Learn more as we provide a comprehensive comparison of medical debt collection services and how to choose the best one for your practice.
There's no doubt the healthcare landscape is changing and will continue to change, regardless of how difficult it may be to keep up. It may not come as a shock to learn that in 2023, U.S. healthcare spending reached $4.8 trillion. However, this spending did not solely come from private insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare. A sizeable portion of the spending includes out-of-pocket costs. The majority of patients are not able to pay in full, leading to outstanding balances and a longer list of problems for medical providers. For many providers, medical debt collection is difficult to balance.
On one hand, you are trying to figure out the ins and outs of medical billing. On the other hand, you're doing your best to care for and support your patients.
Choosing a debt collection service can be a solution to the issue. However, it's not just about choosing one—it's about choosing the right one. One that understands the healthcare industry challenges and can help you navigate medical debt collection in the best way possible. One that can guide you and help you balance the need for revenue recovery with the need to maintain each patient's dignity and respect.
Overview of Traditional Debt Collection Agencies
Many healthcare providers turn to traditional debt collection agencies for help in recovering overdue patient accounts. These third-party agencies generally use conventional methods (i.e., letters and phone calls) to contact patients and arrange for payment of any outstanding balance.
Traditional agencies can ease some of the burden of the collection on providers. However, providers will quickly notice there will be several issues and limitations:
Lack of control and transparency. Once accounts are turned over, the provider has little to no visibility into the collections process. They also have little control over how patients are contacted.
Delayed payments. Money collected by the collection agency can be held for a period before it reaches the provider's account—slowing down revenue recovery. The collection agencies may also charge high fees that will cut into the provider's share.
Manual submission process. Sending patient accounts to the collections agency usually involves time-consuming manual work, such as collecting account information and filling out submission forms. This opens the door for inefficiency and errors.
Strained patient relationships. Having past-due accounts handled by an unknown third party introduces the risk that these agencies may use aggressive tactics to collect money from patients. This, unfortunately, can damage the patient-provider relationship.
Understanding Integrated Collection Services
In contrast to the traditional approach in medical debt collection, integrated collection services work by ingraining the collection process directly within the provider's existing billing and practice management systems. This paves the way for a more seamless and automated collections workflow. Let's look at how an integrated collections service, like BillFlash, works:
Identification of past-due accounts. An integrated platform can automatically identify patient accounts that have become significantly delinquent based on the criteria and rules of the provider. There will be no need to carry out a manual account submission.
Provider review and approval. Before accounts are moved to collections, the provider can review flagged accounts and approve or remove them from being sent to collections. This also puts the provider in control of which patients are contacted.
Automated transfer to collections. Once the provider has checked all the boxes and signed off, approved accounts are immediately sent to the integrated collections service. A secure method transmits important account information.
Collecting payments. The service's collections team begins reaching out to patients through letters and phone calls. These communications are professional and respectful. The intent behind these communications is to work with the patient to address the outstanding balance.
Benefits of Integrated Collection Services Over Traditional Agencies
The approach that's used with integrated collection services leads to significant advantages for healthcare providers looking to improve their medical debt collection process:
A Better Patient Experience
Integrated medical debt collection services can greatly enhance the patient experience during the debt recovery process. These services provide transparency in all communications sent to patients, allowing providers to review communication efforts to make sure they align with the practice's tone and values. Integrated services also often hire trained specialists who understand the sensitivity of medical debt and can connect with patients.
Cost Savings
Integrated collection services can lead to considerable cost savings for healthcare providers. These services reduce the need to hire more people or spend money on more resources dedicated to medical debt collection. They also have lower fees than traditional agencies while still achieving higher recovery rates.
Enhanced Efficiency
Integrated collection services improve operational efficiency by automating many aspects of debt collection, reducing manual tasks and potential errors. This automation can include automatic account flagging, communication generation, and payment processing. Faster turnaround time to process and submit accounts also leads to quicker recovery of owed funds.
Better Data Management
These services have managing and utilizing data all figured out. They centralize patient and debt information in a system that's HIPAA-compliant, and this makes accessing and managing data easier. Integrated systems also provide real-time updates on the status of medical debt collections—ensuring that providers have the latest information. With all data in one place, integrated services can create full reports that offer insights into collection trends, success rates, and areas of improvement.
Comprehensive Financial Management
Integrated collection services also provide a more comprehensive approach to medical financial management. They offer a complete view of a practice's financial health, allowing providers to make informed decisions about debt collection. Access to detailed reports and analytics helps providers understand trends and patterns in medical debt collection.
Scalability
Integrated collection services offer scalable solutions that can grow with a practice. These services can also easily adjust to meet the needs of growing practices, ensuring that medical debt collection processes stay efficient as the number of patients increases.
How BillFlash's Integrated Collection Services Stand Out
Among the providers of integrated collection services, BillFlash stands out by taking a thorough and user-friendly approach to medical debt collection. BillFlash offers a suite of features designed to give healthcare providers full control and transparency in the collection process.
Providers can manage rules and approve or withdraw accounts during billing file reviews, maintaining control over the collection process. The service also provides access to all contact activities for every open account, ensuring complete visibility. BillFlash's recovery specialists are respectful, licensed nationwide in all 50 states, receive ongoing compliance training, and 75% are bilingual. This ensures professional and effective communication with patients.
One of the main differentiators of BillFlash Integrated Collection Services is that all payments collected are deposited directly into the user's bank account, ensuring the medical provider/practice gets paid first. Another key feature is the pre-authorized payment plan options (PlanPay) for payers with valid reasons for not paying in full. This flexibility increases the likelihood of recovering debts while maintaining positive patient relationships.
Real-World Impact and Testimonials
The experiences of healthcare providers who have implemented BillFlash's integrated collection services best demonstrate the system's success. With over 60,000 providers choosing BillFlash to manage their billing and payment workflows, the impact has been significant.
In a survey of those providers, 65% stated they needed help with medical debt collection. Our response was to develop an Integrated Collections Service that works seamlessly with the Billing Services and Pay Services. This allows providers to manage all of their billing, payment, and collection workflows in one place.
One billing service professional complimented our services for the ease of integration across different billing applications. They stated, “BillFlash has increased our revenue, saved a huge amount of time, decreased our cost of statements, and the representatives are always friendly. We will be a customer for life!”
The impact of integrated collection services also leads to increased revenue, improved efficiency, cost savings, and better patient satisfaction. We have been able to achieve this by listening to the needs of healthcare providers and building solutions that best suit their needs. A commitment to user-friendly interfaces, cost-effectiveness, and complete solutions has resulted in high satisfaction rates among healthcare providers.
From long-time users to new users, BillFlash's Integrated Collection Services are helping to change the way medical practices manage their finances and interact with patients.
The Future of Medical Debt Collection
As patient financial responsibility continues to rise, healthcare providers must find ways to optimize their collections process to remain financially healthy. Integrated collection services offer a nice alternative to traditional debt collection agencies.
By automating collection activities and providing transparency into the process, platforms like BillFlash help practices recover outstanding balances faster while maintaining great patient relationships. For healthcare providers who want to optimize their medical debt collection processes, streamline operations, and improve recovery rates, integrated collection services are the answer.
While the patient collections challenge is not going to disappear tomorrow, integrated services give medical practices a valuable tool to manage this aspect of their revenue cycle. As the industry continues to evolve, this innovative approach also positions itself well to help practices adapt and thrive.
Is your practice looking for a better way to manage patient collections? See how BillFlash's integrated platform can help you recover more revenue with less effort by scheduling a demo with us today!