Medical collections are an issue in a lot of hospitals and other medical institutions. Having a debt collection agency work on the medical collections can be quite a challenging task for any office manager for different medical institutions. There may be times when the hospital office manager will create the monthly or annual financial statements and then realize that there have been bills that were not settled yet. This can pose a problem with the cash flow of the hospital and should be acted upon immediately.
Medical Collections
Agencies that deal with medical collections perfectly understand that there are ways of trying to contact the parties concerned in order to settle hospital bills. With the medical collections agency’s assistance, the outstanding bills can be taken care of as soon as possible which can solve cash flow problems. Doctors and can carry on taking care of their patients and making sure that the patients get the services that they need in order for them to get better and not worry about the money that they are bound to receive after providing the service to the hospital’s patients. There are some patients who still negotiate for lower fees, installments, delayed billing but when they do not pay, medical collection agencies step their foot down and help the hospital out in collecting the necessary fees.
Medical Collections
It is very important to understand that medical collections are governed by the FDCPA. This means that all agencies that aim to handle medical collections in any way should abide by the rules and regulations of the FDCPA at all times. Medical collections may be different in origin compared to other types of debts but still, they need to be handled in the same manner as other types of debts. The customer must also realize that if the medical collections are not settled on time, this will go under credit report just as other debts are considered. It is treated just like credit card debts and mortgage payments. The hospital should be able to provide information that will educate the customer regarding the payments right when they are admitted in the hospital. There should be an established policy on billing procedures that will give proper education to the customer on how to settle their accounts and how the calculations are performed such as basic fees, interest and other charges. One way to do this is to give them a copy of the running bill and a copy of the billing procedures.
Lastly, due diligence is important on the part of the hospital office manager. Hiring a medical collections agency would mean that they have run the proper background checks in order to make sure that the agency will perform the medical collections on industry standards on behalf of the hospital or medical institution. One must research their capability and effectiveness as a medical collection agency so that proper procedures are done and eventually all debts can be collected in time to avoid any discrepancies in cash flow and other financial problems in the medical institution or hospital.