As an administrator in the dental practice, you do your best to ensure patients are quoted an estimate for their out-of-pocket or “patient portion” for each dental service that your practice will be providing. From verifying insurance to submitting pretreatment estimates for care, your goal is to provide estimates that are as accurate as possible. However, in the post-COVID climate, it’s impossible to predict what an insurance company will do to avoid paying a claim. Get more comfortable having the tougher conversations with patients that are left with a balance that you now have to collect on. This will be a touchy subject for some patients. After all, we do not know our patient’s financial situation. Some patients may think nothing of paying an extra $100, while others may become upset over an unexpected $25 bill. Therefore, it’s essential that you exercise care and compassion when collecting unpaid balances. No matter what, the patient is responsible for any unpaid balances on their account, but it’s how you approach the topic that matters most.
First and foremost, be sure you research why the patient accrued a balance
- Was it a billing error?
- Did the insurance company receive the claim?
- Was the claim denied?
- Can you submit an appeal to the insurance?
- Was there a mistake in calculating their balance?
Before sending an unexpected bill to a patient, be sure to find out why the balance is there in the first place, and see if it can be resolved because rest assured, most patients will ask this of you! It will also build trust between the patient and your practice because you’ll already be able to answer their question of, “Why do I have a balance?” The patient will feel like you already did everything that you could to fix it. And if it was due to an error on your part, simply own up to your mistake and explain what happened. If it’s a genuine balance, make sure you have detailed notes regarding the balance details, and be prepared to discuss payment arrangements if requested by the patient.
Tips on Collecting Unexpected Balances
- Consider how this news will be perceived
No one knows your patients better than you. Some patients are insistent on knowing their treatment estimates down to the cent, while others are more carefree and will pay their balance without questioning it. Therefore, you may need to approach this topic with care when collecting unpaid balances from your patients. If you suspect the patient will be upset at the news, a phone call is always better than sending a letter or email. A phone call provides a direct avenue for the patient to ask questions to understand why they have an unpaid balance. It’s important to keep your tone and your volume low and always be in a private area without noise when having a conversation about money.
- Send the statement at the right time
This tip goes along with the first one. You probably know how most of your patients would react to an unexpected bill. If you don’t, assume they might have questions or maybe even want to call the office right away to pay their bill. That way, patients have a couple of days or so to contact the office with questions or concerns before the weekend. Think about it this way. How would you feel if you received bad news late in the week and had to sit and stew over it all weekend long? You might get so miffed that you leave a bad online review. Yikes! Your patients are liable to do the same. Therefore, consider sending these letters at the beginning of the week.
- Watch your words
The wording of your correspondence is just as important as the timing. Keep in mind that everyone has different financial situations. You probably have some patients accustomed to dropping tens of thousands of dollars on dental care, while others are barely able to afford basic preventive care. Therefore, be sure to use caring and compassionate words. For instance,
“We understand that this remaining balance from your dental treatment received on (quote the date of service) is unexpected. We have not been satisfied with the coverage that (insurance company name here) provides their subscribers now for years. However, there isn’t anything that we can do to express our displeasure. Please contact us at (company number), and we will work with you the best we can on this unexpected expense.”
It’s all in how you approach the topic that matters most.
- Keep detailed records
Your documentation will always protect you if you ensure each patient’s file is complete and each step taken in the care process is documented well. Ensure that your new patient forms are completed and signed with consent to treat, financial guidelines of the company, HIPPA, medical history, all chart notes, insurance claims, administrative notes, treatment plans signed, X-rays, perio charts, and any other consent forms used at your practice. These areas create constant money loss for companies that are missing their documentation. It’s hard to ask someone to pay an unexpected payment if you do not have your steps documented well and you cannot create value for the dental services that your company provided. If you can’t explain it well to your patient, then they will question you more, not less.
