Whether you are Director of Patient Billing for a major hospital group or Business Manager for a one-physician office, your bottom line is negatively impacted by unpaid patient accounts. To the extent unpaid accounts can be recovered, your bottom line will be improved. THAT is the mission of Stern Recovery Services.
For almost 30 years, Stern Recovery Services has focused exclusively on collection of medical debt. Let us work with you and your patients to collect unpaid patient fees. We maximize recovery of past-due accounts without alienating patients. With our expert assistance, your bottom line will improve.
Designed For Medical Collections
Every area of debt collection presents its own challenges. The chief obstacle for medical debt collectors is that patients are less motivated to pay than other debtors. Why is that?
*There are no immediate repercussions. When car buyers fail to pay their car loans, they risk repossession. When homeowners fail to pay their mortgages, they risk foreclosure. When homeowners or renters fail to pay their utility bills, they risk loss of service. But when patients leave medical bills unpaid, their access to healthcare usually continues without interruption.
* Unpaid medical bills have less impact on credit scores than other bills. When patients apply for loans of any sort, unpaid medical bills appearing on their credit reports are often disregarded or discounted by those who extend credit.
* Changes in laws governing medical insurance have made healthcare more expensive for many people. Accumulating unpaid bills can become overwhelming. When patients feel their debt is impossible to repay, they may not even try to pay.
Over the last three decades, we’ve designed and refined procedures that minimize the difficulties that come with the collection of medical debt.
Comprehensive training equips our collectors with the negotiation skills needed to maximize recovery. Demand letters and telephone-negotiation skills are developed with an eye to overcoming problems specific to medical debt. At Stern Recovery Services, we CONCENTRATE on medical collections.
Protecting Your Relationship With Your Patients
Key to preserving patient goodwill while collecting medical debt are HONESTY, INTEGRITY AND RESPECT.
* Honesty: Our staff has been trained to be candid and forthright. We present actual facts, not insinuations. We avoid communications that may mislead or threaten patients. Our goal is a relationship of trust between our collectors and your patients.
* Integrity: We are guided by Federal and State Laws regulating debt collection, credit reporting and patient confidentiality. Our communications with patients are straightforward. Our collectors strive to be clear, concise, courteous and professional.
* Respect: Many patients owing delinquent accounts are otherwise conscientious persons experiencing temporary financial difficulties. Other patients have never had nor will ever have the means to pay. Still other patients lack the willingness to pay. Our collectors understand this and are trained to treat every patient with courtesy. This approach often stimulates a non-cooperative patient to make payment, if only to reciprocate respect with respect.
Contact SRS Business Development Executive Andy Scherlacher today at ascherlacher@sternrecovery.com or (336) 379-9076. The boost to your bottom line may surprise you!
