A medical collection agency is often the answer to collecting past due accounts in the health care industry. To keep your business running at a profit you must be aware of your accounts that are overdue. Whether you run a private practice or work in a large practice, you will face patients and customers who pay late or not at all.
To keep your business afloat, especially during these tough economic times, you will benefit from the services of a collection company. You can enlist the services of an agency today and know you will be prepared to collect on past due accounts now and in the future.
It is important for those in the health care industry to specifically hire an agency that specializes in collecting on medical accounts. These agencies are experts in the field and understand the importance of recovering outstanding patient balances while maintaining your reputation and keeping your patient relationships intact.
Know When to Contact Your Health Care Collection Agency
Attempting to collect on overdue accounts in-house can be very frustrating, which is why you should consider hiring a professional agency. They have the time and resources to focus on increasing your bad debt recovery which will then leave you time to spend on your business and generating additional revenue.
Once you enlist the services of an agency to collect on your unpaid accounts, you need to learn when it’s appropriate to turn past due accounts over to them. 
Every past due account in your business will depreciate at a constant rate. That said, the more time you allow an account to remain outstanding, the more expensive it will be to collect on the account. It will be more effective, cost wise, to send bad accounts straight to an agency when it becomes obvious the debtor does not intend to pay.
Hiring a Debt Collecting Agency
Before entering into a contract with an agency make certain they have a state license that is valid in the state where the debtor resides. The laws for collecting credit vary state to state, it is important to make sure that the agency is up to date on the latest regulations and laws.
If your patients come from several states or all across the country, you may want to look for an agency that is licensed across the nation. A nationally licensed collection agency will have the knowledge needed to navigate the laws in each state.
Fees for Debt Settlement Companies
Since payment structures vary across different agencies, it is necessary to do your research and find the best fit for your business. The most common pricing structure involves paying a commission only when the agency successfully collects on the delinquent account. However, there are also companies that offer fixed fee payment plans to handle certain accounts.
Keep in mind that the agency you hire is an addition to your practice. They will be operating for you – recovering money while representing your organization. To keep your reputation intact make sure you work with reputable agencies that do not use threats and other ‘strong arm’ tactics when collecting.
Medical Collection Agencies Prices
Pricing details: My company was interested in speaking with companies who had experience in health care collections. We went with a company that took 20% of the amount collected. If we needed to go to court, it was included in that 20%.
– Computers – Software, South Windsor, CT
Pricing details: We went with a debt recovery agency that did not require us to pay them if they were not able to collect on any of our outstanding invoices. They would take 18% of the fees if they were able to make collections.
– Real Estate, Montebello, CA
Pricing details: Decided to go with a medical specific collection agency that was only going to charge us $180/yr for up to 4 clients.
– Health Care, Sequim, WA
Pricing details: We agreed to work with an agency that did not charge us a fee to sign up. We will pay a variable service fee depending on the age of the account to be collected.
– Manufacturing, Marshalltown, IA
Pricing details: We chose an provider that was very professional and did not overwhelm me with phone calls. They send an introductory email to me personally and then followed up on that email as I requested.
– Manufacturing, Tualatin,OR
Pricing details: The agency that we went with will send out letters to our customers and give them 10 days to pay us directly. If they don’t, then the company will retain 25% of anything that they care able to collect.
– Business Services, Woodstock, GA
What other people are looking for
We are a doctor’s office needing help collecting on past due balances.
– Physician’s Office, Mineral Wells, TX
Our clinic is in need of a health care specific agency to help us collect our unpaid debts.
Hospital, Fresno, CA
Our Chiropractic office is need of a chiropractic debt retrieval company to help us collect fees from patients that have not yet paid for their bills.
Chiropractic Office, Alhambra, CA
We are a psychotherapy service and we have patients that still have not paid us for their visits. We need a company to help us collect these fees.
Clinic, Trenton, NJ
I am in need of the services of a health services collection company. I have an optometry practice and need to collect patient debts.
Office, Newport, ME
We are a small practice looking to work with a company to help us collect past due debts.
Medical Office, Erie, PA
We are a clinical laboratory that is looking for a new medical debt collecting company to work with. We service about 1000 patients a day and we have over 1000 individual debts that we need to be collected. We are not happy with our current provider.
Clinical Laboratory, Monterey Park, CA
We have several bills that are out standing and we are looking for the services of an experienced and successful agency focused on medical debt.
Doctor’s Offices, Pompton Lakes, NJ
Our company is looking for information from a few different agencies. We have patients that have received physical therapy at our outpatient therapy center and owe us money for these services.
Health Care Industry, Sodus, NY