Role of Collection Agencies in
Medical Collecting: My Views

by Deborah
(Chattanooga, TN)

I work in a doctors office and we do use a collection agency to collect debts we are unable to collect ourselves. I believe medical collections is a little different from your usual debt collection.

Its not like someone has gone out and obtained something they had no intentions of paying for. You may be dealing with someone who not only is having financial problems but also health problems at the same time. Maybe they have lost work due to surgery or illness. They probably have multiple medical bills and they can't pay all them off at one time.

I think a collection agency has got to listen to the person to find out what exactly is going on and work with that person. If you are trying to get your bill paid and you use strong-arm tactics the person is likely to pay the other medical bills first instead of yours because they would work with them.

Most people know that for a small debt you will probably not sue them or garnish their wages. Most small balances are written off and then if that patient tries to be seen again we try to collect the balance, but you still cannot refuse treatment.

On the other hand, you have some people who just go through life not paying their bills. They already have bad credit and they know that for small balances you are not going to sue them. Its not that they cant pay you they just don't want to pay you and unless forced they will not pay you. They will bankrupt on you and then call the next week for an appointment with no shame.

They believe doctors are rich anyway and why should they pay their bill. This is why a good collection agency will listen to the person they are talking to because you can get a sense of what is going on if you treat each person different and don't jump to conclusions. You can usually get a feel for what is truly going on and then act according to that person needs.

A good collection agency leaves the people who are truly having problems with the feeling that you are going to work with them to resolve their problems. Yet they are tough with people who just don't want to pay their bills because of course medical bills aren't fun; they would rather spend their money on other items.

I think medical collections is different and with our medical collection company, I have found that they try to work with the patients until they are shown that the person they are dealing with has no intentions of paying whatsoever and not because of real need.

I myself had surgery not long ago and received three different bills for several hundred dollars. I was unable to pay this all at once. So I called and set up payment arrangements with each medical facility. I think some people don't know that as long as you touch base with the medical offices they usually will work with you and you will never be turned over to a collection agency. I think sometimes people who cant pay just ignore the bills and then when they are turned down they try to deal with it at that point.