There’s a reason why they keep scores and statistics in sports.  How can you gauge improvement when you don’t know the details?  Performance always seems good when there’s no method to measure it.

  Therein lies the problem most hospitals face when it comes to gauging performance on patient payer collections.  Now think about this: collection agencies receive your accounts on spreadsheets, they input them into computers, then they assign them to employees to contact.  Those employees have to track who they call and when, what occurs on each call, if patients make a payment and how much, and when accounts are paid off.  They also know who they didn’t reach, and which patients they had no contact information for at all.

So Why Can’t You Get Clear Collection Reports?

  God help you if you want to see any of that.  Even in statistical form.  Why?  Why is it that you – the owner of those accounts, and the entity whose patients those are – aren’t able to get a simple report where you can see all those same details your agency does?  The answer is there is no answer.  There’s no good reason why you can’t see the reports that are so easily generated for the collection agency representative you correspond with.

  No matter what the excuse, the real truth is simple.  They don’t want you to see that information.  If you saw it, you wouldn’t like what you see.  You’d see that certain accounts were never worked at all.  You’d see where balances under a certain dollar amount were completely ignored.  You’d learn where certain patients were being hounded because they did fit all the criteria for maximum collection agency profitability.  Finally, you’d see why your collections rate was such a low 4% to 6%.  It’s not something a collection agency purporting to be professional and working for you wants you to know about.  Even though that information is readily and rapidly available.

Medical Collection Software Provides Them Reports

  The myriad of collection software available at the fingertips of medical collection agencies has such sophisticated parsing, segmenting, and reporting capabilities that any agency not providing you with such simple information is without excuse.  In contrast, elite collection agencies provide medical collection reports where you can even see actual internal notes from collection operator’s phone conversations with patients.  They’ll show you which letters were sent, and when.  They report exactly who has paid, how much was paid, and which patients have entered into payment plans.  They can even let you know which patients are asking for mercy.

Elite Medical Collection Agencies Offer More

  Well qualified medical collection firms can demonstrate where every single patient balance is receiving attention equally, uniformly, and with integrity.  After all, your reputation is the one on the line.  And that’s why such caliber agencies show all the reporting detail you could possibly want or need regarding every single account entrusted to them.  Such agencies are doing everything possible for you, their client, and are proud to show that.

  Technology simplifies the recovery process, and enables it to accomplish more; especially when compassion is woven into the practice.  Technology can also be used inappropriately. How clearly and willingly medical collection agencies report on their process tells you a lot about whether their technology is being used to serve you… or themselves.