Patient Pay Accounts – measure & manage them

May 17, 2010 by Pete Tanguay
Filed under Rock-Pond Blog

Too often we measure the results of our staff by the wrong measures. This is a disservice to our staff and a liability to our business. The more we measure based on absolute numbers that are indicators of the business results we are looking for, the more satisfied our staff will be and the healthier our business will be.

Consider the patient pay collection process. The process is simple

Transfer the balance to the patient.
Contact the patient to set up a payment plan (payment in full or monthly payments).
If the phone does not work, use certified mail.
If the patient won’t pay, escalate the notices you send or transfer to collection.
If the patient is still active, collect the amount on the next delivery.

How do you measure this process?

The number of calls made
The number of patients contacted
The number of payment plans set up
The number of accounts sent to collection
The percentage of patient A/R to total A/R

Reimbursement management needs to know the amount of time is being spent on patient collections and the results that are coming in from these efforts. You must know the costs you are incurring to collect the accounts and the money you are collecting as a result. If you don’t, the effectiveness of your patient pay process is a guess at best and you may be chasing a $10 bill with $100.