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Practice Management Alert

Collections Tip:

Don't Make a Practice of Suing Patients

Published on Tue Feb 22, 2005

Your collection agency may recommend suing a patient to recover on a long outstanding account, but think twice before you proceed.
 
"The most worthless thing in the world is a judgment that you can't collect on," says Elliot Oppenheim, MD, JD, LLM Health Law, CEO and president of coMEDco in Santa Fe, N.M. A patient you'd typically want to sue has no money - that's why she hasn't paid the bill already. "So why pay lawyers to go after somebody you can't collect from?" he asks.
 
Of course, litigation can be worthwhile in the rare event that the patient actually has substantial assets and just refuses to pay the bill. But with most outstanding accounts for which you'd consider suing, the time, money and ill will created in your community will mean a far greater loss than any payments you might collect from the patient, Oppenheim says. Focus on smart collection practices instead.
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