Debt Recovery

Printing and mailing services have been performing a crucial role in the American marketing industry. They run into overdue accounts receivable often, which can impact their business dearly. Maintaining a good business relationship with clients is as important as it is to recover money from unpaid bills. Unpaid bills can create severe cash flow for businesses. Once a bill is over 90 days past due, it must be sent for collections to prevent further losses.

Need a Collection Agency: Contact Us

While almost every business has to deal with many of the same functions, each type of business goes about these functions in different ways. All businesses deal with things like sales, marketing, IT, finance, and more but, depending on your industry, the way you go about these aspects of business can be very different. The same applies to debt collection. The debt collection needs, rules, and regulations for printing and mailing service companies are unique to that specific industry and must be dealt with in certain ways. Here is what printing, signage and mailing service businesses need to know about debt collection.

Why Printers and Mailing Services Need Debt Collection 

The truth is almost all businesses will face situations where clients don’t pay in a timely manner, don’t pay in full, or don’t pay at all. For huge corporations, these outstanding balances can simply be absorbed and become tax write-offs. For small and midsize businesses (SMBs) the importance of collections is much greater.

For the printing and mail service industry, it is not uncommon to run into outstanding accounts receivable. It is an industry where many regular customers are extended credit on large printing runs or are billed monthly for quarterly for regular direct mail campaigns. Because of these scenarios, nearly every business will run into a situation where a client does not pay from time to time.

Commercial vs. Consumer Debt Collection 

 Printing and mailing service companies almost always deal directly with businesses or with customers using their services for activities that are “commercial in nature”. This means that to collect debts, companies in the printing and mailing service industry are not beholden to consumer debt collection laws.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) protects consumers from unfair and overly aggressive debt collection practices such as excessive contact, threats, and additional fees. This only applies to B2C debt collection, not B2B debt collection. Because printing and mailing service businesses are dealing with business and business-like entities, these businesses enjoy much more leeway in how they can go about debt collection.

Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should 

In some places, there is no law about texting while driving but that doesn’t make it any less safe or a better idea to do so. The same can be said about overly aggressive debt collection practices. While collecting a business debt you are allowed to call more often and at any time, make specific threats, and generally use most any tactic you can to get paid. While these practices may ultimately get the outstanding account paid, it may not be good for the long term health of your business.

Even though you are not bound by the FDCPA while collecting B2B debts, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t abide by many of the tenets in that federal statute. It will help keep your good name as a business intact and maybe even allow you to keep a good customer even after having a payment issue. Some of the principles in the FDCPA to keep in mind are:

• Don’t call at unreasonable hours
• Don’t add unreasonable additional fees or interest that weren’t part of the original agreement
• Don’t broadcast the debt to the debtor’s customers or employees
• Lie about how much the debtor owes
• Don’t make false threats about suing or reporting the debtor or misrepresent yourself to intimidate the debtor

Let the Professionals Handle It 

The best way for printing and mail services businesses to make sure they are walking the fine line between making sure they get paid while simultaneously taking advantage of the relaxed B2B debt collection laws and not going too far, is to use a professional, ethical, experienced debt collection agency to help collect past due accounts. Commercial debt collection agencies will know exactly how aggressive they can be and how much they can push to get the debt settled. They will also know how to do this in a way that separates the collection practices form the company and keep your business relationships and reputation in good standing.

As a medical practice, you have dueling responsibilities. Your mandate is to provide patients with the best care possible but, as a business, you also need to look after your bottom line. The tough part is, sometimes these two things can seem like they are at odds with each other, especially when it comes time for collections. However, there are a few things you can do as a practice to help alleviate some of the stress that comes from patients dealing with medical bills. Here are 5 tips to help reduce patient stress in medical collections.

You Get More Bees with Honey 

Just because a patient is past due on their bill doesn’t mean customer service and patient relationships can go out the window. When medical bills are late and look like they might not be paid, it makes perfect sense that the first instinct is to get tough and aggressive in hopes of collecting. This is counterproductive in most situations though. Make sure the people in charge of collections within your practice offer the same level of customer service when collecting as they do in other patient interactions. It is the best way to collect in the end and still salvage the patient relationship.

Separate the Doctor and the Collector 

Once a debt goes past due and into collections, it can be hard to save the doctor/ patient relationship if the practice is the institution making the debt collection calls. By turning past due accounts over to a debt collection agency, you can keep your medical relationship and let someone else handle the financial relationship. Just make sure you work with a reputable, ethical, medical debt collection agency. While the relationships will be separate, a bad collection agency will ultimately reflect on your practice.

Be Upfront About It 

Patients are more likely to be stressed and less likely to avoid paying medical bills when they open up the mail and there is a bill with a huge, surprising number on it. When you discuss pricing and payment with patients upfront, there should be no surprising stress down the line. Also, knowing what something is going to cost will help a patient plan and budget for it so that when the bill comes, they are able to comfortably afford the payment.

Give Patients Payment Options 

Sure, credit card companies may charge an arm and a leg for processing fees and setting up and maintaining an online payment portal can be expensive, especially in the beginning but the more payment options you give patients, the more likely you will be to get paid. At the very least, you will never give patients the excuse to say that you don’t accept their preferred form of payment and they will not have to stress about not being able to pay the way they want.

Manage Process with Technology 

In some cases, past due bills are just as much the practice’s fault as it is the patients. If practices let medical bills go unpaid for 30, 60, or even 90 days without following up at regular intervals, it can be easy for patients to blow these bills off. Then, when the bill is officially past due, it can become an ugly situation. A good practice management software can help automate the collection process so that fewer patients get to the past due point.

Simplified Medical Statements

Sending multiple billing statements to the same patient for a series of visits and treatments can get very frustrating. To avoid confusion and rejection, use consolidation and simplification of your medical bills. Present them with one straightforward amount with a short breakup below. Your patients will be more comfortable paying the bill. This will also minimize any confusion and hostility.

Conclusion 

The truth of the matter is, in any business, there will be a certain, small percentage of clients who don’t pay or habitually pay late. The fact that medical billing is so specific and complicated aggravates this fact for medical practices. The good news is, by following these few simple tips, you will be able to not only increase your rate of debt collection but help reduce patient stress while doing it.

For more than 30 years, Compulink has helped medical practices everywhere run more effectively and efficiently so doctors, nurses, and medical professionals can focus on what matters most; patient care. Compulink medical software is a data-driven, all-in-one EHR and practice management software to help your medical practice improve your financial and clinical results. Here are some of the best features and benefits of Compulink Medical Software.

Are you already using Compulink Dental Software? Have unpaid medical bills?  Need to transfer your overdue accounts receivable to a debt collection agency? Contact us You decide what should be the minimum outstanding balance eligible for collections. Only send accounts if a payment hasn’t been made in _(60/120/180) days. Send 5 collection demands to your patient or transfer directly for debt collection calls. You are in total control of the process. Dedicated small business debt collectors. Contact us for a demo of our free Compulink debt collection utility.

Customizable Software for Every Specialty

The medical profession is not a one-size-fits-all business. The needs of a gastroenterologist are not the same as the needs of an ophthalmologist. The Compulink medical software is completely customizable, so you can tailor its applications to exactly what you need in your practice. This is especially important for specialists whose practices are different than general practitioners. You can get every feature and function you need from practice management software and, maybe, more importantly, none you don’t.

Get Paid Faster and Easier

With Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) from Compulink, it will take your practice less work to get paid more and faster than ever before. Your staff will no longer be responsible for submitting claims and appeals. While they are freed up for other, more crucial tasks, the expert staff at Compulink will take care of this for you, leading to a much smoother and more robust revenue cycle.

Implement Telehealth

In 2020, modern technology has allowed the medical profession to expand the type of care they give to patients and how they administer it. Telehealth is a huge leap forward in so many ways. It allows patients access to health care who may have found this difficult before and allows medical practices to increase their patient base and save time and money. Compulink allows practices to implement fully integrated, real-time video and audio chat with patients while accessing their medical records simultaneously. All this is fully secure and HIPAA compliant.

Utilize Medical Data

Compulink’s SMART Practice allows you to take all medical practices’ data and use it to help your practice optimize efficiency, improve patient outcomes, and increase revenue. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), this system will turn your practice into an organization that knows exactly what to do and how to do it when looking to supercharge growth. This system is fully automated and works in real-time to produce reports for your practice that will tell you exactly what you are doing well and what you can improve on.

Conclusion

Compulink Medical Software is all-in-one, technologically advanced, and customizable for any medical practice. If you want to focus on the medical treatment side of your practice while still allowing for maximum growth on the business side, Compulink is right for you.

Ambulatory medical practices face unique challenges and have distinctive needs that other medical practices may not. That is why, if you are looking for an EHR and practice management software for your ambulatory practice, you want to make sure you find one that knows and understands these unique challenges and needs. That is where NextGen ambulatory software comes in. NextGen has been providing healthcare industry IT solutions since 1974 and have continually innovated to become a leader in the healthcare IT field. Here are some of the top features and benefits of their ambulatory EHR and practice management software.

Already using NextGen Dental Software? Have unpaid medical bills?  Need to transfer your overdue accounts receivable to a debt collection agency? Contact us You decide what should be the minimum outstanding balance eligible for collections. Only send accounts if a payment hasn’t been made in _(60/120/180) days. Send 5 collection demands to your patient or transfer directly for debt collection calls. You are in total control of the process. Dedicated small business debt collectors. Contact us for a demo of our free NextGen debt collection utility.

A Healthcare Partner 

For more than 40 years, NextGen Healthcare has worked with medical practices to help them grow and reach their full potential. Their knowledge and service make them a great partner for medical professionals looking to focus more on care and let a trusted, experienced outside vendor handle the business side of the practice. Their expert team will get your systems set up and integrated with your current IT and their well-trained and dedicated service team will make sure your systems are always running smoothly.

Patient-Facing Solutions

NextGen ambulatory software is not just a program that operates in the backend of your practice. They also offer a number of patient-facing solutions that will help increase revenue, streamline the time it takes to deal with patient needs and modernize the way your practice deals with patients. Stop wasting time with old-fashioned ways of patient relations. With NextGen ambulatory software, you can manage patients in a much more modern and efficient way.

Easily Scalable

While this software is specifically for ambulatory practices, it does not matter if you are a big practice or a small one. This software offers a customizable solution for all sizes of practices from single practitioners to large, multispecialty group practices. Because the software is scalable for all different sized practices, it also means that the software will grow with your practice. If your goal is to go from a small or medium-sized practice to a much bigger one, NextGen will help you do that and be the right solution at each step along the way.

More than Just Billing and Collections

This revenue cycle management (RCM) software is a holistic approach to the financial health of your practice. Yes, it does take care of billing and collections but it does so much more that will help put your practice on financially-firm footing. This software will allow your practice to improve financial performance, increase your revenue, elevate revenue cycle outcomes, and correct any operational inefficiencies.

Conclusion 

If your ambulatory practice is looking for an all-in-one solution to practice management, NextGen ambulatory software could be the perfect fit for you. This software rises to meet the specific needs of an ambulatory practice and the team at NextGen will look after your practice’s financial and business-side health.

There is a lot to think about when you run a dental practice and that is before you even get to taking care of your patient’s oral health. All the scheduling, accounting, treatment planning, patient communication, records, and worrying about the financial health of the practice can take away from your core mission. This is why a full-service practice management software can help you save time and money and let you focus on the most important part of your practice, patient care.

Already using Eaglesoft Dental Software? Have unpaid medical bills?  Need to transfer your overdue accounts receivable to a debt collection agency? Contact us You decide what should be the minimum outstanding balance eligible for collections. Only send accounts if a payment hasn’t been made in _(60/120/180) days. Send 5 collection demands to your patient or transfer directly for debt collection calls. You are in total control of the process. Dedicated small business debt collectors. Contact us for a demo of our free Eaglesoft debt collection utility.

Eaglesoft dental software is a practice management suite of products from Patterson Dental. With this product, you can manage all aspects of your practice from patient interactions to finances to data management. Here are some of the best features and benefits of Eaglesoft dental software and how it can help your practice.

Seamlessly Integrated Accounting 

There are any number of accounting programs that your practice can use. Many of these have similar features that help manage claims and invoices and create reports. What a stand-alone accounting program doesn’t do though is integrate with every aspect of your practice to make it much simpler and more effective to use.

With Eaglesoft dental software, your practice can optimize your accounting while tying it into everything else at your practice from specific patient data to an online scheduling platform. This is what takes Eaglesoft from simply a great accounting software to a customized and personalized full-service practice management software.

Data Protection 

One of the main concerns when dental practices go paperless is that the data will be lost somehow. That is a valid concern and the reason why Eaglesoft software has multiple features that help protect your practice’s data. With the Eaglesoft’s PatLock technology, you can schedule when and how often you back up your data and easily verify that it has been successfully backed up.

In the event you do lose any information, Eaglesoft makes it easy to recover that lost data. You can restore lost or deleted data in the same format it was originally in. And, if worse comes to worst, Patterson Dental has a world-class customer service team to help you through any issues.

Growing Your Practice 

Eaglesoft dental software is not just about helping your practice survive, it is about making it thrive. The software provides a range of tools to help you grow your practice from where it is now to where you want it to be. Some of these growth-focused features include:

• The Money Finder – This tool combs your database to find hidden money and additional revenue opportunities.
• Trends – This allows you to track your performance by specific criteria and in specific periods to understand growth better.
• SnapShot – With one click you can put together powerful and easy-to-understand graphics about your practice to share with your team.
• InContact – An interactive contact manager that seamlessly works with your database to turn it into a powerful marketing and communication tool.

Conclusion 

Running a successful dental practice is difficult enough without having multiple people or competing systems running your practice. The all-in-one ability of Patterson Dental’s Eaglesoft dental software will put everything you need to run your practice in one place and at your fingertips.

If you are a doctor or practice administrator you know that the software you use is of vital importance to the success of your practice, both in terms of patient care and its financial success.

A great practice management software will help your practice run more smoothly, get through your appointments faster, and help your medical professionals see the information they need at-a-glance.

You need to find a package that fits your changing needs, is suitable for both the medical providers and the front and back-office staff. If you are a specialist practice your software solution is even more vital. For over two decades Nextech have produced an advanced and integrated EMR and PM solution, but is it the right one for your business?

Already using Nextech Software? Have unpaid medical bills?  Need to transfer your overdue accounts receivable to a debt collection agency? Contact us You decide what should be the minimum outstanding balance eligible for collections. Only send accounts if a payment hasn’t been made in _(60/120/180) days. Send 5 collection demands to your patient or transfer directly for debt collection calls. You are in total control of the process. Dedicated small business debt collectors. Contact us for a demo of our free Nextech debt collection utility.

Who is Nextech EMR for?

Nextech’s Practice Management software is designed specifically for practices that specialize in areas like ophthalmology, plastic surgery, dermatology, orthopedics and medical spas.

What are the Benefits of Using Nextech EMR?

The key benefit of using Nextech EMR for your specialist practice is that it is highly customizable, so you can customize templates and more to fit the needs of your practice and desired workflow. Some of the other key benefits are:

• Speedy Charting – charting is often a time-consuming process, but Nextech can be tailored instantaneously to a physician’s needs without the need to talk to a developer. These custom templates allow you to take accurate, relevant notes and do diagnosis coding via dropdown menus and filtered lists.
• Streamlined Laboratory Communication – the time it takes to order tests and wait for results is stressful for clients and frustrating for physicians, but the software tracks the progress, reduces paperwork, and reduces the amount of time before a doctor can give a diagnosis.
• Streamlined Scheduling – The scheduling module allows maximum efficiency whilst dealing with numerous medical providers at different locations, easy drag and drop appointment changes, and a first available appointment finder.
• Appointment Reminder and Automatic Schedule Updates – Within the scheduler, there is an integrated secure reminder system that automatically messages patients’ cell phones and, when they text back either confirming or canceling, the scheduler automatically updates to reflect their answer.
• Real-Time Practice Management – The room manager allows both providers and administrators to see in real-time how patients are progressing during their visits. This allows identification of problem areas so the correct choices can be made to ease the patient’s path and thus helps to improve patient care.
• Optimized Billing – Your billing will be simplified and profitability increased by Nextech’s intuitive ICD-10 coding assisted solution which decreases denials and maximizes reimbursements. Your payment turn-around will be accelerated and the workflow of your back office optimized. There is a comprehensive claims management system that simplifies this often complex and troublesome area.
• Cloud-Based – It is a web-based, multi-platform system where providers can study patient profiles, check appointments and view all data on their cell phones and tablets. The interface is very simple to use allowing physicians to flip through documents as if they were paper. It also enables individual charting and maximizes charting efficiency keeping all data accessible and complete.
• Patient Portal – There is an option within the software to provide a patient portal so that patients can update their information, look at three test results and check on appointments.
• Strong Support – One of the most important aspects of any software is its support. Nextech provides both on the phone and in-person support are ready to address your problems and find solutions. They want happy, successful customers who will be happy with their system and recommend it to other practices in their field.

What are Nextech EMR’s Features?

• Custom Templates and Fields
• Drag and Drop Scheduling
• High-Powered Analytics Tools
• Patient Portal
• Multi-Platform
• Cloud-Based
• Nextech Network Easy Referrals
• Shared Clinical Knowledge Library
• Dictation Tools
• E-Prescribing
• HIPAA Compliant

Is Nextech Right For You?

The software is constantly being updated and refined to keep your practice performing at its best, and while no practice management software is faultless, Nextech is constantly fine-tuning their product to remove any bugs, improve performance and take on board customers’ feedback.

At the moment Nextech is used worldwide by 7,000 medical providers and over 50,000 support office staff. You don’t get that kind of success without providing a Practice Management system that works well, runs smoothly and allows medical providers to concentrate on helping their patients, so it’s highly likely it will be the right software for your practice.

Nextech doesn’t offer a free trial and the only way to get a quote is to contact them, so if you think Nextech is right for your practice, contact them for a demo.