Time to write off patient pay A/R?

The collectibility of A/R is primarily determined by how old it is.  Most companies have bad debt reserve guidelines for A/R that increase in percentage as the A/R ages.  When a claim is determined to be uncollectable it is written off. 

When a patient agrees to make payments on a balance, they may be paying on the claim long after the normal age to write it off.  These “active, old” claims are exceptions to the write off guidelines established and should be kept “on the books” as long as the patient is paying.  The problem is, patient pay A/R is a small (seemingly insignificant) portion of total A/R and in most cases it is difficult to get reports that help you manage patient pay A/R separately.  This is what a Rock-Pond customer discovered when their auditors challenged their over 365 A/R, saying it needed to be written off.  They knew a significant portion of this A/R was due from paying patients and they wanted to leave it on the books.  The challenge was to quantify this to the auditors.

The Patient Pay Claims Analysis report gave them exactly what they needed.  It shows the total amount transferred to the patient for time period as well as the payment and adjustments made to these balances through a transaction date and the current balance.  With this information you can quickly and effectively see what is happening to the balances being transferred to patients.  This report can also be used to measure how effectively patient pay balances are being worked, including the percentage being collected, written off and still due.  

Patient pay balances are a small but important part of overall A/R management.  A report like the Patient Pay Claims Analysis allows you to see exactly what is happening to claims once they are due from the patient.  Getting all the “large due from insurance” amounts out of the way will help you see exactly how well your patients are paying their portion of their claims.