Medical Billing Collections:
Successful Payment Plan Options

by Amber
(Huntsville, AL )

I'm a medical biller and everyone in the medical billing industry knows how hard it is to collect money every day, much less in this economy.

Four years ago, we could say "No, the minimum payment is X amount". However, that is no longer the case. People just may not have the minimum payment requested and they will always choose to pay their living necessities before a medical bill.

So my advice is to be lenient. Allow smaller payments for payment plans. Know that this too will end and once the economy recovers you can go back to your normal collection process.

Another tip that goes along with this is to have your patient sign some type of promissory agreement which advises that if they miss a payment without notification that they will be pursued for the full amount.

Make sure the patient understands this agreement and make sure they're not signing up to pay more than they can afford.

All of these things combined will help you successfully collect on medical bills and bring your money to a more steady flow.