Patient Payments Blog

Have you ever noticed how much personal, painful change a superhero must undergo in order to protect someone else’s everyday normality?  They change so everything can stay the same for others. That’s what makes them heroes. Normal folks typically resist change. Heroes embrace it.

Topics: practice management, growth, improvement

If you could gain an extra hour in your week or day in your month; what would it be worth to you? I’ve often heard the old saying, ‘Once time has been lost, it cannot be regained’. That’s tragic.

Topics: Medical Office Administration, practice management, Personal Time, Stress

In the past two years I’ve personally employed the services of architects, structural engineers, attorneys, auto mechanics, accountants, and other highly trained professionals. All of whom have skills and training that enabled me to do things I cannot do. NONE of these professionals had any problem asking me to pay them. In fact, I didn’t get to enjoy the outcome of their work UNTIL I had paid them.

Topics: medical practice management, practice management, Payments

I just returned from a conference of experts and consultants to healthcare practices. People who spend their careers helping practices get better at helping patients and maximizing the benefits of doing so. I couldn’t help but be impressed by the depth of knowledge they have and their willingness to share it. It started me wondering.

 

Topics: Medical Office Administration, practice management, change, Ideas

Someone once said something like this, ‘The only thing you can count on never to change is that everything is going to change.’ I think that’s true especially in a medical practice. There’s a constant tug of war in nearly every area. 

Topics: Medical Office Administration, practice management, change

Practices often struggle to keep cashflow even and bank account balances topped off. The business side of healthcare provides constant challenges to cashflow. Claim denials, increasing patient A/R, increasing costs for supplies, labor, and leases all add to the cash crunch.

 

 

Topics: medical practice management, practice management, Front Office, Cashflow

A new study hot-off-the-press makes the same conclusion I’ve seen studies make for the last ten years. The percentages are a little higher but the trend continues. Patients don’t like phone calls concerning their balances. They prefer anything BUT a phone call. Consider this key finding from the study:

Topics: Patient Balances, Patient Centered Care, practice management, Patient Satisfaction

Are you feeling it yet? The annual drop in productivity and rise in stress? All the things you had on your list to accomplish this year are now compressed into the last month because you were just too busy with the day to day to get to them. On top of that you are battling with your staff’s lack of motivation due to the holidays. You feel the pressure to get some things checked off your list but just don’t see how you will manage to pull it off.

Topics: practice management, Stress, year end

I know a few people in the practice audit business but none of them encouraged me to write this post, nor am I referring any of them to you. I’m writing this post because I follow healthcare news.

 

 

Topics: Healthcare Consulting, Medical Office Administration, practice management, Ideas

Payment plans are becoming a necessity in many healthcare practices. The treatments your patients need are simply too expensive, and their deductibles are too high for them to pay a large balance.

 

In order to collect the full amount of billed services while preventing past due A/R from climbing, payment plans are a good option. To make payment plans successful you’ll have to do a little planning yourself. Below are some simple steps that can help you develop an effective policy. 

Topics: Medical Office Administration, practice management, Payments, Financial Policy