Re: Bad debt

[Guest guest]

As a related side note, I can tell you

that in general sending debtors to collection is punitive only & will

rarely result in actual money being collected. I agree, there is not much

else to do in certain cases, but just don’t expect the collection

agencies to be miracle workers. It just basically goes on the person’s

credit, & then maybe they will care a few years down the road if they go to

buy something on credit. Otherwise, you will probably never see the

money. We’ve sent a few to collections & have never seen a

dime.

Re:

Bad debt

:

We have about 5% bad debt too. We have been

personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if

no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so

or find a new doctor. This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at

this point it is something we will do. Other practices send bills at

25/35,and collections noticers at 45 days. Something like that. The motto

I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will.

Let me know what works for you.

" Brady,

MD " wrote:

Group,

I am in the process of inactivating

all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of

these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to

a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many

of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have

outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding

uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something

like that, or should I just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Actually our collection rate is pretty

good as well, but I just wasn’t sure if it is a good idea to clear the

bad debt from the accounts receivable or just let it accumulate assuming I will

someday see that patient again. I would rather clear out the old (or at least

inactivate the chart) so I can instead focus on the more recent uncollected

debt (which I would have a better chance of collecting). Thanks for your insight.

Re:

Bad debt

:

We have about 5% bad debt too. We have been

personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if

no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so

or find a new doctor. This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at

this point it is something we will do. Other practices send bills at

25/35,and collections noticers at 45 days. Something like that. The motto

I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will.

Let me know what works for you.

" Brady,

MD " wrote:

Group,

I am in the process of inactivating

all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of

these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to

a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many

of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have

outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding

uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something

like that, or should I just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

[Guest guest]

I disagree. I never wanted to send anyone to collections, but when I started I discovered something. If I have sent several bills with no response and then send them to collections, often a miracle occurs. It turns out that many patients had some insurance that they failed to let anyone know about. That is the reason they never bothered with the bill. They had Medicaid or something and figured it should have been covered. I get insurance information at this point and can bill. That is why my collections cycle is now much shorter. The longer you wait the less likely to get the information needed to file in time. How could this happen you ask? We do unassigned call at the hospital. These are the folks most likely to go to collections. Rarely do I send office patients. I also only send people that I have no real expectation of ever seeing again anyway. Brock DO

wrote: As a related side note, I can tell you that in general sending debtors to collection is punitive only & will rarely result in actual money being collected. I agree, there is not much else to do in certain cases, but just don’t expect the collection agencies to be miracle workers. It just basically goes on the person’s credit, & then maybe they will care a few years down the road if they go to buy something on credit. Otherwise, you will probably never see the money. We’ve sent a few to collections & have never seen a dime. -----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of EglySent: Monday, March 06, 2006 3:30 PMTo: Subject: Re:

Bad debt : We have about 5% bad debt too. We have been personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so or find a new doctor. This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at this point it is something we will do. Other practices send bills at 25/35,and collections noticers at

45 days. Something like that. The motto I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will. Let me know what works for you. " Brady, MD" wrote: Group, I am in the process of inactivating all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something like that, or should I

just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

[Guest guest]

I have sent about four or five patients to collections in 2 years and have

heard or received nothing since. Also, the CEO of our local hospital says

it is the same way there; namely, that when they send people to collections

they never typically hear anything until several years later when the

patient goes to buy a house or something else. Then, and usually only then,

will most of these patients try to straighten up their bad debt. It sounds

like the patients you are referring to are different. The ones I send are

never intending to pay, trust me. Most of them cannot even be located as

they have moved.

Re: Bad debt

ditto

brent

>

> Group,

>

> I am in the process of inactivating all patients that I have

not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of these patients

still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to a

collection agency, but I don't think that is the right step (and

many of these patients can't be found any more which is why they

have outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the

outstanding uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our

corporate taxes or something like that, or should I just zero it out

and not worry about it? Thanks!

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS

>

>

> Visit your group " " on the web.

>

>

[Guest guest]

: How to you target collections. e-MDs has several very good reports. iwas wondering if you used them? " Brady, MD" wrote: Actually our collection rate is pretty good as well, but I just wasn’t sure if it is a good idea to clear the bad debt from the accounts receivable or just let it accumulate assuming I will someday see that patient again. I would rather clear out the old (or at least inactivate the chart) so I can instead focus on the more recent uncollected debt (which I would have a better chance of collecting). Thanks for your insight. -----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of EglySent: Monday, March 06, 2006 3:30 PMTo: Subject: Re: Bad debt : We have about 5% bad debt too. We have been personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so or find a new doctor. This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at this point it is something we will do. Other practices send bills at 25/35,and collections noticers at 45 days. Something like that. The motto I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will. Let me know what works for you. " Brady, MD" wrote: Group, I am in the process of inactivating all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something like that, or should I just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

Yahoo! Mail

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[Guest guest]

: How to you target collections. e-MDs has several very good reports. iwas wondering if you used them? " Brady, MD" wrote: Actually our collection rate is pretty good as well, but I just wasn’t sure if it is a good idea to clear the bad debt from the accounts receivable or just let it accumulate assuming I will someday see that patient again. I would rather clear out the old (or at least inactivate the chart) so I can instead focus on the more recent uncollected debt (which I would have a better chance of collecting). Thanks for your insight. -----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of EglySent: Monday, March 06, 2006 3:30 PMTo: Subject: Re: Bad debt : We have about 5% bad debt too. We have been personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so or find a new doctor. This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at this point it is something we will do. Other practices send bills at 25/35,and collections noticers at 45 days. Something like that. The motto I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will. Let me know what works for you. " Brady, MD" wrote: Group, I am in the process of inactivating all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something like that, or should I just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

Yahoo! Mail

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[Guest guest]

I have actually been somewhat slack on

this. I go through the accounts receivable patient by patient for anything

greater than 120 days, but I only do this every 6 months or so. I have actually

done really well with getting the co-pays paid at time of appointment, getting

insurances the claims out the same day, and getting the secondary claims out

every week. This really makes me wonder if it is worth it to spend the time to

go after the 3% that is left (or just wait until those that owe come back in

for their next appointment). However, I am getting ready to change to Gateway

EDI this week (so the EOBs will be automatically

entered into the bill program saving me hours a week) and we will hopefully

upgrade to 6.0 later in the month. Afterward, I am likely to try and find a

different way of tracking and collecting outstanding debt. How do you solve

this problem?

Re:

Bad debt

:

We have about 5% bad debt too. We have been

personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if

no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so

or find a new doctor. This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at

this point it is something we will do. Other practices send bills at

25/35,and collections noticers at 45 days. Something like that. The motto

I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will.

Let me know what works for you.

" Brady,

MD " wrote:

Group,

I am in the process of inactivating

all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of

these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to

a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many

of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have

outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding

uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something

like that, or should I just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

Yahoo! Mail

Bring photos to life! New

PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.

[Guest guest]

I have actually been somewhat slack on

this. I go through the accounts receivable patient by patient for anything

greater than 120 days, but I only do this every 6 months or so. I have actually

done really well with getting the co-pays paid at time of appointment, getting

insurances the claims out the same day, and getting the secondary claims out

every week. This really makes me wonder if it is worth it to spend the time to

go after the 3% that is left (or just wait until those that owe come back in

for their next appointment). However, I am getting ready to change to Gateway

EDI this week (so the EOBs will be automatically

entered into the bill program saving me hours a week) and we will hopefully

upgrade to 6.0 later in the month. Afterward, I am likely to try and find a

different way of tracking and collecting outstanding debt. How do you solve

this problem?

Re:

Bad debt

:

We have about 5% bad debt too. We have been

personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if

no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so

or find a new doctor. This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at

this point it is something we will do. Other practices send bills at

25/35,and collections noticers at 45 days. Something like that. The motto

I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will.

Let me know what works for you.

" Brady,

MD " wrote:

Group,

I am in the process of inactivating

all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of

these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to

a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many

of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have

outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding

uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something

like that, or should I just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

Yahoo! Mail

Bring photos to life! New

PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.

[Guest guest]

As a side thought...even if turning them into collections doesn't get you anything...could there be a societal benefit in the future?

If someone doesn't pay their bill and gets turned to collections and still doesn't pay.

Do we really want them to get credit in the future that they might default on and raise all of our loan rates?

Or perhaps when they get turned for future credit, they will become model consumers and pay at the time of service.

:-)

Just a thought.

Locke, MDBasalt, COUniversity of Kansas Medical School 1991Eau (WI) Family Medicine Residency 19945 Years in Air Force -- [Laughlin AFB (Del Rio, TX) // Spangdahlem AB, Germany]Alpine Medical Group -- Private Group Practice since 1999http://www.alpinemedical.mdJob Share w/ WifeAMG went independent from hospital MSO 10/04AMG made downpayment on Centricity EMR 12/04AMG went "live" with Centricity EMR 15 April 2005

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Brock DOSent: Monday, March 06, 2006 1:39 PMTo: Subject: RE: Bad debt

As a related side note, I can tell you that in general sending debtors to collection is punitive only & will rarely result in actual money being collected. I agree, there is not much else to do in certain cases, but just don’t expect the collection agencies to be miracle workers. It just basically goes on the person’s credit, & then maybe they will care a few years down the road if they go to buy something on credit. Otherwise, you will probably never see the money. We’ve sent a few to collections & have never seen a dime.

-----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of EglySent: Monday, March 06, 2006 3:30 PMTo: Subject: Re: Bad debt

:

We have about 5% bad debt too. We have been personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so or find a new doctor. This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at this point it is something we will do. Other practices send bills at 25/35,and collections noticers at 45 days. Something like that. The motto I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will.

Let me know what works for you.

" Brady, MD" wrote:

Group,

I am in the process of inactivating all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something like that, or should I just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

[Guest guest]

In my practice if the bill is under $100 I write the bill off the system after 3 bills have been sent out but put a note in their chart that they owe x dollars and the next time they call for an appointment we remind them that they need to pay. If it is over $100 dollars they get sent to collections. Everyone who owes me money has been paying their bill when they come in for their next appointment. I know I could be calling all these people and probably get the money sooner but it happens so rarely I just haven't bothered.Larry Lindeman MDAs a side thought...even if turning them into collections doesn't get you anything...could there be a societal benefit in the future? If someone doesn't pay their bill and gets turned to collections and still doesn't pay. Do we really want them to get credit in the future that they might default on and raise all of our loan rates? Or perhaps when they get turned for future credit, they will become model consumers and pay at the time of service. :-) Just a thought.  Locke, MDBasalt, COUniversity of Kansas Medical School 1991Eau (WI) Family Medicine Residency 19945 Years in Air Force -- [Laughlin AFB (Del Rio, TX) // Spangdahlem AB, Germany]Alpine Medical Group -- Private Group Practice since 1999http://www.alpinemedical.mdJob Share w/ WifeAMG went independent from hospital MSO 10/04AMG made downpayment on Centricity EMR 12/04AMG went "live" with Centricity EMR 15 April 2005From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Brock DOSent: Monday, March 06, 2006 1:39 PMTo: Subject: RE: Bad debtAs a related side note, I can tell you that in general sending debtors to collection is punitive only & will rarely result in actual money being collected.  I agree, there is not much else to do in certain cases, but just don’t expect the collection agencies to be miracle workers.  It just basically goes on the person’s credit, & then maybe they will care a few years down the road if they go to buy something on credit.  Otherwise, you will probably never see the money.  We’ve sent a few to collections & have never seen a dime.  -----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of EglySent: Monday, March 06, 2006 3:30 PMTo: Subject: Re: Bad debt : We have about 5% bad debt too.  We have been personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so or find a new doctor.  This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at this point it is something we will do.  Other practices send bills at 25/35,and collections noticers at 45 days. Something like that.  The motto I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will. Let me know what works for you. " Brady, MD" wrote:Group,I am in the process of inactivating all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something like that, or should I just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Another thing that should be factored in...the cost of mailing out a bill

and responding to it.

I think most of the " professionals " say it costs about $5-10 to mail out and

respond to a bill.

Once you factor in the 39-cents, envelope, paper, plus the cost of someone

who has to spend time looking up who is overdue, printint up a letter,

stuffing the letter, licking the stamp, dropping off the letter to be

mailed, then getting the check in the mail, opening it, posting the check,

etc, etc.

Many argue that doing several mailings for a bill of $20 is actually losing

money.

Sort of like the bills we occasionally get for 30-cents, but the cost of

sending you the bill was at least the 39-cents for the stamp.

Just something else to factor in.

Locke, MD

Basalt, CO

University of Kansas Medical School 1991

Eau (WI) Family Medicine Residency 1994

5 Years in Air Force -- [Laughlin AFB (Del Rio, TX) // Spangdahlem AB,

Germany]

Alpine Medical Group -- Private Group Practice since 1999

http://www.alpinemedical.md <http://www.alpinemedical.md/>

Job Share w/ Wife

AMG went independent from hospital MSO 10/04

AMG made downpayment on Centricity EMR 12/04

AMG went " live " with Centricity EMR 15 April 2005

[Guest guest]

Oh yes, we definitely still send them to

collections & I do think there is at least some upside to doing so.

Re:

Bad debt

:

We have about 5% bad debt too. We have been

personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if

no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so

or find a new doctor. This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at

this point it is something we will do. Other practices send bills at

25/35,and collections noticers at 45 days. Something like that. The motto

I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will.

Let me know what works for you.

" Brady,

MD " wrote:

Group,

I am in the process of inactivating

all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of

these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to

a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many

of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have

outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding uncollectible

debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something like that, or

should I just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

[Guest guest]

,

I am supposed to be changing to Gateway

EDI tomorrow (although I’m figuring it will take a least a few days

longer to work through the bugs). My understanding is for $100/month, I send

them all the claims, they send it to the insurances, the insurances respond, and

Gateway automatically posts the EOB to e-MDs Bill and (if the secondary is on

the original claim) will automatically bill the secondary insurance. If it goes

as advertised, just not having to post the EOBs will save me at least 1-2 hours

a week and resolve perhaps the most frustrating part of my practice. Also, for

another fee, I can upload the schedule for the next day to them and they will

check to make sure all patients’ insurances are correct so I have a list of

who has accurate insurance information prior to seeing the first patient of the

day. Although I have not yet subscribed to that service, it may be worthwhile

to look in to in the future. In any case, I’ll keep you posted as this

may make the billing part much much better.

Re:

Bad debt

:

We have about 5% bad debt too. We have been

personally calling patients and send them a registered letter and EOp that if

no payment they will be sent to collections and have a 30 day period to do so

or find a new doctor. This is a hard thing to do and we avoid it. But at

this point it is something we will do. Other practices send bills at

25/35,and collections noticers at 45 days. Something like that. The motto

I haver seen is expect to get paid and you will.

Let me know what works for you.

" Brady,

MD " wrote:

Group,

I am in the process of inactivating

all patients that I have not seen in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, some of

these patients still have outstanding balances. I realize I could defer this to

a collection agency, but I don’t think that is the right step (and many

of these patients can’t be found any more which is why they have

outstanding balances). I wonder what others do with the outstanding

uncollectible debt. Can we somehow take it off our corporate taxes or something

like that, or should I just zero it out and not worry about it? Thanks!

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[Guest guest]

When I noticed a reasonable pt hadn't paid for a year, I sent a personalized letter, with my signature and everything. It basically said that according to the payment policy I have, payment is expected within 30 days or I will not be able to continue as his physician. I received payment within a week, for a debt that was over a year old. My billing co had already billed 3 times. I have done this twice and it worked both times!

It also said something about if the patient is in a financial crisis to call for a payment plan.

Naureen