Turning patients over to collections can be an unpleasant experience for all involved. Sometimes, however, practices are left with no choice. To maintain profitability and keep doors open, practices need to continue receiving payment for the services they provide; thus, it is important to have a proper strategy in place for patient collections.

Mistakes to Avoid

Healthcare practice staff often look at collections as just another task that needs to be done, not as something that is absolutely crucial to the continuing existence of the practice. This perspective can lead to them not giving the process their entire thought and attention. It isn’t easy to establish the type of empathy and understanding that is needed to truly provide a stellar patient experience and to engage with patients in a manner that allows you to educate them on their bills properly, and work together to devise an appropriate payment plan. However, doing so can ensure that both parties reach a mutual understanding; practice staff showing the willingness to work with patients to figure out the best way they can make their payments and patients understanding how important it is to the continued survival of the practice that they do so.

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Maintaining Consistency

Consistency is a crucial aspect of the billing process. The collections process does not start at the end of the patient journey, it starts at the very beginning. Practice staff needs to be able to engage patients early on and talk them through how much the procedure may end up costing them while mentioning the payment options that are available. Setting expectations at an early stage is important to maintaining a high-quality patient experience, and consistency with making sure all patients are treated the same way will only make this process easier in the long run.

Revenue Generation

Rather than simply another menial task that needs to be done, practices should train staff to view patient collections as a crucial revenue generation activity. Much like other aspects of running a practice, such as acquiring and retaining patients, collections contribute a significant amount to what the practice earns, and treating this process as such will ensure all staff members appreciate the importance of this task.

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Once all staff members fully understand the importance of a smooth collections workflow, it becomes easier to implement the policies and procedures necessary for making it so. Once the workflows have been created, and are manned by staff that fully understand their importance, you must continually go back and examine it in order to make improvements. If you’ve trained your staff well, this process will be made easier with their input and feedback, allowing you to streamline and fine-tune your collections process, to the point that every patient receives a consistently excellent experience.