e-MDs Front Desk Tips For Maximizing Revenue : Part 1

(Insert Movie Trailer Voice) 

In A World Of Ever-Decreasing Reimbursement….One Practice Stands Ready To Fight For Everything They’re Owed….YOURS!!!

The never-ending saga of the Revenue Cycle.  Your e-MDs Front Desk Team is the KEY first step in making sure your practice collects everything it is entitled to.  Here is tip 1 in our 5 part series that will help your billing team be super collectors!!

1. When making an appointment, inform the patient of the current balance:

We’ve seen it happen time and again.  A patient walks into an appointment (or after being seen) and the front desk person tells them they owe on a balance.  The patient goes DEFCON 5. The patient is confused and frustrated.  Screaming and yelling sometimes ensues, regardless if the balance is correct or not.  They want to know why they owe money.   It becomes very uncomfortable for everyone in the office.  Your front desk team scurries to look up the account.  They may or may not be able to easily identify what the reason is.  They might have to speak to the billing department, all the while the patient’s mood gets worse and worse.  No matter the outcome at this point, there is a negativity in the air for both the patient, staff, and any other patients who happen to be in earshot when the tirade occurs. 

While that scenario is certainly not 100% preventable, you can eliminate the overwhelming majority of those encounters.  Simply tell the patient what they owe and why they owe it when scheduling the appointment.  If the patient owes $135.00 because the insurance was applied to his/her deductible on the last visit simply let them know.  As an e-MDs user you have access to that information right inside the appointment window (See red arrow):

The “Aging” button tells you how much that patient currently owes by clicking the button and looking at the number in the top right corner (Blue Arrow). 

If you want to see how much is owed for all guarantors related to the patient, press the “Gurn” button (for guarantor) on the appointment screen and again look in the top right window on the patient line.

An easy script to use could be something like:

“How about 9:30 tomorrow morning? _________ Fantastic!  Are you still at (Address & Phone)?  Great.  And just to let you know, there is a $58.00 balance due on your account that you’ll need to take care of before we can see you tomorrow, ok?” 

At that point, if a conversation about the balance needs to take place it can be done on the phone where the situation can be more controlled.  Your front desk person can then calmly and quickly use the resources at his/her disposal to help better answer the question.  At worst, no irate patient is causing a scene in the office.

By taking the few seconds while they are on the phone before they ever arrive at the office to explain what they owe and why, you can proactively diffuse what might otherwise be hostile situations.

Let us know if we can be of assistance to your practice by filling out the contact form below.

Solor is a specialized third party medical billing company for e-MDs® Practices.  e-MDs® is a registered trademark of e-MDs Inc.  e-MDs Inc. is not affiliated with Solor, Inc., our products, services, or website.  Additional legal disclaimer here:  http://wp.me/P7cvJE-kI