It is not always easy to make patients and their insurance companies pay dental bills on time. In fact, many dental practices struggle to ensure that there is a balance between monetary collections and professional obligations to their clients. However, the following tips would guarantee excellent dental collections, and maintain the highest standards of professional conduct.

The dental service provider needs to formulate a strong internal credit policy. It is important to have a consensus on the guidelines with all members of the team. The policies should be written, easy to understand and execute. The main aim of the policy is to reinforce the procedure for collecting and reduce the time for payment. There is a need for a financial coordinator to handle the finances and ascertain the status of the patient’s creditworthiness before any treatment is provided

For prompt payment, it is important to prepare the bills electronically prior to discharge of the patient, thus saving time. The billing statement should then be sent promptly to the patient. The clearance of the bill and collection procedures must be communicated to the patient clearly in writing. A duplicate of the form should be given to the patient while the original should be filed by the dental office. Include your telephone contacts or website address for any issues that might need any clarification.

The financial coordinator must be well versed on the gravity and professional conduct required for the delicate work. Part of the job entails telephone follow-ups. The details and financial status of the client should be well known. The date and conditions for payment should also be clearly spelt out. For reference, short notes are taken when conversing with the patient, who needs to be reminded of the consequences over failure to pay.

You should tell your patients to ask for an authorization form from the insurance company in advance in order to know how much the company will pay. This would help the dental office and the patients to finalize payments before they leave the office preventing delays. Patients may also be motivated to pay the bills by offering them cash discounts.

There should be a plan on how the payments would be cleared where the patient is not able to pay the amounts at once. The plan may attract interest or not. The payments may be cleared in monthly installments. However, the duration of payment should not be too long. The contract should be clearly written and the consequences of nonpayment well stipulated.

It is important that you take steps to educate your office personnel in managing dental collections. The employees should have sufficient information of regarding the collection methods. If you do not have internal capacity, you should involve professionals in collecting the payments. Preferably, you should hire a reputable collecting agency with experience in the field. Although it has cost implications, it relieves the responsibility of dealing with bill defaulters thus saving time.

It is important to remember that dental practice is unique because it requires urgent action to be taken to help a patient in pain. It is important to ensure that you do not create an impression among your patients that money is all that matters. This is another reason why it is advisable to hire a financial manager to handle the job for you.

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