Every day, the front desk team members should go through the accounts of all patient scheduled the next day. Pull up each patient’s account to check any balances, determine the reasons for any balance, and decidee if any of that balance should be collected the following day. For example, is there still a pending insurance payment, pre-arranged payment plan, etc? Check the patient’s treatment plan or account notes to find out if there has been any discussion as to how the patient plans to take care of this balance.
Thoroughly familiarize yourself with each account so there are no surprises and the full and correct amount can be collected when the patient is in the office. Have this information ready for the office huddle the next morning. Then, if it is necessary for you to talk to the patient regarding his account before treatment begines, the rest of the team can be aware and help with this.
Record in the appointment notes the how much is to be collected. Be sure to communicate well with fellow team members in order to avoid any awkward or confusing situations.
All accounts must be accurate to the penny! If an account seems incorrect or overly complicated for any reason, complete an Account Review Worksheet – see below.
Account balancing is an exact process. If an account is off by even one cent, it must be rebalanced again until the discrepancy is discovered. Sloppy financial records rapidly affect the confidence a patient may have in our practice and create undue effort and hassle for other staff members.
