Medical

Looking for a Medical Collection agency nearby

Having a Medical Collection Agency near you has no advantages.

A debt collector does not personally go to collect money from your patients, therefore it is immaterial if a patient receives Collection Calls or Letters that have originated from your own city or somewhere from California or New Jersey.

In-fact if you are limiting your search of a Collection Agency located near you, most likely you are missing out on hiring a Collection Agency that could have recovered a lot more money from your patients.

When you need to hire a plumber or a cleaner you go local, but do you know from which city do your monthly Electric or Phone statements are generated. Do you know from which city of America do you get a phone call regarding your Bank Account or regarding your upcoming Flight Status. Do you even care? Debt collection is one of the activity where physical location of the agency really does not matter.

Medical Collections is very tricky, the agency handling your accounts receivable should clearly understand the delicate nature of doctor-patient relationship. Collections should be made in a diplomatic, systematic and amicable manner, in an attempt to preserve the doctor-patient relationship.

Important requirement – Your medical collection agency should be licenced to collect in your state, and apart from English speaking collectors, they should have Spanish speaking debt collectors as well.

If all direct collection efforts fail and a lawsuit is advisable, then nearly all Collection Agencies have a nationwide network of experienced lawyers in pretty much every city of America. It is a part of their standard collections process. Contingency fees is disclosed in advance depending on the complexity of the case.

All medical collection agencies are required to follow all federal and state laws like the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines.

Apart from a higher recovery rate, ask if the collection agency has an online portal where you could submit new accounts, run reports and stop the recovery process of an account where a payment has been received. Are their call centers located in USA or in a foreign country. What all steps do they take to protect the personal data of your patients and if they have any 3rd party security certificates to prove that.

Bottom-line, if you are looking for a “Medical Collection Agency near me“, you will likely miss hiring the best debt collection agency in medical field.

In Medical Collections, demand letters sent by a Collection Agency are extremely effective and a low cost solution. Ask your collection agency if they offer Collection Letters service or not, they cost roughly $15 an account. Best suited for accounts less than 120 days past due.

Medical collections are relatively more prone to legal action from aggravated patients. To protect your medical practice from running into these lawsuits, your Collection should perform Litigious Patient check. It means if the patient has a history of suing Small Businesses or Medical Practices then the agency should appropriately advice you. Moreover, the agency should be fully insured to protect them-self and your practice in case a lawsuit is filed by a patient.

It is advisable to transfer an account to collections if a patient has not cleared their medical bill within 60 to 90 days and your own staff has not been successful to recover money during this time-frame.

Looking for a medical collection agency? Contact us.

Different Types of Medical Malpractice Insurance

Medical malpractice insurance covers a hospital against instances where death or great harm are caused. Malpractice insurance is often available through traditional insurance carriers. Before selecting which insurance is best for your firm, it is highly advised to consult a professional medical insurance consultant or institutional risk manager to discuss options. You should also check to see if the state/country of the said hospital has a minimum carrying requirement. In the USA, more and more states are requiring the hospitals have some sort of coverage against this occurrence. There are several different types of malpractice insurance with varying costs. The two most common types of Medical Malpractice Insurance are Claims-Made and Occurrence, but there are a few more that pop up for specific scenarios.

Claims-Made Insurance

Claims-made insurance covers policy holders for alleged acts of malpractice that take place and are reported during the time that the policy is active. This policy will not cover any incidents that are reported after the claims-made policy has expired. These policies tend to have little activity when they are first enacted because claims are often not filed directly after an incident.

Since there is such a long period of time between incidents and reports, there is bound to be some margin of error if the said hospital was to switch malpractice insurance. For instance, if a patient dies in a hospital that is covered under claims-made insurance and is reported after switching to another insurance, then that instance is not covered. To compensate for this said hospital might want to purchase Tail Coverage or Nose Coverage in addition to their new insurance.

An advantage of claims-made insurance is that it is often the most cost-efficient option. They are also advantageous in that you can ensure the risks from services you have provided in the past; meaning you can adjust your policy limits and deductibles to meet inflation. On the other hand, these policies tend to be complex and difficult to work with.

Tail Coverage

If one chooses to cancel their claims-made policy or switch to another insurance there will be an uncovered period of time where you are not covered. Tail coverage covers a firm from any incident that is not been filed until after said claims-made policy is no longer covered. This only applies to claims-made policies and not occurrence policies.

Tail Coverage will protect your prior acts even after you cancel your claims-made insurance. The cost for tail coverage can be difficult to pinpoint, so it is best to discuss it with a professional medical insurance consultant before making a decision. Typically, insurers will charge a fixed percentage of your professional liability insurance policy cost; this is often somewhere between 100-300% of your final premium. Keep in mind that tail coverage tends to cost more depending on how far back the incident goes. The cost of tail insurance can go up to twice the typical malpractice premium.

Nose Coverage

When you set up claims-made insurance, the first date of coverage is called the retroactive date. This date excludes you from any claims that happen before it. Nose Coverage, or Prior Acts Coverage, is coverage that allows you to change your retroactive date to the start date of your new coverage. Nose coverage provides protection for instances prior to your past policy. Tail coverage only applies to your incidents that happened when you were covered, yet was filed after your coverage expired. It is important to remember this distinction when changing insurances.

Occurrence Insurance

Occurrence coverage will cover you any time after the policy has been enacted. If an incident was to happen during the policy, it will still be covered if reported after the policy is retired. Likewise, there is no need for things like tail insurance, since future is always covered from past mistakes. There is also no need for prior acts coverage is needed when changing insurance.

Occurrence seems like the optimal policy to go with, but it is not frequently offered by employers. In addition to that, occurrence policies are often more expensive than claims-made insurance. Cost tends to not be a huge issue when selecting insurance, it is more so what works best for your business.

Cost of Malpractice Insurance

It is difficult to say what the cost of your insurance will be without getting a quote. It is crucial to discuss payment options with a professional medical insurance advisor prior to making a decision involving a new medical malpractice policy. There are many variables that will influence your rates, such as insurance type, location, practice, number of employees, and liability. For example, on average malpractice insurance can be approximately $13,000 in Minnesota, but it would cost over $22,000 in California, Surgeons tend to pay more because they have more liability than the average dentist; a surgeon has a higher risk of incident. In addition, occurrence insurance is far more expensive than claims-made. This might be because occurrence must cover a wider timeframe. The typical malpractice insurance will range anywhere between $5,000 to $20,000 annually.

Sources used
https://www.acponline.org/about-acp/about-internal-medicine/career-paths/residency-career-counseling/guidance/medical-malpractice-insurance
https://www.eqgroup.com/occurrence_claimsmade_explained/
https://www.gallaghermalpractice.com/blog/post/going-bare-are-doctors-required-to-have-malpractice-insurance
http://www.camedicalmalpractice.net/purchasing.htm
https://www.trustinsurance.com/resources/articles/malpractice-insurance-101-claims-made-vs-occurrence-coverage
https://www.insureon.com/insurance-glossary/tail-coverage
https://www.insureon.com/insurance-glossary/nose-coverage

Medical Collection agency

Having a Medical Collection Agency near you has no advantages.

Bottom-line, if you are looking for a “Medical Collection Agency near me“, you will likely miss hiring the best debt collection agency in medical field.

Looking for a medical collection agency? Contact us.

Kinum’s cost effective collections for AthenaHealth users

Athena Health and Kinum have been working together to provide medical practices a cost effective, tactful and a streamlined process for debt collections on past due accounts.

Here is a short video about AthenaHealth-Kinum integration.

https://youtu.be/Fp4PvihJ9_0

Collection Agency for practices using AthenaHealth (https://youtu.be/Fp4PvihJ9_0)

Click here to sign-up.

Transfer of Past Due Accounts:
You will be able to directly transfer past due accounts from Athenahealth to Kinum without the need to re-enter them on Kinum’s client portal. Since Kinum reports all payments collected back to Athenahealth, you will be able to track the collections progress both inside the Athenahealth’s platform or by logging on Kinum’s client portal.

Account transfer rules:
Transfer rules can be set up based on your choice, which includes whether you want to transfer all past due accounts automatically after certain number of days, or manually transfer accounts one by one as needed. You can further setup rules if you want accounts to be transferred for Kinum’s Collection Letters service or to go for more intensive Collection Calls.

How to setup
First step is a signed agreement between Kinum and Practice. You will provide consent for transfer of accounts from Athenahealth to Kinum for collections. Then a Kinum representative will setup an online interactive meeting with you and complete the setup process which takes about 15 minutes.

Benefits and Pricing

Reduction in days in receivables
Ability to maintain the patient relationship
A low cost solution
No setup fees, no long term contracts, no hidden fees.

Collection Letters Service (also called the Connect – Step 1 or/and Step 2)

Best used on accounts 30-180 days past due (You control the process).
Customized setup of up to 5 Collection Demands.
Letters and/or phone calls.
Flat-fee of no more than $9.75 per account.
Best utilized after the third statement.
All money paid directly to you or in your Athena PO box account.
Written demands are sent in colored print for maximum impact.
Spanish and English contacts.
Scrubs performed: Litigious Patient, Bankruptcy, USPS Change of Address.
Unlike other agencies, accounts purchased from Kinum never expire. But majority of AthenaHealth clients are setup on a “Pay-as-you-go” basis so you won’t have to setup anything in advance.

Collections Calls by a debt collector (also called the Collect – Step 3)

No upfront cost, Kinum charges only if it collects.
40% contingency fees.
Best used on accounts over 180 days past due.
Process controlled by Kinum.
Kinum accepts payments and puts them into a trust account and will send you the contracted percentage the following month.
Credit Reporting, if requested

Legal (Step 4):
Accounts may be forwarded for legal intervention if all other reasonable strategies have been exhausted.

Image: Kinum’s typical collection process

Already using another collection agency?
Try Kinum and we sincerely believe that you will be delighted to see the difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d48N-RL5C6A

Kinum Connect & Collect Explained – Debt Recovery That keeps your customers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d48N-RL5C6A)

Medical Debt Collections Agency- Recover your money

In health care industry, early intervention to recover past-due bills is extremely important compared to any other industry. Financial situation of patients quickly deteriorates as their medical bills pile up. It is important to recover money in the first 3-6 months before they completely lose the ability to make payments and may even resort to filing a bankruptcy.

A medical debt collection agency ensures that your medical bill sits on top of other debts that the patient may owe. The collection agency will explain your patient the consequences of not paying and pressurizes him diplomatically and amicably to pay off the bill either in full or in installments.

Rise in high-deductible insurance have turned many medical professionals and their staff into part time debt collectors and they are fed up with it.

Contact us and one of our debt recovery specialist will get in touch with you to briefly review your receivables situation and recommend which product is best for you.

About us:

We are a leader in medical debt collections serving hundreds of medical practices all across USA. Our unique people-first approach helps to protect the valuable reputation of your healthcare practice. We work with debtors to find the best strategy so that they are able to clear your medical bill. Our debt collectors are located in USA only.

Regardless of the size of your healthcare practice Kinum delivers superior recovery rates from your accounts receivable. We maintain a BBB rating of A+ and is affiliated to ACA International. Kinum is 100% HIPAA-compliant and our knowledgeable staff is well trained not indulge in any unethical techniques.

Kinum offers both “Flat fees” and “Contingency only” options. Some debts are collected within weeks while others take longer, each case is treated uniquely. Kinum is a reputable medical debt collection agency.

1. Why is there such an urgency to submit medical accounts early?
Here is a graph showing the probability of collecting money depending upon how old the debt is.

If a demand is raised within 30 days, the probability of recovering money is nearly 90%. If you wait for 6 months, the chances fall to about 50% and keeps falling there after. Flat fees services charged by a medical debt collection agency is extremely cost-effective than engaging your own staff to handle these account receivables.

2. Keep your patients:
Attorney approved Collection Letters (Step 1 or Step 2) play a vital role in medical accounts receivables. These two steps attempt to put enough pressure on the patient to pay without annoying him. Lets look at this chart before we discuss further.

In Step 1, a total of five “reminder” calls/letters go out in your own name, in Step 2 about five more “collection” letters go out under the name of medical debt collection agency. Patients makes payment directly to the doctor’s office.

Our recommendation is that, after 30 days of non-payment of the account, it should be forwarded to a collection agency for Step 1. For the next 90 days, the collection agency will tactfully send a total of 10 contacts and there is a 80%-90% chance that you will recover your money. The verbiage of these contacts change from soft to intensive. If a patient pays you the amount-due during these 10 contacts, there is a high probability that you will not lose this patient and he/she will likely not spread a bad word about you since the collection was done in an amicable manner.

If a patient has not paid after sending Collection Letters or if it has been over 180 days since the payment is due, we recommend transferring the account for intensive collections ( Step 3 – Collection Calls service). In this step, a medical debt collection agency will get paid only when your patient makes payment, otherwise there is no charge.

3. No one likes to pay for services.

Accept the fact, people pay straight up in cash for groceries, diapers, cigarettes, alcohol, restaurant bills etc. because they are getting a physical product in exchange for money. After getting a medical or dental treatment, a patient walks away with pretty much nothing. Willingness to pay for services goes down as the time passes by. It further becomes a lower priority if other kind of bills like auto-loan are also outstanding for your patient. With collection agency in the middle, it creates a sense of responsibility and fear in your patient’s mind, increasing your chances to get paid.

How to shortlist a Medical Collection Agency

Select an agency which does not charge extra for Address Scrub, Bankruptcy Scrub and Litigious Defaulter Scrub in its Step 1 and Step 2, these costs quickly add up. The price per account ( with 5 contacts) varies between $25 to $10. More accounts you buy in one go, lower the pricing is.
Most agencies charge separately for Step 1 and Step 2 services. Only a few companies offer a combo package of Step 1 and Step 2, resulting in cost savings for the doctor in the range of 30% – 40% vs when you buy separately.
Select a medical collection agency which does both English and Spanish demands.
Most agencies will expire your unused Step 1 and Step 2 accounts after 1 or 2 years. Only a handful of agencies have these accounts with no expiration date. Isn’t this awesome. You can buy larger chunk of accounts initially at a lower price and keep using them over the years.
Many agencies will try to sell you contingency collection services directly (Step 3) even if your debt is less than 180 days old, which means they do not charge anything initially, but they keep about 40% to 50% of amount collected. This is a great deal for the collection agency but not for you.

50% of all medical offices who start with Step 3 initially, start using Step 1 & 2 within the first year. I repeat, Step 1 and Step 2 have a smaller up front cost, but they are drastically cost effective. Only, if a patient does not pay after Step 1 and Step 2, or you have put in enough efforts to collect money, only then assign it to Step 3 or if the account is more than 5 or 6 months old.
Will the agency report your defaulters to the Credit Bureaus after all collection efforts have exhausted, and you get to set that preference.

This article is equally applicable to Medical, Dental, Vision and Veterinary practices.