Collections from patients have never been easy. Learn five strategies your front desk can implement to improve how they ask for money, increase revenue, and collect more!
Your front desk staff is essential to your medical practice. One of their harder tasks is asking for money to collect balance dues. Most people are uncomfortable asking patients to pay their bills.
Copayments should be collected at the time of service. Collecting these amounts due from patients at the front desk offers numerous benefits to practices such as:
- Reducing accounts receivable.
- Increasing revenue.
- Lowering medical billing & back-end collection costs.
So, taking a proactive approach to patient collections by starting the payment conversation early on can go a long way. A lack of communication in collecting patient payments can lead to delays in your payments or worse, not even getting paid at all. However, some strategies and practices can be implemented to improve front desk collections.
Here are five tips your front desk can use to get prepared and ask for payments:
1. Know the balance due beforehand
You can’t ask for money or collect payments if you don’t know what you are asking for. Ensure you have valid information, see the benefit details, check if the provider is in or out of the network, and more. Have all the information you need to ensure you collect every dollar owed.
2. Make an allowable spreadsheet
Consider having one spreadsheet that shows the allowable amount per payer for the codes most used by your providers. This way, you can accurately calculate the percentage amount due rather than waiting for an ERA (Electronic Remittance Advice) or EOB (Explanation of Benefits).
3. Review next day’s appointments
Each day look over the following day’s appointments. Make sure you check for any patients who have large balances due. Be ready and have a plan in place for how you will handle it when they arrive.
4. Offer payment options
Accept cash, checks, credit, and debit cards. These payment options can be used in person or via phone. Some patients prefer to keep a card on file for ease of paying their bills. Payment plans can also be a viable option for many.
5. Reduce A/R work later
The better the information from your front desk, the less work will be on rejections and denials for eligibility and benefits later in the revenue cycle. A great strategy to ask for payments at your front desk can help reduce denials and improve how you collect your payments.
Read more about best practices you can implement in your medical practice to improve your front desk processes on our blog.
At Health Prime, we understand that the front desk is one of the most critical roles in your medical practice. Indeed, they play a massive part in helping your patients understand their plans and enhance processes.
If you want to learn more about improving your patient collections process, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]. Our team will set up a meeting to discuss how Health Prime can maximize your revenue by cutting costs, saving you time, and collecting more!
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