http://www.donself.com/collect1.html

http://www.donself.com/collect1.html
HOW TO EFFECTIVELY COLLECT AT THE TIME OF SERVICE

WHEN DO COLLECTIONS BEGIN?

Many offices do not treat the collection process as seriously as the physician treats the clinical side of their practice. For instance, if you have a patient coming in for a clinical or diagnostic test, you may prepare the patient during the phone call with instructions on fasting prior to the visit. If you are not doing the same thing on the collection side of the practice, you are doing your business a disservice.

When the patient calls to make the first appointment, the patient should be told, over the phone, your collection policy, payment policy and what to bring with them during their first visit (ie. identification, insurance card, insurance policy, etc.). They should also be told to arrive at least 15 minutes early so that they may have time to complete the New Patient Credit Form. Notice that we did not refer to it as a New Patient Information Form, but as a "Credit Form".

If your practice is progressive enough to have a PRACTICE INFORMATION FORM, and there is ample time for mailing the form to the patient, prior to their visit, this form, along with the NEW PATIENT CREDIT FORM, should be mailed to the patient. This gives the patient the information they need about your practice, such as location, hours, emergency instructions, credit policy, payment forms accepted, parking instructions, etc... This also tells the patient in advance that you treat your practice as a business and not as a hobby.

PATIENT'S FIRST VISIT

Once the patient arrives, if they have not already brought a completed NEW PATIENT CREDIT FORM with them, they should be given one and asked to fill it out COMPLETELY. Upon them submitting this form to your receptionist, the receptionist should scan the form to ensure that the following exists:
#1 It Is Readable #2 It is Completely Filled Out

If either of the two requirements are not met, the form should be politely returned to the patient and requested to be corrected. It is not your receptionist's job to be filling out the form for the patient that is either unprepared or too lazy to complete it. If the patient has infirmaries that prevent them from doing so on their own, they should be assisted.

Once the form is returned to the receptionist in a completed and readable condition, the receptionist should politely request the following from the patient:

The patient's or responsible party's Driver's License The patient's Insurance Card
Remember earlier, we mentioned the patient may also be requested to bring in their insurance policy with them. This is recommended since so many insurance cards do not have information that your practice may need: Address of the Claims Office, Phone Numbers, Restrictions, Deductible, etc. If the patient has the policy with them and the card's information is insufficient, you have the information at your fingertips that may be copied or transferred to your records.

DRIVER'S LICENSE OR PHOTO IDENTIFICATION

Since so many practices do not require a photo included identification, such as a driver's license or school ID card, you may be wondering why this is necessary. Since this article may be read by non medical personnel, we are not going into detail on the reasons here. Please take our advice and make sure you not only request the identification, but that you copy it for your files. One very good reason to give the patient, should they request it, is that in case of an emergency or should the physician be called upon to help identify the patient, in case of death, the policy of having a copy of the patient's ID is required. Should a patient refuse to provide a photo identification, we believe the patient's appointment should be rescheduled for late 1997. In other words, if the patient is going to be trouble in the reception area, you do not want that patient in your practice.

CHOOSE YOUR PATIENTS

Not every physician that calls us and asks us to review, analyze, micro-manage their practice or file their insurance claims for them, do we accept. We refuse to work with physicians that are either rude, overbearing, obviously intent on being dishonest with the government or their patients, or if they perform services which we inherently disagree with. You are allowed to do the same thing in your practice. Just because you accept Medicare or Medicaid patients, does not mean you are obligated to take every patient that walks into your door. You may decide to restrict the number of new Medicare patients or new Medicaid patients each month that you accept. You may have a patient that comes into your practice that uses vulgarity that you do not approve of. You may have a patient that believes they are allergic to soap and water. If that is the case, we suggest you not refuse to see the patient, but that you realize that you are over-booked for the day and offer to reschedule them for 1998 and/or give them the name and phone number of another health care professional in your area. Since Hillary and Bill have not taken over the private enterprise of medicine in this country yet, you still work for yourself and decide whom you will accept as new patients (clients) and whom you do not.

GETTING MONEY FROM THE PATIENT

Once the patient is seen by the physician and returns to the front office, the opportunity to actually collect from the patient is at hand. At all times, the receptionist or collector needs to exhibit a polite but professional attitude and demeanor. At no time, should the collector show frustration, inconsideration, or rudeness. It does not matter what attitudes the patient exhibits, the office staff is always professional in front of the patient. If the urge to release pent up frustration becomes overwhelming, the office staffer should be allowed to step outside the building, walk to a quiet place and jump up and down and throw whatever tantrums they wish to throw, but never in front of the patient.

Upon the total professional fees being calculated the collector should look into the patient's eyes and give them the following information:
Previous Balance Information The Total of Today's Fees Expected Insurance Remittance Total Due from the Patient TODAY
Without hesitating, the collector should be holding out one hand, with palm raised upwards and level, towards the patient and give the patient the choice of two positives, such as:
Would you rather pay that by check or would cash be better for you?
You will notice that this does not easily allow the patient to use the word "NO", as they have been given a choice. If the patient states they do not have that much cash on hand, then the collector (still with hand extended) should say something like "That is why we take checks; to make it easier on the patient". At all times a smile should be on the collector's face. Remember, we are giving the patient the opportunity to be a responsible and honest American and there are billions of people in this world that would love to have that opportunity. Don't we live in a great land? Now, should the patient discover they do not have enough money in their checking account, we cheerfully should respond:
We understand completely that medical expenses can catch you off guard, and that is why, for the benefit of our patients, we accept credit cards. Now, do you prefer to use Mastercard, Visa or Discover? (Again, we have given them positive choices). Should the patient announce that credit cards are evil instruments of the banks and they do not use them, we still keep the smile on our face and we resort to a 4th method of payment.
"I understand completely and that is why when you go ahead and write that check, I will hold it for a week, unless a week and a half would be better for you."

Once more, we have given them a choice of two positives. Of course, we assure the patient that the check will not be processed before that date and in fact, we ask the patient to not date the check, so that we may do so, FOR THEM, on the day we deposit it. On that day, the check will be posted into the accounts receivable program, and should they wish a receipt for the payment, (even though they will have the cancelled check), we will be more than happy to mail them one, ON THAT DAY. Unfortunately, due to our accounting program, we are not able to issue a receipt until the day the check is processed as payment, as there is no means in our system to do so. In other words, until the day the check is sent to your bank, do not give them a receipt showing the payment.

In the eventuality that the patient does not have any checks left in their checkbook (imagine that!!!), your staffer should enquire as to what bank the patient banks at, and then reach into the drawer and pull out a counter check from that bank to be completed by the patient. If they have their empty checkbook with them, the account number may be obtained from there. If not, the bank should be called and the phone handed to the patient so they may retrieve their account number from the bank, if possible.

As a last resort, if all else has failed, we need to remember the patient stated something at the beginning of this exchange that is vital. They told us they didn't have that much, which implies what????? Yep, you got it! They have something. Now, there are two ways to approach this and most offices approach it the wrong way, and ask for the money in the wrong fashion, giving the patient an opportunity to reduce the amount they pay and increase the amount they keep in their pocket today.

But alas, if we told you everything in these articles, there would be no reason for you to hire us to come to your town and either teach a collection workshop for your hospital, medical association or your own practice, or to perform a personal and confidential analysis of your own practice. For this reason, we must now end this article, but don't feel shorted, as we have already given you plenty of ideas to consider for your practice, as we believe you will agree. And, the best part is - WE HAVEN'T CHARGED YOU A PENNY TO DO SO...... yet.