How do you deal with the issue of your patients having to pay out of pocket in order to meet their deductibles? In case you don't have a standard in place to deal with this, your practice will suffer a major impact at the beginning of each year. At this stage, you will be end up playing the catch up game to collect after the visit. So you will end up working harder, not smarter, which can have a good impact on your practice.

The deductible portion of Self-Pay is a rapidly growing category and we should continue to see this increasing year on year. Only in case a patient meets their deductible for an year do they get to use their medical benefits. This is in-turn resulting in patients being under-insured and unable to afford the cost of healthcare.

Think Again, if you think your "PREVENTENTIVE SERVICES" are FREE of charge. The cost of these FREE services is more than likely rolled into the price of your premium. While compared with the other groups the physician and pharmaceutical costs are lower in the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) population, the inpatient admissions and expenditures are significantly higher. What’s observed is many practices these days are collecting the deductibles upfront for the year before the doctor will see them as patient collections are costly and labor intensive, then collecting from insurance payers. This indicates that timing is crucial.

Below are some of the basic and crucial steps you can adopt.

Communication:

• Your system must be able to assign ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes as appropriate to the carrier, or you’ll need to run two different systems.
• Communication is the key factor. Clearly communicate with your patients about payment expectations
• Make it convenient and easy for the patients to pay
• Make them aware in advance of the consequences of not paying.
• Ensure a stricter collections and financial policy
• Provide multiple payment options like online payments, check kiosks etc…

Front Desk Staff and their role:

• Your system must be able to assign ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes as appropriate to the carrier, or you’ll need to run two different systems.
• Make sure the front desk staff clearly understands the collections and financial policies
• Gather as much information as you can at the point of initial contact or initial phone call
• Find out essential information prior to visit
• Verify if a patient owes a deductible
• Verify the co-pays, deductibles, and eligibility with every patient
• Ensure proper procedures in place to avoid confusion from patients

In reality, not every patient would be willing to pay. To make I convenient for them and for you too, provide them with a pre-addressed envelope using which they can send you the payment. Also see if you can offer discounts for early birds

During the end of the year, most of the deductibles would be met, and hence you may see an increase in patient load. Ensure you are adequately staffed during this period.

Chris Peters
AVP - Corporate Communications
chris@promantra.us
Phone: +1-732-414-3678