Practice Management Alert

If your practice does not accept credit and debit cards, you may be missing out on hassle-free fee collections. Patients are increasingly willing to pull out their plastic at the checkout counter.

"Most patients do not have the money to make cash payments in full," says Gwendolyn Ousley, CHCS, collection manager, Esse Health, St. Louis. "Therefore, practices should accept the patients' good will to pay their debt through credit-card payments, etc. Our collection motto is, 'If we can take it to the bank, then we will accept it.' " What Are the Benefits? Accepting credit and debit cards has many benefits: Less embarrassment for patients: For example, a patient doesn't have to admit that he has only $2.36 in his pockets. Expediency: A patient can give a credit-card number over the phone or through the mail. And with a patient's permission, practices can automatically bill a card for deductibles, coinsurance, and other balances after the time of service, when an insurance company has determined who owes what.

"The permission form is a signed statement that indicates it's acceptable to bill a credit card based on the amount due," says Elizabeth W. Woodcock, MBA, FACMPE, director of knowledge management, Physicians Practice Inc.

Ousley suggests you get the patient's verbal commitment while you're obtaining authorization. Then, give the patient the confirmation number and proceed to debit or post the credit to the account. Once the transaction is approved, Ousley sends a written confirmation to the patient that says: Thank you for your credit payment today in the amount of $_____. Your receipt and/or carbons are enclosed along with your confirmation number for _____ date(s) of service. Reliability: You cannot always count on patients having a checkbook or a $20 bill on them for a copay, but most will have plastic. And the more payment options you offer patients, the more at ease they will be. Increased collections: "The ability to offer a credit-card payment option to patients while speaking with them over the telephone can generate an extra several thousand dollars per month in some practices," says Chris Uthe, director of centralized billing services for iLIANT Management Directions, Winston-Salem, N.C. For years consumers have purchased clothes, flowers, gifts and other items over the phone, he points out. "Why not medical services?" How Should You Process the Transactions? Typically a practice relies on a "merchant account" from a bank to process card transactions. Banks charge a 2 to 3 percent fee for each transaction and often an additional fee of about 25 cents. Following are some tips to consider when setting up your charge system:
Reduce your fees. Consider turning your card processing over to a credit union or a wholesaler such as [...]