Yet, if you want to keep your doors open you have to collect what’s owed by your patients. The statistics above probably don’t make you feel any better about writing them, either. You most likely don’t look forward to writing and sending collection letters to your overdue accounts. It’s a sensitive topic, especially when you consider statistics from Kaiser Family Foundation that determined sacrifices patients make for their medical bills like…ģ7% borrowed money from friends or familyħ0% cut back spending on food, clothing, or other basic household itemsĤ1% took an extra job or worked more hours The tone you use in a medical collection letter matters tremendously. I hinted at this toward the end of the last section. But statement design is a different story. It’s possible that those bills got lost in the mail because they weren’t eye-catching enough, either. You’re reaching out to them at their personal address and have to compete against an entire stack of other people and organizations trying to get their attention.Īt this point, you’ve probably sent the patient multiple statements containing custom dunning messages giving them an update on the status of their account. However, sending them something through the mail is much different than them choosing your organization to schedule an appointment. To stay within the scope of this blog post, if you’re writing them a collection letter trust already exists. Patients and consumers aren’t going to feel comfortable purchasing something without trust. I could continue to break down the similarities between the transactions from the commercial space and healthcare space by putting words in quotation marks, but you get the point. In healthcare, the technical term for “invoice” is “statement”. This type of transaction in the commercial space uses an invoice. Instead, they’ve already “bought” your organization’s services in receiving treatment. In this case, consumers aren’t “buying” from you. Nevertheless, it still hits the main concept. This statistic is similar to the one I gave earlier in this section in that it isn’t directly related to patient collections. Anything you send, no matter how large or small your organization is, should contain your logo and branding.Ĩ1% of consumers say that they need to be able to trust a brand in order to buy from them. You’ll need to keep all of these factors in mind prior to drafting your collection letters. Although there are many different steps, one of the most overlooked portions of this process involves creating and sending collection letters.Īccording to The American Collection Association, 63% of all medical debt isn’t ever collected.Īlthough this rule pertains to promotional material, it’s still an effective strategy to keep in mind when writing a collection letter to your patients.īefore you’ve even started writing you need to plan out how everything is going to look.Ĭan the recipient easily identify who this letter came from before opening the envelope?ĭoes the letter itself look like an official, professional document?Īre there any personal touches that indicate that an actual person wrote and signed the letter? Thus, you’re forced to establish your own medical billing process for your practice. You can’t continue to do so without some form of income. Yes, if you’re a doctor, the sole reason why you spent all of those years as a med student was so that you could enhance the medical field and treat patients. At the end of the day, you’re a business. In order to operate, you need a steady stream of revenue. The reality is that the most successful organizations, hospitals, and practices have a cohesive and detailed medical billing process in place. It would be nice if you could wave a magic wand and change your client’s financial responsibilities, but you’re not a miracle worker in that sense. Yet, as the healthcare provider, you have no choice but to follow the trend. It’s not an easy scenario for many patients. Both of those statistics highlight where patient responsibility stands today.
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