With medical collections costing doctors millions upon millions of dollars in unpaid bills and collection fees, many people have just one question: Who are these people who are trying to stiff the doctors who delivered them from great physical pain (or the flu, hypochondria, not-so-white-teeth, or a nose that didnt look enough like Brad Pitts)? Well, Im here to tell you who these people are, or at least some of them. Theyre me. Yes, I admit it: I left a dentists bill unpaid for three months. OK, so dentistry isnt technically considered medical, but its the same situation: a doctor left in the lurch. Why did I do such a horrible thing, especially when I, a small businessperson myself, know how difficult unpaid debts can make cash flow, and how it could very easily make me persona non grata in that office? Why Medical Collections Happen Or, Possible Reasons for Me Being a Deadbeat Here are reasons commonly advanced for why people like me might not pay a doctors bill. They dont have enough money, plain and simple. After all, if they couldnt afford insurance, they probably are going to have trouble with the bill. They dont care about the poor doctors and either dont know about or dont care about the potential for damage to their own credit ratings. They are chronically lazy, stupid, or just dont know what theyre doing. OK, the terms used arent quite that specific, but thats the general idea. All of these possible reasons why a patient might not pay could be pretty discouraging for a practice looking to get the money its owed. After all, theres not much even the best doctor can do about a patients poverty, venality, or fecklessness. But is there really so little hope for collecting on medical debt? Why Medical Collection Isnt Necessarily So Hopeless Or, The Real Reason I Didnt Pay My Dentists Bill I just signed and mailed a check for my outstanding dentists bill. That just goes to show the situation isnt so hopeless after all, doesnt it? Heres at least one case of a healthcare practice getting its money back., and after three months at that . No, my financial situation did not improve dramatically, nor did my slothful ways correct themselves. Wondering what the dentist did to make me pay? Plead? Cajole? Shame? Threaten to put the tartar back? Actually, the dentist didnt do anything, and thats the problem. Heres what happened: I remembered I had the bill to pay. I had forgotten ever owing the dentist money. Since I wasnt expecting the dentists bill, unlike all the bills that come every month, it got lost in a pile of credit card offers, appeals to help save trees being cut down to make paper, and news about really great products for writers. The follow-up letter reminding me to pay met a similar fate. It probably didnt help when I took a trip to Las Vegas and then threw away the junk mail en masse when I got back. I finally remembered the bill when someone asked me to write an article about medical collections. Sure enough, the follow-up letter (though not the original bill) was there in the pile of newsletters and friendly reminders from various businesses to schedule this or that appointment. The moral of the story If you are a patient, make sure to check your mail for letters from the doctors office. If youre running a healthcare practice, follow up with your patients who have outstanding invoicesa phone call is preferable, since its less likely to get lost at the bottom of a pile of correspondence. Dont have time for that? Worried about the legal issues of collection law compliance? Dont let that stop you. Go to a company that specializes in medical collections and accounts receivables management for healthcare practices. Its not about putting debts in collection anymore. Many of these companies offer everything from sending out a few polite phone calls and letters to end-to-end accounts receivable management. None of this has to impact your patients credit rating or cost you a fortune. Your office can go back to healing people. Isnt that why you got into this business in the first place? |
