When it comes to creating payment plans for your healthcare patients, there are definitely “do’s” and “don’ts” that you should consider to make sure you maximize your recovery while preserving your patient-provider relationships. Flexibility and compassion are essential aspects of healthcare payment plan options. However, we recommend avoiding the following three mistakes that some healthcare providers make when setting up their patients’ healthcare payment plan options.
1. Don’t make the payment timeline too short.
If you want to see your money back, you must allow your patients enough time to make payments on their outstanding debt without having interest accrue. Having aggressive payment plan timelines will discourage and dissuade your patients from paying you back. You may see no cash flow at all, which is the worst-case scenario.
2. Avoid relying on patients’ credit scores to determine their payment plan qualifications.
As a healthcare provider looking to maximize your recovery, you should not make your payment plans depending on your patients’ creditworthiness. Not every patient will have a great credit score, but that doesn’t mean they should be penalized for it. Give your patients equal opportunities to qualify for your different payment plans. This way, they can flexibly pay you back within a reasonable timeline, no matter their income or credit history.
3. Don’t let your collections sit on the back burner.
Collections are an incredibly crucial part of your healthcare practice’s cash flow and revenue cycle. You can’t let collections fall by the wayside without suffering the consequences. The longer you wait to attempt to collect from your patients, the higher the likelihood that you’ll ever collect the money that you’re due. Additionally, patients appreciate it when you proactively tell them how much they owe and give them options to pay it back flexibly. Making a rift in your patient-provider relationships is more likely to happen if you let your collections sit on the back burner and then demand that your patients pay up down the road.
For more healthcare payment plan tips and tricks, we recommend checking out this article.
If you are looking for a partner in revenue cycle management and healthcare collections, contact Frost-Arnett at (615) 259-6271. Our trained representatives are leaders in the healthcare collection space. We’re ready to help you maximize your recovery.