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Tip: Increase your facility's copay collections

Patient Access Weekly Advisor, April 2, 2008

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Collecting copayments will not make hospitals rich. "Collecting copays up front doesn't really do much when it comes to helping cash flow, because those amounts can be fairly low," says T. T. "Mitch" Mitchell of T. T. Mitchell Consulting, Inc., in New York City. "If you include deductibles, then you're starting to possibly make some big differences when it comes to cash."

However, there are benefits to increasing your facility's copay collections.

It can save on billing expenses and also save headaches for patients who do not want random bills showing up on their doorstep months after their hospital visit.

"It eliminates the decision whether to write off accounts or send them to collections, and it actually improves patient relations because patients aren't getting those self-pay bills months late when insurance companies sometimes take a long time to pay the hospital," Mitchell says.

Mitchell suggests two strategies for collecting the money up front:

1. Make sure every person who's allowed to collect payments knows all the contracts and the payment amounts for all insurances.
2. Except for emergency admissions, make sure that every contact with a patient before he or she comes to the hospital includes the consistent message that payment will be expected before services are provided.

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