Debt Recovery

With a quick search, you will find tons of information online about patient accounts receivable (AR), medical billing, and unpaid medical debt as it pertains to hospitals, doctor’s offices, and all other manner of specialty and medical facility. What you won’t find is a lot of information about patient AR and medical testing laboratories. However, medical testing labs face AR problems with clients as well and this can be just as big an issue for labs as it is for hospitals and medical offices.

What kind of problems are these? 

In the medical laboratory field, some tests are fully covered by a patient’s private insurance or the Laboratory Fee Schedule through Medicare. Others are either fully or partially covered by insurance or Medicare Part B while some are not covered at all and have to be paid by patients out of pocket. And, just like in other areas of the healthcare system, there can be uninsured individuals too that labs run testing for. When a patient has a bill that is not covered by insurance or Medicare, it is the patient’s responsibility to pay and, unfortunately, there is a certain parentage of patients who will not pay on time, or at all.

Need a Collection Agency for your Lab: Contact us

What causes these debts? 

Many factors can cause these debts from the patient’s end but there are a few specific things about medical testing lab bills specifically that make them difficult. First, lab tests are billed with the use of very specific codes that can be confusing or difficult to understand for the patient. Also, adding to this confusion is the fact that many labs are completely separate from the referring doctor so the patient may not recognize the name. This makes them more likely to challenge the charge and less likely to pay.

The second issue that arises with medical testing lab’s billing is that many lab requests are sent over without the patient’s social security number and sometimes even contact info attached. This can make it difficult to locate the patient or even find the right patient with that name to attach the bill to.

What can labs do about it?

The best way for medical testing laboratories to deal with patient AR problems is to hand the accounts over to the professionals and hire a laboratory collection agency. A collection agency that has the experience and expertise working with labs to recover unpaid patient debt will be invaluable to labs and allow them to recover more of the AR, in a much faster time.

Laboratory collection agencies will be familiar with the specific billing codes that laboratories use and be able to explain that to the patient. They also offer things like skip tracing as part of their service. Skip tracing is tracking down the correct person that owes a debt when there is invalid or incomplete contact information.

Also, while a laboratory’s billing department may be very familiar with all the rules and regulations around medical billing, they will not be as experienced with best practices around ethical debt collection. A laboratory debt collection agency will be equally familiar with all the HIPAA compliance regulation that is required in these situations as they are with complying to debt collection practices such as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Written Notices sent by a Collection Agency

Upfront cost for 5 Collection Demands is about $18 per account. Debtors pay directly to you, no other fees. Low-cost option. Good for accounts less than 120 days past due.

Collection Calls made by a Professional Debt Collector

Contingency fee only. No upfront or other fees. Agency gets paid a portion of the money they recover.  No recovery-No fees. Best for accounts over 120 days. A debt collector calls debtor many times. If everything fails, a possible Legal Suit if recommended by the attorney.

Conclusion 

Patient AR and billing solutions in the medical testing laboratory field is an under-covered topic. This is even though it can be just as big of a problem in this field as any field in the medical profession. It can cause the same issues and hurt the long-term financial health of a lab if not dealt with appropriately. A laboratory collection agency will help you collect on old AR accounts for clinical billing, DNA billing, pathology billing, toxicology billing, and molecular testing lab billing. That is why hiring a laboratory billing collection agency is the right thing to do.

Businesses can have troubled relationships, much like people. When a contract is breached, inadvertently or on purpose, one of the greatest losses is trust. The process of building a business relationship consists of an investment of time and money but also of the risk of losing a portion of one’s market share, and thus, a risk of losing business. Any partnership carries with it the potential of mutual support and growth as well as the potential for corporate theft, loss of revenue, employee poaching, and more.

An entrepreneur doesn’t start a business with a distrustful mindset. On the contrary. Many business owners are full of hope, ambition and optimism. They may anticipate some obstacles, but with preparation, perseverance and a constant eye on the money meter, they can overcome them all to continue building a successful enterprise.

Just like a social contract, a business contract has some strict terms on paper, but, in reality, on-the-ground negotiations of the terms to fit business needs, slight modifications to adapt to changes, inconsistent payment schedules, and other breaches of the contract, all make the terms of the contract less absolute than they seem. Even so, non-compliance with the written terms doesn’t mean your business is in any danger if you still get your money and can support your business. When that doesn’t happen, the payment provisions of your contract become extremely important.

One of the most sensitive topics is keeping track of money. Business discussions often revolve around making and saving money, cutting costs and building upon wealth, but fewer tackle one of the embarrassing experiences of being in business: collecting money owed. A reason for that is that no one really wants to call out their business partners. Many still hope to be able to do business with them if the money issue is resolved.

However, when the stakes don’t involve just a temporary financial inconvenience or a negligible bad occurrence, but instead, go high enough where the cash flow of the business is threatened, the resources expended to cover the financial hole drain the company’s finances and staff. In that case, the impasse has to be addressed firmly and immediately.

A company’s Accounts Receivable is an essential part of operations. The people that run this department are not the money makers, but the treasurers, the ones who guard the money vault, so to speak. One of their duties is to ensure the company receives payment for their goods and services. When a customer or organization skips a payment or falls behind, Accounts Receivable springs to action.

What happens when it’s not just one customer or one business partner that hasn’t paid, but several, and Accounts Receivables can no longer keep up with demands for payment without the risk of ignoring or making mistakes in their other duties? What happens when they dread pursuing collections because it’s become their full-time job?

This is where hiring a collection company to aid in the recovery effort can make sense. Collection companies are not elegant or glamorous, and many have less than a decent reputation. The good ones respect their clients’ wishes and demonstrate a strong work and business ethic, fulfilling these essential activities. The debt collection process for businesses also depends on B2C or B2B debt.

Need a Collection Agency for your Business? Serving Nationwide. Contact us  A cost-effective revenue recovery service with extensive experience in recovering money for companies while preserving your business terms with clients.

These are some of the things a collection agency can do for you:

1. Take over delinquent clients and let you concentrate on growing your business.
2. Removing negative emotions and frustrations from your daily business activities.
3. As a third party, they will make the collection process less personal. You and your delinquent business partner might continue to be civil or even friendly.
4. Discretion and preserving one’s reputation are essential in a competitive market. A collection agency and its employees are bound by privacy laws and will not toot the horn of your precarious financial situation to anyone who listens. That will not only protect you from gossipy employees but also not aid potentially hostile takeovers.
5. Your collection agency will analyze your contract(s) and see where the breaches have occurred, if there are potential penalties or incentives that might be used to motivate the debtor to pay, and even help you better understand how to protect yourself in the future.
6. Collection agents are well trained in FDCPA and FCRA requirements and violations, in addition to state collection laws. Knowing the rules and regulations governing the process of debt collection is imperative but learning them properly may be time consuming. Instead of having your employees take on that extra burden, you can outsource the debt collection process to someone who already knows them.
7. Hiring a lawyer to pursue collection can become very expensive. Our focus is on recovering what you’re owed and preventing costly litigation. Minimizing costs by hiring a collection agency when you’re already strapped for cash is a much better business move.
8. Your revenue recovery service will take over all the tedious aspects of collecting: sending formal demand letters and follow up emails, making phone calls, investigating the delinquent client, skip tracing, credit checks, asset verification, and more. And if you ever need to sue, the collection agency will have already gathered the evidence you need.
9. Revenue recovery services are familiar with the differences between various types of business, such as LLCs and corporations. Your collection agency analyze how and whether any stakeholders in the delinquent company can be held liable for the company’s debts. While that may be a distasteful approach, it can be used as leverage.
10. Last but not least, a collection agency will have an interest in making sure you get your money back as soon as possible. While an attorney may require advance payments of legal fees and court costs, a collection agency receives a percentage of the debt owed to you. This means that the sooner they recover, the sooner they get their money.

When is the right moment to hire a collection agency to simplify your debt collection process? Normally, when the account has become past due. Your contract should have payment and non-payment provisions already included. If that’s not the case, make sure to include it in future contracts. When a client has promised payment over and over but the due date has come and gone, you have to take action. One of the worst signs is when a delinquent client denies any wrongdoing, any past due balances, and any obligation to comply with the terms of the contract.

If the number of your delinquent clients increases and you keep extending credit to your partners and feel as if there’s no end in sight, then you’ve waited too long. If anything holds you back, such as apathy, timidity, fear, etc, remember that the number one reason companies go out of business is that they run out of cash. In your case, the number one reason you may be running out of cash is that you haven’t been paid. So make that phone call now and get the help you need to stay in business.

 

Concrete Pumping companies often run into overdue accounts receivable. Pumps, belts cost, fuel, staffing costs, and equipment maintenance cost a lot, therefore unpaid AR can hurt the finances of a pumping company dearly. These receivables are usually B2B accounts that require commercial debt collection.

A collection agency with its three-step collection process can assist businesses to recover money in an amicable manner.

Need a collections agency for your business: Contact us

Written Notices sent by a Collection Agency

Upfront cost for 5 Collection Demands is about $18 per account. Debtors pay directly to you, no other fees. Low-cost option. Good for accounts less than 120 days past due.

Collection Calls made by a Professional Debt Collector

Contingency fee only. No upfront or other fees. Agency gets paid a portion of the money they recover.  No recovery-No fees. Best for accounts over 120 days. A debt collector calls debtor many times. If everything fails, a possible Legal Suit if recommended by the attorney.

A trade receivable or an AR invoice is typically considered to be past due if any portion of the receivable balance is outstanding for more than 30 days.

Most Concrete Pumping companies do not require collateral for their accounts receivable; however, the Company may file statutory liens or take other appropriate legal action when necessary on construction projects in which collection problems arise. Typically, the Company does not charge interest on past-due trade receivables.

Concrete Pumping Industry often gets bogged down in endless piles of paperwork. To minimize AR, the accounting staff should quickly process invoices without delay. This can be done by using good accounting software.

Confused between the Flat-fee Collection service and Contingency Collection service? Which one to choose?

We will point out the differences in a very easy-to-understand manner.

Flat Fee Collections (✉)	Contingency Collections  ( ☏ )
You buy a block of accounts from a collection agency, then keep using them over time. For example: If you think you would be sending collection notices to about 100 people over a period of 2 years, buy 100 accounts.	You do not buy anything in advance. No upfront cost is involved. Collection agency keeps a portion of what they recover. No recovery means no fees.
The amount charged by a collection agency is about $15 per account. Even if you have to recover an Amount Due of as low as $30 or as high as $100,000, the cost per account does not change. You pay a fixed fee of $15 per account. If you buy more accounts, the collection agency will lower your cost per account.	The average contingency fee is about 40%.  This means if a collection agency recovers $1000 from your debtor, then they will keep $400 and you will be given $600. You can negotiate a lower fee for higher amounts. For example, if your Amount Due on an account is $100,000 you can ask the collection agency to change only 20%. If your amount is between $10,000 to $100,000 you may ask them to charge 30%. For lower amounts, a contingency fee between 40% to 50% applies.
The debtor pays directly to you, not the collection agency.	The debtor is told to make payments to the collection agency. However, even if the debtor pays you directly, still you are legally bound to return the contingency fee portion to the collection agency.
Best for accounts less than 180 days past-due.	Best for accounts over 180 days past due.
Five collection demands (letters) are sent to your debtor.	A human debt collector contacts your debtor multiple times, even offers a payment plan if necessary.
A cheaper way to recover money.	Costlier. However far better than recovering some money rather than writing-off the entire amount as a loss.
Always better to start with fixed fees step. You will save money. Transfer only those accounts for contingency collections that remain unpaid after fixed fee service.	Accounts that are complicated ( ex: foreclosure, disputed ) or those carrying balances over $10,000 should be directly assigned here. Or those over 180 days past-due.
More amicable form of collections. Preserve your terms with the debtor.	More intensive than the fixed fee collections. Relations can still be saved, but chances are lower.
You can stop collection activity at any time.	Collection agency decides when to stop.
Next step is Contingency Collections if money is not recovered.	The next step is taking Legal action.
All accounts are skip traced to find the debtor’s latest address.	Advanced skip tracing techniques are used.
Debtors who do not pick their phone, written demands still reach them.	If a debtor does not pick up their phone, your collection agency cannot do much.
Not all collection agencies offer this service.	Nearly all collection agencies offer this service

Need a collection agency that offers both services and can recover money all across USA? Contact us

Collecting unpaid accounts receivable is difficult. Whether you are collecting from a consumer of another business, you have multiple avenues to explore and multiple rules and regulations to follow. Sometimes, when all avenues have been exhausted, the only way to give yourself a chance of recovering the money you are owed is through legal action. Using an attorney to help in the debt collection process can be incredibly effective but also comes with its own challenges. Here is what you need to know about taking legal action to recover a debt.

The Power of Legal Action 

Unfortunately, when you are trying to collect on an unpaid invoice, sometimes your best efforts are not enough. Debt collection practices are governed by a certain set of rules and regulations which are meant to limit the amount and type of pressure a debt collector or a debt collection agency can put on a debtor. When these options fail to produce results, the next step is legal action.

Legal action can be an incredibly effective tool in debt collection. It creates intense pressure on a debtor who will not respond to other, less aggressive collection methods. These tools can range from an attorney simply sending recovery demands on law firm letterhead to taking legal action in the court, in front of a judge. An attorney can legal action to recover money owed.

When legal intervention is needed in the debt collection process, it is important that it is used in a way that keeps the most important goal in mind which is collecting the money owed. This is why it makes sense to let a debt collection agency handle any legal action you need to take on a debtor.

Why a Collection Agency Should Handle Legal Action 

The best reason to let a debt collection handle the legal process is that it is a lot cheaper and a lot less stressful to do so than when you do it yourself. Pursuing legal action with a debtor yourself means paying a lawyer or law firm astronomical fees to do this for you and taking time to meet and consult with lawyers and possibly even having to spend time giving depositions or in court.

When you work with a debt collection agency, legal action will be included as the final step of their process. They will have lawyers on staff or on retainer who specialize in this type of law and know exactly when and how to best escalate the legal pressure to achieve the ultimate goal of being paid in full. This will save you a lot of money, stress, and time.

The truth is, even if the issue goes to court and a court order is issued in your favor, many debtors will still not pay. This leaves creditors with no more options and they will be forced to eat the loss. When you allow a debt collection agency to work the legal system for you as a tool, not just as a last resort, they can work towards a settlement out of court and your chances of recovering what you are owed are much better.

The other thing you do when you outsource legal action to a debt collection agency is you separate the collections and legal process from your relationship with the client. Just because a customer goes into collections – even to the point of legal actions – doesn’t mean that they can never be a good client again. Even if that does not or cannot happen, using a third party to deal with the collection process can protect your business’s reputation and good name.

Need a Collection Agency to recover money: Contact Us

Conclusion 

No one wants to end up in court for anything, let alone an unpaid debt. This is a big reason why legal action, or even the threat of legal action, is such a successful debt collection tool. To make sure you are using this tool in the most effective and efficient way possible, let a debt collection agency handle that part of the collection process.

If you operate an outdoor recreation facility such as a sports arena or theme park, a shift to subscription-based revenue models has introduced a new process to manage – collections. While recovering amounts owed to a company can present a challenge to any company, park-based businesses have an added tool for collections. As a provider of experiences, let your focus on relationships be an asset for improved collection results.  By remaining engaged with customers, your entire relationship improves, including when a bill is unpaid.

Collection Letters Service

Upfront cost for 5 Collection Letters is about $15 per account. Debtors pay directly to you, no other fees. Low cost option. Good for accounts less than 120 days past due.

Collection Calls Service

Contingency fee only. No upfront or other fees. Agency gets paid a portion of money they recover.  No recovery-No fees. Best for accounts over 120 days. A debt collector calls debtor many times. If everything fails, a possible Legal Suit if recommended by the attorney.

How customers pay for experiences has changed

Theme park and outdoor sporting venues traditionally did not often experience collections issues with customers. The revenue stream was limited to individual transactions, such as a customer buying a ticket or paying for a concession item. Increasingly, today’s outdoor parks and venues think in terms of delivering customer experience through a monthly subscription service. Instead of a transaction, theme parks and other venues sell an ongoing relationship.

Moving to a subscription-based service introduces the need to monitor customer churn. Churn rate is a measurement of lost customers in subscription-based sales. If you’ve moved to subscription-based sales for any portion of your offerings, your collection efforts will more likely be targeted at reducing churn, not at collecting past due bills.

Reduce churn by providing persistent customer value

Companies experience the least amount of churn when they provide a customer experience that delivers enjoyment.

Delivering customer value keeps them engaged and repeat users, etc.

Can then conclude with some tips of how to keep customers engaged and also how to win them back if they’ve cancelled or let subscriptions lapse.