How Does Your Practice Handle Patients Who Want to Negotiate Bills?

Times are tough. And, physicians are seeing more and more patients having a hard time paying their bills. As you are probably well aware, many patients have taken to calling the office asking to negotiate their bills. How does you office handle this? Do you have a formal policy in place to determine which bills are negotiable or which patients can get their bills negotiated?

AMedNews.com recently had a nice article detailing the importance of knowing how to negotiate bills with patients. While it may be seem fine to handle each request on a case-by-case basis, the article advises against this, and instead, suggests that physicians develop a formal office policy. The overall goal is to be consistent –and not violate any government regs or third party payer contracts in the process.

The article suggests first determining who is eligible for negotiation. Is it just patients who are uninsured or are insured patients eligible? And, who will handle the negotiations in the office? Also, will financial need be a factor? If so, how is it determined? See the article for other excellent details to consider and how to put together a policy that works for your practice.

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