Patient collections

[Welcome123]

Anyone encounter situations where patients develop high balances and want to continue treatment or disappear ? (This is probably everyone)
Is there a threshold value for using a collection service?

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[Pain Applicant1]

Anyone encounter situations where patients develop high balances and want to continue treatment or disappear ? (This is probably everyone)
Is there a threshold value for using a collection service?

It's not that straight forward of an answer. In order to collect you have to get a judgment first. You can send to collections but you can't garnish wages, place liens, or freeze accounts without the judgment. I'm in court often for my other business so I'm familiar with the process.

Collections most likely will just scare or bother the patient into paying. Sometimes they're successfully sometimes not.

I recommend you just don't see anyone unless balances are zero if you're concerned about past due payments. That will make your life a lot easier.

 

[nvrsumr]

I have a collection company but currently only have one patient who is on a payment plan with them

Estimate what patients owe and collect prior to service. Will save u a lot of headaches

 

[Pain Applicant1]

If you do send to collections, you can have the agency initially send a letter. They'll probably charge you a few dollars for each letter whether you collect or not. You can also have the collections company call them as a next step. That's more work for them so they'll increase their cut. They'll probably want half of what they collect. You can also try and sell the debt or judgment to a collections company depending on where you are in the process. If you can find a buyer you're probably only talking pennies on the dollar.

Your billing company or system probably works with a collection agency. Try calling them and see which programs they have.

Or, as I mentioned above, you can pursue on your own through the courts, most likely small claims and try to get a judgment.

 

[Pain Applicant1]

There may or may not be a threshold for your collections company. They all differ. You obviously wouldn't have them send a letter that cost $10 for a debt of $5 etc but they happily would, etc.

 

[pastafan]

Or, as I mentioned above, you can pursue on your own through the courts, most likely small claims and try to get a judgment.

This is state dependent. I wanted to do this once. I was informed that although I had a single member PLLC I was not the entity and thus I had to have a lawyer for representation. Total BS but it's the law here.

 

[Agast]

I saw a new PCP and in his paperwork, there was a form you had to sign acknowledging that if you are delinquent on a bill, every month of late payment added an additional $5. I had a patient who was chased down for 2 years before he paid his $97 balance. If we had added on $5 a month that would have been more than the balance he owed! Given that there is now a threshold of $500 before medical collections shows up on your credit report, that’s not a bad strategy.

 

[Pain Applicant1]

This is state dependent. I wanted to do this once. I was informed that although I had a single member PLLC I was not the entity and thus I had to have a lawyer for representation. Total BS but it's the law here.

Which state and who told you that? In general, that's true but there are typically some exceptions. Even if an attorney told you that, I would recommend you review your state code. Attorneys will say that so they can gain more business and other people may say things without having full knowledge of the law.

Your PLLC is a separate entity so unless you have a license to practice law, you shouldn't be able to represent it. If you practice law here without a license you can be charged with a misdemeanor. With that said, there are some exceptions by law (e.g., single-member LLC or fewer than 5 members, monetary claim less than a certain amount, non-publicly traded co...) It also depends on whether or not the judge wants to enforce things.

I'm going to court tomorrow to litigate and represent my LLC (not my medical practice PLLC) since my case is going to trial. The judge told me she may or may not allow me to represent it and she'll determine that at the trial. This has never been an issue before when I've gone to trial but I guess with the county becoming more developed they're beginning to become stricter. I read through the state code and I think I qualify for the exceptions to represent my LLC without violating the law.

Fortunately for me, my wife still maintains her law license even though she's retired from practicing (she's an artist now) so she'll come with me. If the judge gives me a hard time I'll just let her know that my lawyer is in fact here to represent me. I'll do all of the litigating anyway and my wife will just be there as a formality.

 

[pastafan]

I was told by an attorney buddy of mine. He wasn’t looking for business; he recommended not pursuing it because it would cost more than it was worth. Searching online it looks like state Supreme Court ruled on this.

 

[Pain Applicant1]

I was told by an attorney buddy of mine. He wasn’t looking for business; he recommended not pursuing it because it would cost more than it was worth. Searching online it looks like state Supreme Court ruled on this.

I'm 100% sure you are 100% right but if you're okay with it please PM me the state. I'd like to review that.

For some weird reason I haven't figured out just yet, I enjoy reading state and federal codes/laws. I find them interesting, lol.

 

[10KHertz]

You need a collections vendor that can assess which patients to actually litigate against …