Outsource Receivables, Inc.

Self

2010-09-20T08:27:00.001-05:00

Self-Pay Accounts- Difficulties in Collecting.

A July 2010 Healthcare Technology Online article reported that the prospect of increased self-pay medical debt is troubling because it presents some specific and significant challenges to healthcare providers.

A model where healthcare providers collect primarily from an insurance company is a fairly structured process. Providers deal with a handful of payers on multiple claims and, in many instances, data is exchanged between these parties via EDI (electronic data interchange).

Patient self-pay debt collection, on the other hand, is an extremely labor-intensive and expensive process. Outbound communications (i.e. invoices, letters, phone calls, etc.) need to be sent to each individual patient in effort to collect the debt. "As a result of these communications, collecting a self-pay debt costs an average of $17.50 per account.   This is seven times the cost of collecting from insurance companies," says Tony Reisz, President and CEO of Ontario Systems. "Patients also pay more slowly than any other type of account except for Medicaid.”

How can Outsource Receivables help?
At ORI we provide the infrastructure and staff needed to diligently and effectively collect both insurance pay and self-pay accounts.

We save time and resources. It takes a great deal of time to hire, train, and maintain a revenue cycle management (RCM) staff.   With the ever changing regulations and protocols in the healthcare industry, outsourcing relieves your business of these burdens and allows you to focus on the core mission of your medical practice.

Central Business Office. We act as your Central Business Office. The cost complexities associated with implementing and running a CBO are very high.
A CBO administrator is required to hire, train, certify and carry out a compliance plan.
The average cost of recruiting, hiring and training a new employee is $3,500 (that does not include the decreased production caused by turnover).
The complexities of on-going personnel management require constant monitoring.
Infrastructure and Dedicated Professionals. ORI has 30+ professionals who are experts in variety of back office tasks.
ORI has a large business office that can handle any challenge.
Each staff member is responsible to achieve a high standard of production that is monitored and audited consistently by a member of the management team.

Designated Team for Your Account. ORI will be your “Business Partner” by using dedicated personnel to handle your account almost as if they were your own employees.
Clerical reps, data entry reps, insurance aging reps, self pay reps, team leads, project manager are assigned to manage each area of expertise to ensure you have a strong infrastructure protecting your AR.

Technology Management. End to End Management of IT – ORI will meet the ongoing demands for skilled IT personnel to fix issues. We have direct access to our hosting partner and software support line. The ORI    Team will be responsible to maintain the Practice Management Software, Scheduling Software, assist with Electronic Medical Records (coding tools), HIPAA Security, offsite hardware and more related to the billing office.

Dedicated Follow Up. ORI will provide customized monthly reports and analytics that offer a deep look at key metrics, allowing the organization to make better strategic decisions. This could provide insight into provider productivity, coding improvements, better management, enhanced patient care and much more.

Knowledge and Implementation of Government Protocols. Because of the complex regulatory environment in the healthcare industry, the demand for knowledgeable and experienced billing professionals has become paramount for healthcare providers. Full service billing services are in demand because of their efficient administrative processes, HIPAA compliance, and ability to stay contemporary with regulations and requirements.

Trusting our professionals with your medical collections is a sound decision. To meet with us for your free account assessment, contact Dan Smits at 763-398-5209. www.outsourcereceivables.com.

Ethical Collection Counselors

2010-08-16T13:22:00.002-05:00

Outsource Receivables Professional Medical Collectors
Recently in the news there has been a flurry of stories surrounding the unethical practices used by some collection agencies.

At Outsource Receivables, we adhere to a policy of professionalism and creative counseling to help patients pay their bills. Medical debt is incurred in a vastly different way than consumer debt. We understand patients did not just over spend to the point of not being able to pay their debts. Our business as medical collectors is to become a problem solving partner with patients where the ultimate goal is to pay off the debt and keep their good credit intact.

Our Practices Include:
Fair and respectful collections.
An approach that includes consultation.
Our medical collection professionals are understanding and compassionate.
We find creative solutions to work with patients that includes things like payment plans.
ORI agents are certified professionals who adhere to the strict guidelines set by the ACA.
All of our calls are recorded for quality and training purposes.

Trusting our professionals with your medical collections is a sound decision. To meet with us for your free account assessment, contact Dan Smits at 763-398-5209. www.outsourcereceivables.com.

Top Reasons Companies Outsource

2010-07-27T14:59:00.002-05:00

Outsourcing Makes Sense!
Here are some of the top reasons to consider outsourcing.

1. Improve company focus. Outsourcing sets up a framework for an outside expert to assume responsibility for operational details, allowing management to focus on the more important business issues associated with meeting customer needs.

2. Obtain access to specialized capabilities. Because of the nature of their specialization and their own core activities, outsourcing providers bring extensive world-class capabilities, including leading-edge technology to help companies satisfy the needs of their customers and become more productive.

3. Free resources for other purposes. Outsourcing permits an organization to redirect its resources from non-core activities to ones that have the greatest impact on the business.

4. Reduce and control operating costs. Access to the outside provider's lower cost structure may result in greater economies of scale. This is often cited as one of the most compelling tactical reasons for outsourcing.

5. Obtain resources not available internally. Outsourcing is often a viable option for companies experiencing rapid growth, expansion into a new geography, or spin-offs from the parent company.

Outsourcing your medical billing with Outsource Receivables makes sense! To learn more, visit our website at www.outsourcereceivables.com.

Breaking Down Healthcare

2010-06-15T09:03:00.000-05:00

The new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act carries many provisions. The April 2010 issue of Medical Office Manager details many of these provisions to give a broad scope overview of the important pieces in the bill. We have excerpted portions of that article below.

Here is an overview of the main points of the bill that affect medical offices and their patients.

The insurance mandate
By 2014, just about all legal residents will have to have a specific amount of health insurance coverage or pay an annual fine to the IRS. For individuals, the fine will start out at $95 or 1% of income, whichever is greater, and steadily increase until 2016 when it goes to $695 or 2.5% of income. For families, the penalty goes as high as $2,085.
The exchanges
States have until 2014 to set up health insurance exchanges. An exchange is a government market place where people can buy health insurance. The exchanges aren’t insurers. Instead, they contract with private insurers. Mostly they will make coverage available to people who don’t get it from their employers. There will also be separate exchanges for small businesses to buy coverage.

Essential benefits
All plans – exchange or not – will have to cover at least 60% of a list of essential benefits. The list includes these items:
ambulatory care
emergency services
hospitalization
mental health and substance abuse care
prescription drugs
rehab services
laboratory services
preventive and wellness care
chronic disease management
maternity and newborn care
pediatric care, including oral and vision care

What everybody gets
• Medicare prescription drugs. The bill gradually closes Medicare’s “doughnut hole,” which is the drug expense area from $2,830 to $4,550 where there is currently no coverage.

• Medicaid expansion. Medicaid gets expanded to all people under age 65 with incomes of 133% of the federal poverty level, which comes to $29,327 for a family of four.

• Tax subsidies. People with incomes lower than four times the federal poverty level (individual $43,320; family of four $88,200) will get subsidies for buying insurance from a state exchange.

• Private insurance coverage. There are a lot of provisions here.
– By midyear, people who have pre-existing conditions and have been uninsured for at least six months can get coverage from high-risk insurance plans. The government will subsidize the premiums. This is a temporary fix that will continue only until 2014 when the exchanges come in.
– Also beginning this year, insurance companies cannot deny coverage for children because of preexisting conditions.
– Beginning in 2014, payers cannot deny coverage for adults because of pre-existing conditions.
– Payers have to accept every employer and every individual in the state who applies for coverage, regardless of medical condition, past claims, or genetic information.
– Payers can’t set rates based on health status. Rates can differ only on a basis of type of coverage, rating area, age, and tobacco use.
– By 2014, payers will have to cover maternity care at the same level they cover other medical procedures.
– Effective this year, unmarried dependent children can stay on their parents’ plans until age 26.
– Payers can’t end coverage because a beneficiary gets sick. They can only end it for fraud or intentional misrepresentation of facts.
– Beginning in 2014 there can be no annual or lifetime limit on coverage.

• Public health. By 2014, restaurants and food vendors with 20 or more locations will have to give the calorie counts for their foods on menus, drive-through menus, and vending machines.

Employers’ obligations
Employers with 50 or more full-time employees don’t have to offer coverage, but it will be in their best interest to do so, because if any one full-time employee gets a premium subsidy from the government to buy individual insurance, the employer has to pay a fine. The amount is $2,000 for every full-time employee. There is a limiting factor there, however. The fee doesn’t apply to the first 30 employees.
There’s more. Even if an employer does offer coverage, it will have to help out its low-income employees (those who make less than four times the federal poverty level) who don’t want the office’s coverage but want to buy insurance from the state exchange instead.
If those employees’ share of the exchange premium is more than 8% of income, the employer has to provide each one with a “free choice voucher” equal to what it would have paid to provide coverage for them in the company plan. Employers with fewer than 50 employees don’t face any fines.

New rules for insurance companies
Lots of new requirements here:
– Each plan will have to report how much of its premium revenues goes to medical care and how much goes to administrative costs – including executive salaries.
And next year, any plan that spends too much on itself will have to give rebates to its customers.
– Payers will have to explain benefits and costs clearly to their customers, and there are standards for doing so.
– Deductibles for small-group plans will be limited to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families.
– There will be a new government entity that controls rates.
– Effective this year, new plans can’t charge co-pays or deductibles for preventive care and medical screenings.

Abortion
Because there was debate on whether the language in the bill could allow federal funds to be used for abortion, the President issued an executive order forbidding it. The order states that plans in the exchanges cannot use their federal money to cover abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or risk to the mother’s life.

Illegal aliens
People who are not “lawfully present in the United States” will not be allowed to buy health insurance in the exchanges, even if they pay completely with their own money.

Medicare Advantage
Medicare Advantage, which is the private portion of Medicare, does not have a bright future.
The new law freezes their reimbursement at the 2010 level and gradually cuts their reimbursements to the level of traditional Medicare.

Paying for it all
To pay for it all, the government will cut $500 billion from Medicare over the next decade. It will also raise $438 billion though new taxes and fees. Here are the major revenue sources.
• Hospitals. Beginning in 2012, hospitals with high rates of preventable readmissions will get their Medicare payments cut.
• The wealthy. Wealthy is defined as an individual earning more than $200,000 a year or a married couple earning more than $250,000 a year.
– There will be an increase in their Medicare payroll tax. Starting in 2013, the Medicare hospital insurance tax rate will go up from the current 1.45% to 2.35%.
– Also starting in 2013 the Medicare Payroll Tax will be expanded to include unearned income such as dividends and interest, and people defined as wealthy will have to pay an additional 3.8% tax on their investment income. Currently, the investment tax is 15%.
• Individuals. There are two main elements here.
– The threshold for getting tax deductions on unreimbursed medical expenses will go up from 7.5% to 10% of the adjusted gross income.
– Beginning in 2013, the amount of tax-free money people can put into health savings accounts will be lowered to $2,500. Currently it is $3,050 for individuals.
• Insurance companies. In 2018, insurance companies will start paying a 40% excise tax on the Cadillac plans they offer. Those are the more expansive plans that have high annual premiums. The tax applies if the annual premium is more than $10,200 for individuals or $27,500 for families.
• Drug manufacturers. Next year, pharmaceutical manufacturers with more than $5 million in annual sales will have to pay a $2.3 billion fee that will be determined by their market share and will increase over time. Over the next 10 years, drug makers will pay $33 billion.
• Medical device manufacturers. Starting in 2013, these manufacturers will have to pay a 2.3% tax on their sales. However, eyeglasses, contact lenses, and hearing aids will be exempt.
• Tanning salons. Starting in July, there will be a 10% tax on using indoor tanning salons.

Doctors pay for it too
As for doctors, the new bill cuts Medicare all around in an effort to reduce its projected growth for the next 10 years by $500 billion. Of that, $116 billion will come from payment cuts to the Medicare Advantage plans. But a lot of it will come from hospitals and providers. Medicaid rates for primary care services will go up to the level of Medicare.

159 new government agencies
The bill creates 159 new government boards, grant programs, and agencies to oversee everything.
They range from agencies that will determine eligibility for exchange participation to agencies that will develop quality measures, treatment protocols, new Medicare and Medicaid payment programs, and new methods for doling out payments to doctors and hospitals.

16,500 new IRS agents
In all, the law creates 15 new taxes and tax increases, all of which are being overseen by the IRS.
As a result, the IRS will add 16,500 new employees to its current force to examine and audit the new tax information requirements and also to collect the money.

Legal challenges ahead
Within an hour of the bill’s being signed, 13 states filed a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.
Their position is that requiring everybody to purchase insurance or pay a fine does not fall within the scope of the taxing powers the Constitution gives to Congress.

A few other items
Effective immediately:
– The period for submitting Medicare claims is reduced to only one year from the date of service. For services provided before January 1 of this year, the submission deadline is December 31.
– The Stark exception for hospital ownership is coming to an end. Ownership is now limited to hospitals that already have physician ownership, and the number of rooms and beds cannot be increased.
– Doctors must have face-to-face encounters with patients before ordering home health services or DME items. They must also keep documentation of their home health and DME orders and claims or face Medicare exclusion.

Effective July 1:
– For home health and DME, both the ordering physician and the treating physician have to be enrolled in Medicare.

Effective in August:
– Both new and existing providers will be subject to enhanced screening that will include state licensure checks, background checks, fingerprinting, and unannounced site visits.
And the doctors have to pay for it – $200 for individual providers and $500 for institutional providers.
– New Medicare providers will have a provisional period of from 30 days to a year when they will see caps on payments and prepayment reviews. And new DME providers will have their payments withheld for 90 days after the first claim is filed.
– The government can impose a temporary moratorium on enrolling certain types of new providers where it decides there is risk of fraud and abuse.

Effective January 1, 2011:
– The Recovery Audit Contractors will expand their auditing to Medicaid as well as to Medicare Parts C and D.
– Third-party Medicaid billing services will have to be registered.
– The NPIs will be required on all claims as well as on all enrollment materials.

Effective April 1, 2012:
– Drug manufacturers will have to report the names and addresses of all the providers to whom they deliver prescription drugs.

Effective March 31, 2013:
– Manufacturers of drugs and medical supplies will have to report all payments they make to physicians. That includes honoraria, speaking fees, gifts, consulting fees, and compensation. They will also have to report all the physician ownership and investment interests they have.

Medical Debt: A Question/Answer Resource for Your Clients.

2010-05-10T16:09:00.001-05:00

Medical debt causes most patients stress and creates many questions. A good question/answer resource we have found is a website called Ask Dr. Debt. This site answers many frequently asked questions and gives suggestions on how a patient can eliminate and reduce medical debt.

Supported by the ACA International Education Foundation, Ask Dr. Debt is a resource for your client’s. The key areas Ask Dr. Debt offers advice are:

1. Know your rights when dealing with creditors and debt collectors.
2. Take action to avoid further debt and resolve current debt.
3. Get answers to debt questions and read answers to questions submitted to the site.

To view the site click here: www.askdrdebt.com.

A Few Tips for Running a Medical Office in a Tough Economy.

2010-05-06T09:18:00.000-05:00

We came across this article in Web Articles.com and thought many of the tips and tasks were helpful advice.

1 – An effective piece of medical office software is becoming a must have. Software can help you check patient eligibility with insurance companies to make sure the patient is covered for insurance. This is a repetitive task that may be taking up too much of your employee's time. Have the software do this for you.
2 - Check patient balances when they are calling for an appointment and remind them of any outstanding balance before they even get to their appointment. Ask them to bring a check or credit card with them to appointment to pay off the outstanding balance.

3 - Collect patient deductibles and insurance co-pays at time of service. Offer different payment options.

4 – Follow up on all insurance denials or rejections. If you need help making these follow up calls, contact ORI.

5 - Schedule efficiently to fill up your schedule.

6 - Immediately bill any claim to the patient if the insurance company denies it.

7 - Send patient statements at least monthly. The more current contact your office is able to have with the patient, the more likely it is you will be paid in full. Consider ORI’s FirstMed Contact service for recent aging accounts.

Professional Aging Management. Why Outsourcing Makes Sense.

2010-05-05T09:25:00.000-05:00

Aging management requires patience and experience. Outsource Receivables, Inc. can help.

How much work and hassle would you save if you only had to deal with accounts that were current? The accounts that take the most time and require the most expertise are those that are 30, 60, 90,120 or more days old. Wouldn't it be a great relief to have Outsource Receivables, Inc., step in and handle them? Our specialists can turn those aged accounts into cash!

We'll work closely with you and your team to customize a plan to turn your aged accounts over to us. Our specialists are experienced with all payer types and have contacts at most insurance companies. We have a consultant and trainer on our team who works with our associates to ensure that we're up to date on HIPAA, Compliance guidelines, and policy changes with insurance companies. We hold our associates accountable for dealing with payers and patients in a very professional manner. We track project data and provide you with monthly reports on the money collected, as well as sharing any other information that can help you make positive changes to your processes and systems.

Versatile and efficient aging management, the ORI Aging Team works projects for medium to large healthcare groups that have $500,000 + in aged A/R to be managed. For more information on this and other medical accounting needs, visits www.outsourcereceivablesinc.com.

ORI Restructures to More Efficiently Focus on Client Needs.

2010-05-04T16:52:00.000-05:00

In our ongoing effort to provide exceptional services to our clients, Outsource Receivables has been diligently re-vamping the structure and processes within our company over the first quarter of 2010.

The results are exciting and we’d like to share some of the important changes at ORI with you.
As part of assuring efficient and compliant workflow, we’ve added the position of Manager of Production Quality and Compliance. The position includes five key areas of emphasis that include: process improvement, quality assurance, analysis and work-flow design, employee training, and reporting. Duane Horn, an Outsource Receivables veteran, has been promoted to this position. Read more about Duane in our employee spotlight this month.

We’ve also added five Team Lead positions for the key areas of our business. Our five focus areas include: Clerical, Professional Medical Billing/Insurance, Professional Medical Billing Data Entry, Professional Aging Management Projects, and 3rd Party Collections. Each Team Leader and their team is focusing on a ten point program that places greater emphasis on customer service, education and training, and overall company production goals.

We feel these changes make Outsource Receivables more efficient and focused on the needs of our clients.

New Health Care Electronic Transactions Standards

2010-04-27T09:26:00.001-05:00

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) to adopt standards that covered entities (health plans, health
care clearinghouses, and certain health care providers) must use when
electronically conducting certain health care administrative transactions,
such as claims, remittance, eligibility, and claims status requests
and responses.
Over 99 percent of Medicare Part A claims and over 96 percent of
Medicare Part B claims transactions are received electronically. The
current versions of the standards (the Accredited Standards Committee
X12 Version 4010/4010A1 for health care transactions and the National
Council for Prescription Drug Programs [NCPDP] Version 5.1 for
pharmacy transactions) used in these health care transactions lack certain
functionality required by the health care industry. Therefore, it is necessary
for providers to prepare for new standards in order to continue submitting
claims electronically. This fact sheet provides basic information about the
new transactions standards for the following versions adopted by HHS:
ASC X12 Version 5010, and NCPDP Versions D.0 and 3.0.
What Regulatory Requirements are Responsible for the
Transactions Standards?
• HIPAA mandated that the health
c a r e i n d u s t r y u s e s t a n d a r d
formats for electronic claims and
claims-related transactions.
• The Transactions and Code Sets Final
Rule, published on August 17, 2000,
adopted the International Classification
of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical
Modification (ICD-9-CM) as a HIPAA
standard for transactions.

Performance Reviews: Making Them Fair, Pleasant and Successful

2010-04-06T13:59:00.001-05:00

Performance reviews are a key factor in motivating an individual as well as an office. A recent Medical Office Manager article suggests a few rules to live by when giving effective performance reviews.

Rule #1 Cover the Entire Review Period. The last few weeks are what you remember, but important things regarding this staff member probably happened earlier in the year as well. In order for you to cover the entire review period, keep a log of each staff member’s performance. Jot down ongoing notes regarding compliments and complaints for your staff. Be sure to have your staff do a self-assessment too.

Rule #2 Don’t Use Personal Terms. Demeaning labels and personal terms such as lazy, rude, or inconsiderate have no place in the review process. There are better ways to make the point.

Rule #3 Write and Say the Same Things. Some managers are conflict adverse and only write negative items in the review keeping the face-to-face meeting light. If it’s important enough to write about, it should be brought up in the meeting as well. This gives everyone a chance to talk through the item and make workable changes.

Rule #4 Give the Review Enough Time. A good review should last about 45 minutes.

A suggested review outline is:
Goals: Review the completed ones and set new goals.
The Job Description: Evaluate the performances in each duty and responsibility.
Core Values: Evaluate the staff member’s soft skills such as ability to communicate, be a team player, and take criticism.
Career Development: Discuss strengths and weaknesses and how to enhance or improve them.
A Summary: An example is “I think you had a good year and have done well with A, B, C. I’d like you to focus on X, Y, Z.
The Staff Member’s Comments: Wrap up by asking for your staff member’s comments.

HIPAA Compliance Changes. Is Your Practice Compliant?

2010-03-12T09:40:00.001-06:00

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act mandated three significant HIPAA guidelines that took effect in February 2010.

Section 13420d of the HITECH Act effective 02/18/09 revised section 1176 and 1177 of the Social Security Act by establishing four categories of violations with provisions to substantially increase the enforcement of penalties for breach of private healthcare information. Please take note of the following requirements:

1. New requirements for "Business Associates" - Deadline: February 17, 2010
HIPAA rules were strengthened by extending the responsibility for protection of PHI to "Business Associates." Under the new law, the "Business Associates" have the same responsibilities for any breach of private health care information as do the provider of the services. However, it is the medical practice's responsibility to create new "Business Associate Agreements" or amend the agreements currently in place to add the additional language to effectively communicate this added responsibility to any party or entity that might have access to private healthcare information of the patients of the medical practice. Your agreements should outline these responsibilities and the practice should make sure that all such associates have read, signed, and returned the agreements for appropriate record-keeping requirements of the practice. "Business Associates" would include Attorneys, Consultants, Accountants, Third-Party Billing Companies, Comput er Vendors or maintenance companies, etc.

2. Disclosure Agreement Provision - Effective: February 18, 2010
Patients have the right to pay in full for out of pocket expenses for health care services and request that your practice not disclose his or her medical information to a health plan or other entity. Your practice must comply with this request. Make sure that all your employees are informed about this provision and modify notification or follow-up procedures where applicable. This is information that will have to be shared with all employees in the medical practice that is involved in health information and insurance processing.

3. Information Breach Notification - Effective February 22, 2010
New provision requiring that HIPAA covered entities such as physicians, hospitals, and health plans notify patients (and Business Associates notify the partnering entity) of any breach of health care information. If a breach involves 500 people or less, the responsible party must notify each affected individual by written notice. This notice must contain the details of the breach, the information disclosed, and the steps being taken by the practice or entity to avoid any future breaches, as well as explaining the rights of the patient(s) in protecting their private healthcare information. If the breach involves more than 500 persons, the Act requires that the Department of Health and Human Services be notified as well as the local media outlets.

Additional information can be found at: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/hitech.pdf

Outsourcing Medical Billing Makes Sense: 7 Reasons to Consider It

2010-03-05T14:43:00.001-06:00

Your primary business is about healing people and not about medical billing. Outsourcing medical billing is a common practice. According to a recent article in Vendor Seek, at some point most doctors find themselves looking for outsourcing options. Here are seven reasons to consider outsourcing your medical billing.

1) Outsourcing saves you time. Medical billing is an immense task and is becoming more complicated all the time. Outsourcing takes this burden off you and your staff so you can concentrate on healing your patients.
2) It saves resources. Many practices do not have the resources to focus staff exclusively on medical billing. Medical billing firms have the resources and the extensive knowledge to deal with all the medical billing issues that arise with your practice.
3) Reduces rejected claims. Many claims come back due to coding errors. Hiring a medical billing firm that focuses exclusively on medical billing cuts down on errors.
4) It provides added security. Many fraud cases come from within. With an expert third-eye looking at things, you have another checks and balances system in place.
5) You get paid faster. With a medical billing firm in place, claims are processed quicker and with fewer errors. You get paid faster.
6) It can improve your business. An experienced medical billing firm will provide reports detailing the financial health of your practice and may make recommendations to boost your profitability.
7) Outsource professionals can help in negotiations with insurance carriers. Your medical billing company can give you the detailed information on your costs and your utilization patterns which could go a long way toward helping you in insurance contract negotiations.

Hospitals' Self-Pay Receivables Increasing

2010-02-19T16:21:00.000-06:00

A recent study conducted by Healthcare Financial Pulse reports an increase in self-pay receivables compared to the prior fiscal year.
The study reports more than one-third of hospitals who noted that they had seen an increase stated the increase was 10% or greater over the prior fiscal year. The study notes that small hospitals were the most likely to have the greatest percentage of increases.

To combat the changing payment environment, 72% of respondents report devoting moderate or substantial efforts toward point-of-service collections.

According to the report, respondents indicate the difficulty in estimating the cost of services to be received is the most significant barrier to more extensive point-of-service collections.

Source: 2009 study conducted by Healthcare Financial Pulse

A New Service of Outsource Receivables: FirstMed Contact

2010-02-18T17:51:00.000-06:00

Is it time to review your self pay account follow up process?

Having trouble collecting the patient pay portion of your billing?

We have an answer.

FirstMed Contact. Your complete account follow up resource.
Motivating patients to pay sooner under your company's name.

As patient insurance coverage decreases and a larger portion of a bill is paid by the patient, medical providers must shift to a retail model for their credit and collections processes. Success in the new world of medical self pay collections lies largely in early and consistent contact with a patient.

This is where FirstMed Contact becomes an instrumental part of your revenue cycle.

Not a pre-collect program, FirstMed Contact is designed to intervene before a patient’s account becomes past due and difficult to collect.

The FirstMed Contact process:
15-30 days Statements are sent by provider

61 day Collection letter is sent under your company name
71 day First collection phone call made

81 days Second collection phone call made

91 days Goes to ORI 3rd Party Collections

Benefits of FirstMed Contact
• We catch past due billing in the early stage when full collection is most likely to occur.
• Letters and phone calls are done under your company name.
• This process is not pre-collect.
• FirstMed Contact has the ability to deal with large volumes of calls in a very short amount of time.
• Your staff resources are free to work on other projects.
• We continue contact with the patient keeping information current.
• The FirstMed Contact process takes less than one month to complete.
• Outsource Receivables is a complete medical billing and medical asset recovery company. We are experts in the medical revenue cycle.
• If necessary, 3rd Party Collections continues through Outsource Receivables 3rd Party Collections.

For more information, contact Outsource Receivables Inc.