Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/510361
5 5 M A Y 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T "It's ultimately about patient care," she says. "You want people to have the surgery they need, so there's usually a way you can work it out." OSM E-mail kgapinski@outpatientsurgery.net. the payment — like sending it to collections — versus what you gain if it's collected, says Gail Wilensky, PhD, senior fellow at Project HOPE and former director of Medicare and Medicaid. She says facilities often leave money on the table by presuming it won't be worth it to chase. 6. Be aware of your timing. If your facility tends to send out claims to insurers quickly, there's a good chance that yours will be processed before those from other providers your patient may have visited around the time of surgery, says Ms. Colen. That means patients are more likely to owe you their deductible. If this is the case, be aggressive about collecting most or all of the deductible on the day of surgery. Naturally, you'd like to collect everything from patients, but you don't want to lose a case because you were overly aggressive, says Ms. Massey. "In some cases, we'll collect as little as half of the estimated amount on or before their day of surgery and establish a payment plan for the remainder," she says. 7. Check on payment schedules frequently. Follow up on patients' payments a few days after they're due, says Ms. Massey. For example, if all payments are due on the 20 th , make sure you're reviewing all payment plan accounts on the 25 th to check if any are delinquent. 8. Give plenty of notice. Don't just send a bill every 30 days, says Ms. Massey. Instead, try to send payment reminders a few weeks in advance to keep patients on track. 9. Establish policies and follow them. Since collection attempts are highly regulated, Ms. Massey urges you to check that policies comply with local laws. Also make sure to document all financial interactions and phone calls with patients, she says, to protect both your facility and your patient. 10. Collect co-pays as soon as possible. Co-pays, the fixed payment patients pay, should never go to collections, says Ms. Colen. Consider requiring that patients pay co-pays on the day of surgery. If a patient arrives without it, don't cancel the case. Instead, send out a bill the next day for the co-pay amount and consider calling the patient a few days after surgery with a gentle reminder. "The more personal the touch is, the more the patient is going to feel responsible," says Ms. Colen. — Kendal Gapinski