You Get What You Ask For
It happens often enough, your patient is at check-out and they walk away having given your receptionist their check for $10.00 because they weren’t asked to pay, or weren’t reminded of, their prior balance. If you don’t ask for it you won’t get it!
As Cheryl Davis, RN and Executive Assistant for Steven Isenberg, MD in solo ENT practice in Indianapolis well knows, the three most important things to remember about collection are:
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collection of prior balances is a priority
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staff training is a must
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software that facilitates the process is imperative
Cheryl has made a significant difference in their collections process. In one day with 24 patients scheduled, the office collected:
$52.66 in deductibles from previous services
$109.00 in self-pay/uncovered services
$1919.83 on a recent surgical procedure
for a total of $2,081.49 . . . all this in addition to $180.00 in the days’ co-pays!
According to Karen Zupko, “While every day may not be as rich, most offices can improve prior balance collections by 50%.” One front office staff member remarked that she felt “empowered with authority” from Cheryl’s notes to ask for payment, and it’s true, says Cheryl – “if you don’t ask for the money, you sure won’t get it!”
The practice uses Zotec software, which features integrated scheduling and A/R data that makes it easy to see not only upcoming patient visits, but also balances owed along with the account status.
“Other software might not display prior balance as clearly as Zotec, but the concept is still do-able,” says KZA consultant, Cheryl Wergin. Click here for more information about Zotec.
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