FYI: Some Advice on Collecting Patient Debt

For those of you already working in healthcare collections, or those interested in exploring that market segment, we wanted to draw your attention to this blog post on EndoNurse.com: Advice for Collecting Patient Debt.

Some highlights from the article:

• A recent report from the American Hospital Association found that 87 percent of healthcare providers surveyed reported increased bad debt and charity care as a percent of total gross revenue.

• As a result of the Affordable Care Act, nearly 20 million newly insured patients will enter the healthcare system by 2014.

• A recent report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services puts healthcare bad debt at $49 billion a year.

• Many providers are not yet prepared for an increase in patient financial responsibility; surprisingly, most do not have the ability to collect payment, other than copayment at the time of service.

• Many patients are looking for private, online debt negotiations.

• In the healthcare sector, upwards of 60 percent of patient payments can go uncollected.