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BUSINESS ADVISOR
Corrie Massey, MHA
Getting Patients to Pay Up
6 keys to collecting out-of-pocket expenses on the day of surgery.
It's not always easy talking to patients about their out-of-pocket expenses and insurance coverage. But if you're not collecting co-
pays, deductibles and co-insurance on the day of surgery, you're probably leaving thousands of dollars on the table. Now's the time to act if you've detected a steady increase in the number of delinquent and collections accounts that you're converting to bad debt write-offs. Over time, that bad debt will add up to thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Here are 6 tips for collecting patients' out-of-pocket amounts and keeping that revenue in house.
1. Assume patients are in the dark. I verify insurance benefits for every patient. It's such a tricky business and it's constantly changing. I also have many daily discussions with patients, both pre-
and post-operatively, about their coverage and out-of-pocket expenses to try to help educate them about their health insurance plans. What I've found is widespread confusion from patients about their health plan coverage, why charges are so high and how we justify those charges. Sometimes I'll even mention why hospitals and surgery centers
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SURGICAL BUSINESS Are you prepared to handle questions about co-pays,
deductibles and insurance from patients both before and after surgery?
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