Published Friday, February 10, 2023 by Alan Holdren

Frequently, we are asked by office managers and concerned doctors, “What can we do to help improve collections?” Below are a few areas that we have found to greatly increase our probability of recovery.

• Obtain any and all available information regarding the patient and/or the debt.

Assume you are making a loan, because in a sense you actually are. Credit is actually being extended to each patient until either, they pay you for the services rendered or the Insurance Company pays you for the services rendered. The base information you should gather for collections purposes is:

Name, Address, Ph No, SSN and Place of Employment.

• Obtain all pertinent insurance information and medical information required for treatment.
• Clearly identifying who is responsible for patient’s debt.

Probably one of the most important controversial areas we run into is with the handling of cases where the patient is a minor and is taken for treatment by a parent or other adult. Atlas Services works on the basis that both parents are responsible for the minor’s medical bills. If an adult other than the parents take the minor to an office and signs as a responsible party for the minor that they also can be help responsible for the debt. This creates an interesting and sometimes challenging scenario with a neighbor or friend.

The medical office will determine for the agency the information provided and if special handling of the accounts is necessary. Atlas Collections prefers to have all options open even though some of our clients prefer a softer approach. Many times, “Soft Collections” is the best approach when working with a non-family responsible party. Finances usually dictate the amount of leniency extended during the collection process.

We encourage regular updating of the patient and insurance information. Some facilities have moved to a per visit update due to job changes occurring so rapidly in many areas.

The motto “Quality Information In = High Recoveries” is true!