The word “receivables” in account receivables represent the sum of payment not received. Every dental office has a right to get the specified amount after delivering or selling some services or goods. This debt amount owed by patients’ needs to be received by dental organizations/ firms is known as “account receivables”. For running a dental office smoothly, there must be a proper cash flow. However not every patient will pay the amount within the time limit. Slow or delayed payment of account receivables can put a lot of stress on the dental care providers by affecting the cash reserves. Thus, to cope up with delayed payments, most dental offices firms are looking for new innovative solutions such as “outsourcing accounts receivable”.
Account receivables are an important part of any dental care office’s assets as it leads to proper cash inflow in the organization. The idea behind the proper cash flow to patients and dental organizations is to ease the process of the transaction and to make a strong relationship between both dentists and patients. It even improves the chances of working capital management of dental offices.
What is meant by account receivables management?
It is a process to ensure that patients pay their payment dues within the time limit so that the dental organization runs smoothly and does not run out of capital at any point in time. This process is also helpful in avoiding the overpayment, delayed payments, or nonpayment of pending amounts of the patients. It keeps the financial and liquidity position of the dental organization in good health. Good receivables also help in clearing the bad debt amount. Account receivable management in dental offices not only reminds the patients about the delayed payments but also collects the money from them on time. It also checks the reason behind such delays and tries to find the solution for such issues.
Listed below are some of the ways for account receivables management in any dental offices:
- Be organized: This will help the dental offices to collect as much information about the patients as possible by setting up a professional credit application.
- Using the right outsourcing option: This will help the dental organization firms to ensure that payments were collected at a right time. The third-party which is handling the account receivable will track the important information related to dates and payments.
- Easing the payment options: For speeding up the collection of the payment, it is best to offer several payment options to the patients like online transfer, PayPal, cash, cheques, etc. It will help the patients to pay the amount in any way they want.
- Making a record: It is the best way to keep the info related to payments systematically in the dental organization and y in the patient’s account and will make them remind about the payment which will avoid the chances of miss or late payments.
- Using the mail as a reminder: It is a handy option in which emails are used to remind the patients about the due dates. With this option, emails will pop up directly contacting them personally. To ease this process and avoid the hassle of any mistake, automated emails can be set that will deliver the message onset time and date.
- Giving best discounts for early payments: Offering discounts will attract the patients and encourage them for fast payments at the right time. This step will help the dental organization to build strong relations with their patients.
- Get ready for the excuses: Commonly, patients will give excuses for late payments so learn how to deal with each one.
- Imposing the penalties for delayed payments: The dental offices’ world runs just because of patients. But to reduce the delayed payments, it is best to impose penalties that will make the patients pay the amount without any delay.
- Doing the periodic reviews: It will help the dental office’s firms to maintain a record of payments, the pending amount to be collected, and will ensure that no payment is missed.
- Keep in touch with patients over the call: By making frequent calls to patients on-call will remind them about the deadlines needed to meet at the right time.
The process involved in Accounts receivable management in dental offices:
- Looking for the solution of complaints of the patients
- Checking for the risk of delay in getting the payment or nonpayment.
- Avoiding the risk of any bad debts of outstanding amounts during a certain period.
- After getting the payment, it is important to reduce the balance in a particular amount.
- Credit rating means patients’ paying ability will be checked before making them sign any terms or conditions.
