Many practices have seen reduced revenue since the Pandemic.
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC had a profound impact on the medical industry. When the pandemic first ran rampant in the United States, practices closed except for emergencies. Even after reopening, the use of medical services fell 75% in March 2020, compared to the same months the year before. These were the months when many states enacted COVID-19 related bans on elective medical procedures. Practices began to allow delinquency during the economic decline, and this changed the culture of paying medical bills.
The top three ways to increase revenue and improve past due accounts resolution are:
1. Send out statements promptly and consistently.
Set up a regular billing process, and send statements every month! Many times, patients haven't paid simply because they haven't received a statement. Once reminded, most patients will likely pay in a timely manner (60 days). However, given the number of rising delinquencies in the housing market, and the stricter policies for lending, you don't want to be late or inconsistent in asking for payments.
2. Use your aging sheet, not your feelings.
Many practices let an account age beyond the point of reason because they feel the patient will pay eventually. While there may be a few exceptions, it is essential that all patients be treated the same. Deductibles need to be collected and expecting to be paid on time improves respect and patient retention.
At 45 days you should implement a call, text, or friendly reminder. At 60 days you should follow up with a 60-day past-due letter.
Want to know if you have a problem? Listen for “We have accounts over 90 days…”
This can be time-consuming for a practice. Most offices don't have the time to pursue accounts this late due to low recovery and ever-mounting new billing. So at this point, it could be time to add in some diplomatic, third-party muscle.
The impact of ‘Third-Party demand notes’, at this point (starting early, at 45-60 days), can reprioritize the debt for your patients, encouraging them to make a payment or a call.
We recommend TSI Profit Recovery (formerly known as Greenflag). TSI is an optional Partner add-on in THOMAS. With TSI tools built right into THOMAS, you get the ease of use of THOMAS' custom settings for aging, patient type (include/exclude), and minimum balance, making THOMAS and TSI valuable tools for your workplace.
3. Once patient balances reach 75 to 90 days, the next step should definitely be third-party muscle.
With the THOMAS-TSI interface the process becomes seamless, easy, and quick. If you are using TSI, you will be alerted regarding those patients who do not pay after the five third-party contacts (where they are asked nicely and the money comes back to you directly). After those five requests, those accounts will automatically flow (after two weeks) into TSI Collections (percentage-based, bad debt collections).
*Remember: You always have the option to just write the debt off and not send it to collections.
In any practice, prompt payment is not always the case, over time this has a serious impact on cash flow. In-house debt chasing is generally very non-productive for an office trying to work on new and current billing. The TSI Profit Recovery tool can give your staff the tools they need to collect your office money quicker, easier, and more effectively, while allowing them to direct their patient interactions to improve office efficiency and effectiveness, along with patient satisfaction and retention.
For questions regarding your best custom profit recovery solution, you can consult with Melody Wrobleski, our official Genius Solutions' TSI CO representative: (248) 495-3513 or Melody.wrobleski@transworldsystems.com