Hospital bad debt is one of the main reasons for more hospital closings across America. Hospital administrators are confronting increasing costs associated with treating more and more Americans with little to no health insurance. As more are using hospital emergency rooms to treat minor to serious illnesses, hospitals are finding it hard to recoup these costs.
Doctor's offices are also seeing a decrease in patients with health insurance, as these illnesses are going untreated until they get far more serious. This results in much higher medical costs, since many of these illnesses are minor and preventable if treated earlier.
Many of these patients are uninsured, under-insured and/or recently lost their jobs. With a deepening recession, fewer and fewer patients can afford the costs of hospital treatment.
Patients don't usually think about all the expenses and equipment costs connected with their treatment. They also don't consider how the medical facility will pay the wages of all the staff during their time in the hospital.
Without adequate debt collection methods in place, many hospitals are putting off the purchase of much-needed diagnostic equipment. Other medical facilities are laying off staff, while some others will more than likely have to close their operations entirely unless they find ways to recover hospital bad debt.
Here are 4 tips for reducing or recovering hospital bad debt:
1. Making Payment Arrangements
Many patients tend to fear larger debts, as the amounts involved seem insurmountable. By setting up an internal payment plan with patients and encouraging them to make smaller, regular repayments against their medical debts, hospitals are able to at least recover some of the debt owed to them.
2. Clear Payment Policies
Patients should be made aware that payment policies do exist within your internal collection plans. While patients are making an attempt to keep up with regular repayments, there is no problem. However once those regular repayments fall behind and become delinquent it needs to be clearly understood that the outstanding debt falls due in full and will be forwarded to third party debt collection agencies to recover the debt.
3. Provide Financial Counseling
Financial counseling offered to patients can improve the rate of repayment to the hospital, and reduce the overall amount of bad debt that would likely have been written off. Financial counseling can help patients with budgeting issues, and possibly even help them find ways to continue with their payment plans.
4. Third Party Collection Agencies
If you have continued delinquent patient accounts, with them making no attempts toward making payments or arrangements, you should consider hiring outside collection agencies to recover these bad debt accounts.
Debt collection agencies are able to help recover any delinquent hospital, medical clinic, or doctor's office bills from your patients in a professional, timely manner.
Doctor's offices are also seeing a decrease in patients with health insurance, as these illnesses are going untreated until they get far more serious. This results in much higher medical costs, since many of these illnesses are minor and preventable if treated earlier.
Many of these patients are uninsured, under-insured and/or recently lost their jobs. With a deepening recession, fewer and fewer patients can afford the costs of hospital treatment.
Patients don't usually think about all the expenses and equipment costs connected with their treatment. They also don't consider how the medical facility will pay the wages of all the staff during their time in the hospital.
Without adequate debt collection methods in place, many hospitals are putting off the purchase of much-needed diagnostic equipment. Other medical facilities are laying off staff, while some others will more than likely have to close their operations entirely unless they find ways to recover hospital bad debt.
Here are 4 tips for reducing or recovering hospital bad debt:
1. Making Payment Arrangements
Many patients tend to fear larger debts, as the amounts involved seem insurmountable. By setting up an internal payment plan with patients and encouraging them to make smaller, regular repayments against their medical debts, hospitals are able to at least recover some of the debt owed to them.
2. Clear Payment Policies
Patients should be made aware that payment policies do exist within your internal collection plans. While patients are making an attempt to keep up with regular repayments, there is no problem. However once those regular repayments fall behind and become delinquent it needs to be clearly understood that the outstanding debt falls due in full and will be forwarded to third party debt collection agencies to recover the debt.
3. Provide Financial Counseling
Financial counseling offered to patients can improve the rate of repayment to the hospital, and reduce the overall amount of bad debt that would likely have been written off. Financial counseling can help patients with budgeting issues, and possibly even help them find ways to continue with their payment plans.
4. Third Party Collection Agencies
If you have continued delinquent patient accounts, with them making no attempts toward making payments or arrangements, you should consider hiring outside collection agencies to recover these bad debt accounts.
Debt collection agencies are able to help recover any delinquent hospital, medical clinic, or doctor's office bills from your patients in a professional, timely manner.
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