Hospital systems often paint bad debt or unpaid bills as an uncontrollable financial issue, but revenue cycle management experts say healthcare systems should work to improve billing and reduce debt, according to the Post-Gazette.
Practices and hospitals should work to keep overdue patient invoices from being converted to bad debt, starting with always collecting the co-pay. They also should become more aggressive about collecting late bills in-house.
It's important to keep the billing department properly staffed, as having these employees stretched thin can create cracks in collecting payments.
Crack down on repeat offenders, who account for 30 percent of hospital bad debt and need to be confronted each time they return.
Be careful with charitable care, as well. Regulators are watching for health systems who write off for charitable deductions that should be categorized as bad debt.
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Practices and hospitals should work to keep overdue patient invoices from being converted to bad debt, starting with always collecting the co-pay. They also should become more aggressive about collecting late bills in-house.
It's important to keep the billing department properly staffed, as having these employees stretched thin can create cracks in collecting payments.
Crack down on repeat offenders, who account for 30 percent of hospital bad debt and need to be confronted each time they return.
Be careful with charitable care, as well. Regulators are watching for health systems who write off for charitable deductions that should be categorized as bad debt.
More Articles on Coding, Billing and Collections:
What Does the Medicare 2013 Payment Rule Mean for ASCs? ASCA Weighs In
7 Questions to Ask EHR Vendors About ICD-10
CMS' Medicare Final Rule Increases ASC Payment Rates by 0.6%