Turning Red to Black Blog

Throughout the course of the last year we have outlined many topics in our blogs that help achieve a high level of recovery of outstanding patient debt. This work is performed across billing departments, early-out self-pay philosophies and third-party debt collectors – all of which rely on different levels of tools and similar techniques. Grouping these specialists into a single bucket of professionals, we paint a broad picture of what the amalgamated “Revenue Cycle Professional’s” Christmas list looks like.

Fowl, potatoes, squash, corn, stuffing, cranberries… The days of the pilgrims bartering with their neighbors have long passed.  In today’s world, you need to be paid in cash – check, credit card, money order or actual, cold, hard cash – not pumpkin pie.  Though I think we can all agree a nice slice of pie can go a long way!  So what’s the best way to prepare for mealtime and ensure that your table will be set with a bountiful revenue return?  Collecting the best information, you possibly can.  Simply put, information is the key to setting your table for improved recovery of your delinquent accounts.

“Don’t be a Scrooge!” Sure, the message can make you feel that way. But everyone can relate to the crunch of the holiday season – debtors and collectors alike. Three months of back-to-back-to-back spends… mostly for our children; oftentimes for our friends and families as well.  We warm up with costumed crusaders and ghoulish traditions, sustained by sugar highs then slowly stewed and simmered through all-day extravaganzas of food and football consumption only to be amped right back up by the blitz of Black Friday and the three following shades of Monday – Cyber, Manic and Green – shot-gunned through a capitalized time warp of purchases and parties and delivered on Christmas Day for a weeklong bookend with New Years. Phew! It’s a great time of year, filled with love if you’re lucky, but it’s also a time when we all feel stress infringing on our time and tugging on our finances.

In our previous blog post we examined the importance of creating an Accounts Receivable Plan for your organization and knowing when to stop spinning your wheels with dead-end accounts and focus on those patients you have working arrangements with. This article will help you do just that – by creating your own plan.

In the third installment of our series of blogs written to help revenue cycle managers and billing managers sell third-party debt collection to their management team we will explore information, technology and security to help you address the concerns of your Chief Information Officer and gain their support for your goal.