J U N E 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 7
W
e all know how difficult it can be to collect from self-pay
patients after services have been
rendered, so give your frontline
staff the tools they need to collect at the
time of admission. My advice: Educate them
to steer away from passive language like,
"Will you be paying today?" or "How will you
be paying?" Instead, teach them to be
imperative. Upon a patient's admission, staff
should kindly but firmly tell the patient,
"Your responsibility today is X amount" and
then list all the forms of payment you
accept: MasterCard, Visa, CareCredit. Of
course, you need to communicate to
patients exactly how much they owe well before they walk through
your door on the day of the procedure (osmag.net/TsX2Jq).
Cristina Bentin, CMA, CCS-P, COC, CPPM
Coding Compliance Management
Baton Rouge, La.
cristina@ccmpro.com
Ask Patients How (Not If) They'll Pay
• UP FRONT Have your frontline staff kindly
but firmly tell self-pay patients how much
they owe, followed by all the forms of pay-
ment you accept, at the time of admission.
what I know of your organization, I have no doubt you will offer a
competitive package." Don't sell yourself short. Just because you're
making $85,000 doesn't mean you're not worth $130,000.
Andréa Venezio
Sapphire Health Group
Grapevine, Texas
andreav@sapphirehg.com
