As COVID-19 continues to be at the forefront of most American’s daily concerns. The need for medical professionals is greater now than ever before. For many practices, staying afloat for their communities requires precise and speedy payment collections.

According to CNBC, a whopping 137 million Americans are struggling with medical debt. With the number of patients dealing with inadequate or even no insurance coverage at all on the rise, many providers are starting to worry how this will affect their practice’s bottom line. In situations like these, it is critical that practices focus on proper communication, both with their patients and the front office. Making their collection expectations clear and concise.

One of the most crucial aspects of boosting collections requires the practice to reevaluate how they currently interact with patients. The initial touchpoint for most practices is the patient’s check-in process. At this point, it is imperative that the front desk staff alert patients if there is a deductible that hasn’t been met. This will be crucial in the upcoming months of the new year, where there may be a gap in coverage due to employers changing policies. Make it a priority that the patient is familiar with their financial responsibilities to the practice, along with all the payment options made available by your practice. In the COVID era, it is important for practices to offer a wide variety of payment options, this includes online payments and payment plans for those with larger account balances. Providing patients with a payment policy and payment instructions that are transparent and coherent will increase your chances of collecting.

Having a payment policy and process that are transparent and coherent allows your patients to understand the numerous ways they can make payments as well as the consequences of not making payments. This combined with your practice’s incessant reminders to pay their bills on time will bolster your chances of patients staying on top of their payments, increasing the likelihood of collection by your practice. One way you can increase collections for your practice that doesn’t rely on your patient’s ability to make payments on time, are through claims that have been denied. If your practice lacks the resources to address claim denial, a simple; and obvious solution would be to minimize the amount of claims that get denied in the first place. To do this you must verify a patient benefits before they step out of the door. Any questions regarding the patient’s insurance coverage you may have, need to be addressed by the insurance company before the patient’s appointment. Minimizing confusion between insurers and patients; including financial expectations, increases the likelihood a patient will pay the practice upfront.