An Educated Practice and Patient is a Win-Win for All: Part 1
Medical/Dental collection efforts can be extremely difficult for both the practice and its collection agency. Setting up policies and procedures for your practice and educating your patients can make a huge difference in collecting or even eliminating delinquent accounts. Here are some tips from my personal experience having managed several dental practices. These tips have been most effective in positive patient relations.
- PPO- Practice must be sure to inform the patient if they are or are not a PPO=Participating Provider Organization AKA In Network Provider, even if not asked specifically and to make sure the person knows the differences.
- Verify Eligibility – A practice must verify that the patient is eligible for the
benefits that they’re expecting to receive, and to find out ahead of time about any common exclusions to the plan. - Verification Form – Create a form that has the basic choices of benefit information on it already. Even note the effective date of the policy, some of the common exclusions, limitations, maximum annual allowance, has any of the maximum been used this year, frequencies for common procedures. This way you can just circle, check off or fill in the blanks for what’s relevant. This should also include the patients Plan, ID#, Toll free # and the mailing address to send the claims to or the information needed for electronic claims. Are there other family members covered? Are there any age specific limitations?
Always note the name and/or badge# of whom you spoke with. Make sure you’re getting the benefits for a participating or non participating office, whatever the case is for this person. - Financial Policies- Make sure all the paper work is filled out properly. Does it include the SS#? Some people are hesitant to give their SS#, if this is the case, ask them to put down the last four digits. Did they sign everywhere a signature is required? Make sure your policy includes that you may add billing, collection and or legal fees to any delinquencies. This gives you the freedom to do so if you choose, but doesn’t obligate you to do so.
- Patient Registration Forms should include – Address (if it’s a PO Box, keep it, but require a physical address if there is one), Phone #’s for home, work, cell, spouse’s work & cell. What dept. do they work in, and what position? Supervisor’s name. An emergency contact name & #, as well as a name and # for a family member not living with them. Are there any family members already in the practice? Email addresses are very useful these days. (if they have a business card, request one to keep in their file) Who referred them to your practice?
This is the beginning of great communication between you and your patients, and will only result in positive experiences for all involved.
About the author: Bethellen Keefe is the owner of Alpine-BAK, Inc. collection agency based in Coral Springs, Florida. Visit her online at www.alpinebak.com.