Anesthesia practices collecting patient payments is becoming increasingly difficult, Tony Mira, CEO of MiraMed Global, wrote in a Nov. 1 blog post.
There are three challenges for anesthesia services providers trying to collect payments, he wrote on the Anesthesia Business Consultants website. First, anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists have no ongoing relationship with their patients, Second, patient medical balances are often a lower priority. Third, there are relatively few strategies that result in consistent collections from the patients themselves.
These problems are compounded by a growing number of patients who do not have insurance coverage, Mr. Mira wrote.
In most practices, unpaid balances are referred to collection agencies, and anesthesia practices nationwide are seeing their patient balances increase year over year.
Mr. Mira recommended anesthesia practices triage patients early in the revenue cycle to identify who is most likely to pay their balances.
Read more here.