We've reached another October, which means Halloween is on the horizon. Many patients at hospitals, clinics, medical centers, private practices and other care facilities may feel they're trick or treating when it comes to billing and collections experiences following care.
Trick: Obtuse payment expectations
Many of the most protracted collections occur when patients have little up-front knowledge about what treatment and procedures will cost them. On this blog, we've written extensively about price transparency initiatives that have helped keep patients abreast of what they owe and how to approach the financial obligation. When these facts are hard to find, patients might feel tricked into spending more than they anticipated at the beginning.
Trick: Unhelpful billing and collections administrators
When those questions and concerns about billing come up, it's important for care facilities to employ qualified administrators who can support, educate and direct patients about their responsibilities. Good training can help support this area of your finance department, ensuring that your team knows how to work with patients in a way that makes them feel included, supported and capable. Losing touch with this important interpersonal dimension can create an alienating process.
Treat: Reconfiguring billing and collections
At present, these tricks may exist because your administrators are overwhelmed by a high volume of claims, or your billing and collections methods haven't been devised with patients in mind. By redistributing resources to improve the process, finance departments run more efficiently. One way to do this is by choosing to outsource receivables management or implementing a detailed employee training protocol. Contact Professional Medical Services today to learn more about our solutions for hospital finance efficiency and revenue cycle management.
