Pilgrims

Understanding the Collection Process

Kimberly R. Cutler

HCR/230

April 8, 2012

Jill Frawley

Collection Calls.

Print an agent Aging Report.

Documentations.

Send out Collection letters.

The patient agent report is used to “determine which patients are overdue and groups them into categories for efficient collection efforts” (Valerius, J etc. 2008). Within the patient agent report shows the patients name, most recent patient payments, as well as the remaining balance. It separates the information by current and up-to-date, past due thirty one to sixty days, sixty one to ninety days and those that are more than ninety days past due. Without the patient aging report it would be hard to distinguish which patient is past due and by how many days.

The collection letter is usually the first notice that the patient receives informing them that their bill is past due. Within this letter it is brief and to the point, yet still professional and courteous. It also is a reminder to the patients of the payment options and their responsibility to pay the monies owed to the practice. The more time that has passed, the letters will become more aggressive informing the patient that the bill will be sent to collections.

Collection calls is a formal way of contacting the patient and letting them know that their bill is past due. It is also regulated by federal and state laws, which have guidelines that must be followed by the practice. Some of the guidelines that apply are a patient can only be contacted once per day and no more than three messages can be...