonpayment, without having to wait 30 days, thus finding account resolutions more quickly.
Unfortunately, the biggest problem for doctors using their own in-house staff to track down payments is the time needed to manage it all. Debt collection is very time intensive. And if your staff is dedicating a major chunk of their day doing it, then what areas of your practice are being neglected?
A Better Way!
Luckily, we at Catalyst Billing Solutions have an answer that helps ensure payments can be collected in-house without alienating your patients. By using Catalyst as your in-house management service, you will have at your disposal our designated collections team which works for you and has one goal: collecting payments from your patients without alienating them. By letting Catalyst spearhead your in-house collection efforts, you better manage the customer relationship throughout the recovery process. Plus, your own employees can spend time doing what they do best – providing exceptional service to your patients.
We never forget how important an empathic, human touch is in managing delinquent accounts. By speaking humanely with your patients, we can help setup a workable payment plan, which in the long run directs more money into your pocket without outsourcing. And especially for those patients who may be struggling financially due to COVID-19, this is an opportunity to build better, trusting, lifelong relationships with your patients.
At Catalyst, through years of collections experience, we provide the in-house staffing and know-how needed to help keep your patient accounts in the black – and your patients coming back.
Try Our In-house Collections Team!
Whether you are a multi-specialty group or a solo practice, Catalyst Billing Solutions has decades of experience in medical billing, debt-collection, and management services. Our energetic team is equipped with superior technology and operational brilliance to take your billing operations to the next level of profit and efficiency. Give us a call at 479.452.9416 to find out how!