A zero balance office is one that does not have any accounts payable. You can significantly improve the cash flow of your practice and even reduce it to a zero balance. There are several ways to reduce the monthly accounts receivable balance without sacrificing the patient and practice relationship. Here are some simple practice management tips that you can use to impact your incoming revenue significantly.
Establish Clear Patient Expectations
NextLevel Practice believes the way a practice handles cash flow can make or break it. Inform patients about payments and insurance before treatment. Doing this can result in receiving payment upfront or in a more timely manner.
Verify Insurance Before Treatment
Patients often wrongly assume how much their insurance will cover their treatment. This assumption can cause practices to wait longer to receive a payment if the patient cannot make the difference upfront. Verify patient eligibility and coverage before treatment. Doing this informs the patient about how much they owe and allows them to prepare their payment. List accepted insurance plans online so that patients can also verify that their current plan is compatible.
Try to Collect Payment at the Time of Service
Although one should not expect every patient to pay off their balance in full, it is beneficial to try and ask every patient when they come to the office. Be prepared for patients that ask for options to spread their payment out. Walk them through the process of paying their balance and be specific about how to make payments. Process statements as quickly as possible as the longer it takes for patients to get a bill, the less likely the practice will receive payment at all.
Take Advantage of Technology
Gone are the days of waiting a month for payment after mailing out a patient’s statement. Patients can now make payments online in a matter of minutes. Online payment options can shorten wait times by about three weeks. Offering online bill pay is one of the easiest ways to achieve a zero balance office.
Ensure Appropriate Staffing Levels
Problems can arise when there are not enough employees to manage the number of patients. Details like checking patient invoices and promptly mailing out statements can be some of the first things to fall through the cracks. Check with team members and ensure that they have enough time and resources to deliver accurate and timely statements and process payments.
Get the Support You Need
Practice management is an important part of running a successful practice. Our team at Doctor Genius has marketing solutions to help every aspect of your company process more efficient. We are here to help you learn about our services and answer your questions.
Doctor Genius, located at 16800 Aston Street, Suite 270, Irvine, CA 92606, provides a range of services for practice success. We seek to meet our clients’ needs by providing a variety of marketing, SEO, practice optimization tools, and coaching to transform the healthcare experience. Though we work to provide the most accurate information, the content found on this website is solely intended for entertainment purposes. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the information provided is entirely correct. You may not use the information on this site to cure, prevent, or diagnose a perceived medical issue. If you have healthcare-related needs, please speak directly to a healthcare professional. Never self-perform medical treatments discussed on this website. All images displayed are also for entertainment purposes only, and personal experiences may differ. Please note that the business tactics mentioned on this site might not be applicable to your industry or practice.
