How do you handle non-payments from a patient?

Our standard procedure is this:

We will send out an overdue notice to the patient if there is no payment, or if no attempt to make other arrangements is made within 30 days after we have heard back from insurance carriers. A follow up letter, is sent after 60 days of no payment.

After 120 days of non-compliance, we recommend that the account be turned over to a collection agency. We also recommend that the patient be dismissed from the practice permanently, or denied non-emergent treatments until his/her account has been paid. The overdue notices are customized and approved by your practice.

If your practice opts for the Collections Management Service: After 120 days of non-compliance, we will send the patient a registered letter with return receipt (signature) required, notifying them of the collections action that your office has established. If the patient does not comply, the account will be placed in collections, and the patients chart will be flagged as such, to avoid future appointments being made. We will monitor the account, and handle reporting payments to the collections agency. (The practice will be given a list of patients to approve for collections before the patient is sent.)