Collections are the ultimate goal of any dental or medical practice. However, do you actually know if you are doing a fine job of collecting receivables?
Normally, you would end a dental therapy, charge a suitable fee, and collect payment. It appears manageable, right? However, what usually happens is that you provide therapy but then start trying to navigate the often disorganized and exhausting procedure of collecting from both patients and insurance enterprises.
What is a good net collection percentage?
Typically, an average collection rate of 98 percent will help in boosting profitability in the long run.
According to a study, an average dental clinic loses 8% of its revenue. Therefore, if a clinic produces $50,000 a month and incurs a loss of about $4,000 every month, then it bears a loss of $48,000 each year. So, let’s understand some necessary tips for an effective and efficient dental billing and collection.
1. Collection of Payment at the Time of Service:
An ideal way to improve your collections is to omit the hassle of follow-up by collecting the fee at the time of service. Make sure that your payment guidelines/policies are unmistakable on this before you begin with the treatment.
2. Third-Party Services to Handle Collections:
Managing collections is tedious and laborious. It considerably requires effort and time that you could shift to treating patients, advertising your practice, creating faithful clients, or other measures to enhance your services.
Alternatively, a graded third-party payment management unit has the expertise and mechanism needed to manage collections efficiently. They do their best and provide you with the time you must spend with patients.
3. Keep Track of Collections Due/Overdue:
Dental practitioners often fail to keep track of payments. They fail to follow up with both the insurance institutions and the patient.
Therefore, it is good to track instantly on your bills. To keep track of your due/overdue balances:
4. Well-Trained Team:
A professional team is essential when it comes to boosting profitability. They help patients understand the financial policies, fee structure, etc. The financial manager should be well-qualified to reach out to patients with outstanding bills, understanding what and how to say in the calls.
5. Communication of Payment Policies:
Patients have anticipations of you to provide exceptional dental care. Similarly, you can also have expectations unless they understand those expectations straight.
That’s why it’s important to establish a document displaying expectations covering fees and confirm your patients recognize them.
The policy should incorporate:
Collection is the leading source of headache and dissatisfaction for numerous dental procedures. We hope these few recommendations on improving collections for your dental practice dodge disproportionate challenges and instead boost profitability in the long run.
