Tag Archives: receivables management

Medical Providers: Still Waiting for Your Personal Injury Cases to Settle?

7 Aug

Personal injury cases are taking longer than ever to settle, 18-22 months in some cases and possibly much longer. Many of the medical providers I speak with tell me that it takes WAY too long to get paid on their personal injury liens and LOPs (Letters of Protection). This causes serious cash flow challenges and excessive staff time needed to continue to monitor the status of cases and negotiate the reductions often requested by attorneys on the case.

If you treat personal injury patients on a lien or LOP, chances are you are facing the same kind of challenges to both your cash flow and staff time.

Get Paid Sooner, Not Later

I am now working with a firm that specializes in helping medical practices like yours get paid or treating personal injury patients. They purchase medical liens. This allows you to receive your payment sooner, and they work, and negotiate, with the attorneys to receive payment at the end of the case. Regardless of how the case ultimately resolves, you will have been paid for your services and relieved of your payment risk.

What’s In It For You?

Benefits of working with Velocity Medical Receivables Solutions, LLC.

  • No cost or financial investment required for the medical provider
  • Predictable cash flow on future receivables
  • Removal of payment risk
  • Money in advance of case settling, no waiting for cases to resolve
  • Confidence in accepting more personal injury cases knowing you won’t have to wait for your payment.

Let’s Talk!

I would love to show you how you can turn your waiting on personal injury cases into regular cash flow.

Let’s talk! Schedule a quick conversation about your practice at your convenience by CLICKING HERE.

See other ways that Cash Flow Strategies, Inc. can help you improve your practice cash flow by visiting our web site by CLICKING HERE

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Not all Debtors are created equal!

27 Feb
After being in the ARM (accounts receivable management) industry now for many years, I can honestly say I’ve heard almost every story in the book from CEOs, CFOs, healthcare administrators, doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, billing managers to janitors as the reasoning or excuses from clients as to why their outstanding balance had not been paid.
Here are some common excuses:
  • They have been traveling.
  • They just lost their job.
  • They just moved and were not getting the invoices.
  • They came across financial hardships and needed some extra time.
  • They just had surgery and have been in the hospital so needed some time to get their things organized.
  • They weren’t satisfied with the service or product so didn’t feel the need to pay for it.
  • They were used to paying all their vendors after 60 or 90 days.
Here are some off-the-wall responses:
  • They said they were going to get their checkbook from their car and never returned.
  • They didn’t remember ever ordering that product or service.
  • They’re going through a divorce and to call the soon to be ex-spouse who is responsible for the balance, not them.
  • They were wondering if their creditor would be willing to barter instead.
It might seem odd to hear even the common excuses listed above if you aren’t in a business that extends credit or if you are in general a good paying consumer.
It may even seem like an episode from a spin off series of the Twilight Zone where customers walk into Costco, load their shopping carts full of items, walk past the cash registers, give the friendly greeters their mailing address to send them a bill and walk right out.  Luckily for Costco, it isn’t the case as they don’t extend credit (only through a 3rd party financing credit card partner).  Unfortunately for millions of other businesses around the world that essentially happens every day.
In my opinion the most vital thing to understand if you are in a business that extends credit or carries an accounts receivable is:
NOT ALL DEBTORS ARE CREATED EQUAL
I explain to my clients that they’re only going to have to deal with 4 types of payers.  I laughed the other day when a client told me that 4 payers is 3 more than he’d care to deal with.  Can you blame him?
Here are the 4 Payer Types:
  1. Dutiful  (Always pays their bills on time, probably has an 800 or higher credit score.)
  2. Distracted (That busy working professional who is good for the money but hasn’t yet gotten to all 10-12 monthly bills on their kitchen table.  They simply need a reminder text, email, phone call, letter and they’ll pay up.)
  3. Disrespectful (Has disregarded and ignored at least 2 billing cycles from the same creditor and hasn’t called to explain or apologize about non-payment.  Are paying some bills more timely, but they have chosen which bills to put off that don’t seem so urgent.)
  4. Deliberate (Have expressed to their creditor verbally that they will not pay the balance owed or expressed through non verbal cues of long periods of silence, mail returns and disconnected phone lines.  These are the most high risk debtors.)
Now be honest with yourself, which category do you fall under?
I want to note that, in my experience, these 4 payers types are found in all socio-economic income levels, meaning some wealthy people fall into the category of Deliberate high risk debtors while people from low income levels can be in the category of Dutiful payers.
I won’t get to into details about the psychology of why these 4 types of payers/debtors respond, react or do nothing in this article.  What I can tell you is by simply understanding that there are 4 payer types and that not all debtors are created equal puts you FAR ahead of the game and your competition.
The BILLION DOLLAR question is how do I efficiently and professionally address each of the 4 payer types to recover my past due balances? (That is if you’re in a business that extends credit, if you don’t have to worry about this then lucky you!!)
I would love to hear your comments, create some dialogue around the 4 payer types and hear your ideas on how your business effectively maximizes your accounts receivable in-house.

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Cash Flow For The Medical Practice

25 Feb

I was a guest on the Top Docs Radio Program on Business Radio X, talking about Cash Flow For the Medical Practice with host, CW Hall.  Here is what he wrote about the interview:

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW BY CLICKING HERE

I sat down with David Wiener, aka “Mr. Cash Flow” on this week’s episode.  I connected with David first on LinkedIn a few weeks ago.  After learning more about the various ways he is able to help a medical or dental practice recapture revenue that is currently being lost, I knew I needed to have him on the show.

David spent numerous years as a practice manager for a doctor’s office, so he knows very well the challenges these practices face trying to maximize the revenue they get to keep for the care they provide.  With patient out-of-pocket obligations significantly on the rise, physicians are experiencing a corresponding increase in the number of patient balance bills they must collect upon to be paid for their services.

David provides access to a service that for only $12 per claim (instead of a typical % of the amount to be collected), that dramatically increases the success rate for bills collected to over 80% in the first 30-45 days from date of bill.

We also talked about other ways Cash Flow Strategies, Inc., is able to help their medical and dental practice clients drop more revenue to the bottom line.  One such way is to enroll their staff into a wellness program as provided for by the ACA.  Businesses that do so can save as much as $500 per employee per year on the Federal income tax they must pay for each of them.  Additionally, as employees take advantage of these wellness benefits, they tend toward better levels of health, decreasing the company’s expenditure for health benefits.

David also talked about a company he’s partnered with that can help a business change all the lights within the building to LED lights, saving enormous amounts of money on utility bills.  They offer a plan through which the business can pay for the lights over time, with the payments + new utility bills amounting to less than previous utility bills were, providing savings from the first month.

There are several other ways David is likely able to reduce amounts being spent by the business, such as procurement costs for necessary supplies through a competitive group purchasing organization and others.  It is clear that any medical or dental practice can benefit from taking a few minutes to talk with David to determine just how much additional revenue they can capture—all without having to work longer or harder.

For more information on how this might help your practice, call David at 888-780-1333 or email him at david.wiener@cashflowstrategies.us

 

 

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Medical and Dental Practices, What Would You Do?

7 Jan
WWYDLogoWhat would you do if your patient data was stolen or a fire or flood destroyed your office?  Suppose one of your employees opened a malicious e-mail and your patient data was encrypted and held for ransom?   I know this sounds absurd, but just Google “data for ransom”.  What would be your first step?  With most medical records being stored digitally, it’s not a matter of if you’ll experience an incident regarding your electronic patient information; it’s a matter of when.
Technology is moving so fast in every industry, but in the medical industry, technology advancements are leading to more and more protected health information (PHI) theft and data breaches.   Patient information is not being properly protected. As you are well aware, protecting your patient’s confidential information is the law. Computers, laptops, e-mail, mobile devices, and thumb drives, all store and send ePHI.  Without the proper controls in place, your patient information can easily fall into the wrong hands, exposing your OMS practice to large governmental fines, and reputational risk.
HIPAA just announced that they will be conducting random audits starting in 2016.  Their pilot audit program revealed that many small to mid – size medical practices are not taking the necessary steps to protect their patient information and are not complying with even the basic HIPAA Security and Privacy Laws.   The HIPAA Security Rule now mandates that every practice take an annual risk assessment. The government also strengthened its ability to enforce the law in medical practices with fines reaching up to $50,000 per violation with a maximum $1.5 million annual penalty.  This is why Cash Flow Strategies is recommending PCIHIPAA, as a dedicated source for protecting your practice.
Cash Flow Strategies has many of our clients participating in their Compliance Program.  They have agreed to provide a complimentary HIPAA Risk Assessment (a $599 value).  You can take the Risk Assessment online and immediately receive your risk score with no further obligation.  I encourage you to take 5 to 10 minutes as soon as possible to complete the Risk Assessment  by clicking here. You’ll receive a 23- page Risk Analysis, and a 30-minute consultation that you can also schedule online.
Just click here to start your Risk Assessment.  It will be a great way to start your practice off on the right track in 2016.

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Is It Time To Dismount?

5 May

My father was a wise man. He used to tell me, “If you find out that your horse has died, it is a good idea to dismount.”

I’ve found, in my experience, that many medical and dental practices are riding a dead horse, and it is definitely time to dismount.

How many things in your practice are being done the same way they were 20 years ago? 10 years? 5 years? If you are like most practices, your answer will be “nothing!” But, if you think about it, the one thing that is being done the same way it has been for a long time is the way you collect money from patients and insurance companies that owe you money.

Sending a monthly statement, and calling (when you get the time to do so) does not work any more to motivate your slow pay and delinquent patients to pay your bill. Calling, waiting on hold, and nagging insurance companies doesn’t get you paid on time either. And do you have any idea how much having employees on hold that long will cost you in a month?

Over the years, we have determined that there are four distinct types of patient payers. Each one requires a different approach to motivate them to pay you, and it is a mistake to treat all of them the same. It is hard, if not impossible, for you to determine which is which quickly and inexpensively in-house.

We have also found a much more economical and effective way to motivate the insurance companies who are dragging their feet, making excuses, and ignoring your calls to get you paid faster.

Transworld Systems can help you update and automate your A/R processes for both insurance and patients. The cost will normally be less than what you are paying now to do what you do in-house, and the results will be MUCH better than riding a “dead horse.”

Contact David Wiener at 888-780-1333 or email me at david.wiener@transworldsystems.com

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Medical and Dental Practices: Is insurance follow-up eating up your staff time?

11 Feb

Insurance companies have a vested interest in paying your practice as slowly as possible. They will delay, deny, and “on-hold” you to death just to keep your money a few days longer and earn interest on that money.

 

Living “on-hold” with insurance companies seems to be a way of life for some of your office staff, as clerks search forever for claim information. Sitting and waiting while they look up claims is costing you big time, not just in employee salaries, but also in lost productive time.

 

What if there was a highly effective, inexpensive way to motivate insurance companies to contact you regarding those claims? What if you didn’t have to waste the time of your employees “on-hold?” What if you could get an answer or your money more quickly?

 

Transworld Systems, a sponsored program with the AMA, a Preferred Vendor with the MGMA, and the largest collector of medical debt in the US, has a unique Insurance Resolution service that you can use to make these things a reality. For a low flat fee per claim, you can have them contact the insurance companies for you. When the insurance companies are contacted by a third party such as Transworld Systems, they will treat the inquiry with much higher priority than they will when they are contacted by your practice or a hospital. When receiving a third party inquiry, they are required to escalate the inquiry to a supervisor, and then have the supervisor contact your practice to resolve the claim.

It’s quick, it’s inexpensive, and it’s easy. And best of all, you can have your “on-hold” person spend their time on something less frustrating and more profitable for your practice.

It is just one of a whole suite of services that Transworld Systems can provide for your practice to help you get paid faster by both patients and insurance companies. Contact me for a free 30 minute demonstration of their services and a no-obligation analysis of your Accounts Receivable. Call me at 888-780-1333, or email me at davidhwiener@gmail.com.

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The Importance of Cash Flow

5 Sep

Importance-of-Cash-Flow1

 

Cash flow is the life blood of businesses and there are many businesses and practices that have cash flow problems.  Since 1970 Transworld Systems has been working with small and medium sized businesses and practices to improve their accounts receivable and increase their cash flow!

Transworld Systems can improve your accounts receivable and increase cash flow with Accelerator by recovering your money faster!  Contact me  today to learn more about how we can help you!

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Medical practice executives cite financial management issues as most challenging – MGMA

27 Jun

Medical practice executives cite financial management issues as most challenging – MGMA.

As an MGMA Admini-Serve partner for over 13 years, the tools provided by Transworld Systems are THE best answer to the concerns that medical practices are facing in an ever increasing way.

  • We can help you deal with the new reimbursement models that place financial risk on the practice
  • We can help you better manage your finances
  • We can ensure that self-pay patients, or those with high-deductible health plans pay you sooner and more often.

In 22 minutes, I can help you determine if the tools I can provide will help alleviate these concerns for you and your practice.  I will conduct a brief A/R strategy session at no cost or obligation via phone to help you determine if our tools are a good fit for your practice.

Isn’t it worth a 22 minute investment of time?

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Protect Your Office from Embezzlement

20 Jun

Dental office manager sent to prison for embezzlement – DentistryIQ.

Wile we don’t read articles like this one every day, the fact is that practices are being embezzled all the time.  By the time the crime has been identified, it is often too late to recover, and a great deal of money has been lost and the practice hurt terribly.

One of the little-mentioned ways of protecting your office against embezzlement is to use a 3rd party partner to work with your practice A/R.  The earlier you can get a partner involved, the less opportunity there is to hide embezzlement from the office.

Let me show you how to quickly and easily protect your practice from this terrible situation.  It is easier and less costly than you would believe.  Respond to me via the form below and I will call to set up a brief consultation via telephone.  There is no charge, and no obligation.  I’m just glad I can help.

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Flourishing in Changing Times: A dental office should have solid systems in place – DentistryIQ

13 Jun

Flourishing in Changing Times: A dental office should have solid systems in place – DentistryIQ.

I totally agree with the idea behind this article.

As the world changes around us, and reality demands efficiency and effectiveness in every area of a practice. solid, workable systems are mandatory.

From my perspective, one of the most critical systems to have in place has to do with your revenue cycle.  Getting paid quickly by insurance companies and patients is vital to a practice’s success in the new economy.  Having systems in place to make that happen, and systems in place for what to do when they don’t are challenging, at best, for a practice to accomplish on their own.

New options have become available and affordable for even small practices to utilize technology and new tools that enable them to do very systematic follow-up on insurance claims, without having to spend staff time waiting on hold for insurance clerks to find claims, and to follow-up on patient balances.  These tools will not only enable the practice to get more of their money faster than ever before, but also free up staff time to work on more productive and profitable activities.

I offer practices a free, no-obligation look at these tools to determine if they make sense (and profits) for their practice.  Isn’t it worth an investment of 22 minutes to find out how much more profit your practice could be making right now?

Respond to me with the form below and request a brief, telephone meeting.

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