Almost 80 million Americans have problems with medical bills according to a survey published by The Commonwealth Fund.

That number of those facing difficulties is up 34% since 2005.

If you’re a healthcare professional or practice manager and you read that statistic, it’s discouraging. I could go into further detail based on the survey’s results and break down all of the reasons why so many modernday patients struggle with paying off their medical debt, but that falls outside the scope of this video.

LINKS:
____________________________________________

https://etactics.com/blog/scriptsfor...
____________________________________________

The bottom line is that you need to implement safeguards in your practice to protect your accounts receivables. You simply can’t afford to.

How are you supposed to operate if your patients can’t pay you?

The best way to protect your revenue as a healthcare organization and/or practice is by establishing a comprehensive collections process.

In other words, the majority of what your team’s efforts should pertain to after a patient receives treatment is collecting from them.

One of the most important steps in your established collections process is calling on your patients. The only question then is, “What do you say?”

Nearly 20% of patients admit that the reason why they didn’t pay their medical bills on time was that they simply forgot. That statistic is the sole reason why the fist script I have for you is for forget patients.

Forgetting bills happens more often than you think and you shouldn’t hold it against the person you’re calling.

As such, you’ll notice the politeness involved in the script above. The team member frames the conversation in a way that’s collaborative. It’s almost as if they’re outright saying, “Let’s work together as a team and settle your balance.”

Of course, it’s not always going to be this easy. There will be times when the person on the other end forgot and they don’t have time to pay on the first call. If that’s the case, call them back the next day and let them know that before they hang up.

The second script I have for you deals with patients who didn’t receive their statement in the first place.

A worstcase scenario for many healthcare organizations is sending a patient’s medical bill to the wrong address. That’s considered a HIPAA violation and it could lead to large fines from the government if the mistakes happen on a large scale.

Of course, if you call one of your patients and they state that they never received their statement, to begin with. That doesn’t always mean that their bill went to the wrong address. Maybe there was a printer error or a mailing error. Either way, your script should look as follows.

To make this type of phone call a step further, you should provide your team with an email template to use in tandem with a patient that prefers online payment. That way, the team can send a followup email with payment instructions immediately after the call.

The third and fourth scripts I have for you deal with if the bill is incorrect.
80% of all medical bills contain errors.

That statistic isn’t very encouraging. Of course, the error doesn’t always have to be on a services and/or charges level. It could be contact information related.

In any case, what I’m trying to say is that having a script ready to go that helps guide your team through the scenario where there was a mistake in billing is essential.

You’ll find that some patients think that there’s a mistake in their bill, but it's a misunderstanding of their charges. Due to that reason, it’s a good idea to create a script that has IF logic built in it.

If the mistake is real, then go this route. If the mistake is a misunderstanding, say this instead.

Over a quarter of patients have had trouble paying off a recent medical bill. This brings me to why the fifth script I have for you deals with patients who run into financial trouble.

That’s a hard statistic to swallow. Yet, it’s the reality that many healthcare organizations need to understand. The cost of healthcare doesn’t show any signs of decreasing anytime soon, either.

In other words, your practice needs to prepare itself for the inevitable conversation with a patient that has financial trouble.

Discussing the financial situation with a patient that owes you money is a sensitive topic. But it’s possible to navigate such a conversation in a way that’s collaborative and beneficial to both parties.

► Reach out to Etactics @ https://www.etactics.com​
►Subscribe: https://rb.gy/pso1fq​ to learn more tips and tricks in healthcare, health IT, and cybersecurity.
►Find us on LinkedIn:   / etacticsinc​  
►Find us on Facebook:   / ​  

#PatientCollections #PatientStatement