Senior Living Centers or the Assisted Living Facilities (ALF), are used by millions of senior citizens all over the United States. These facilities focus mainly on senior care, assisted living, independent living, nursing and memory care.
Unfortunately, the senior care centers also have to deal with accounts receivable. Senior citizens are primarily responsible for paying their bills (sometimes through Medicaid or other insurance coverages). Cosigners can be their children or relatives who are legally accountable for charges the patient cannot pay themselves. Due to the friendly environment of these facilities, unpaid bills can be tough to collect internally. A hard-pressed approach can damage their reputation.
When patients often fall behind on payment obligations, their cosigners are contractually responsible for making the remaining payment. Assisted Living Facility has every legal right to attempt to recover that money. Accounts over 60-90 days past due are often forwarded to a professional debt collection agency.
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A collection agency serving the senior care centers should have in-depth knowledge of current state and federal collection laws and HIPAA privacy regulations. An experienced debtor collector of a collection agency understands the delicate nature of both parties (the Assisted Community Living facility and the Senior). Therefore recovery is achieved using a friendly and diplomatic approach.
Senior living communities include independent living, assisted living, retirement communities, nursing homes, hourly care, and hospice care centers. Aging Americans and those who have Alzheimer’s or physical disability rely on Senior living centers extensively. Assisted senior living centers’ accounts receivable staff in overseeing daily transactions, including accounts receivable/payable, general ledger, journal entries, insurance claim follow-up, insurance denial, bank reconciliations, and post payments to resident accounts.
To recover money from past due accounts, a collection agency will send debt collection letters followed by collection calls and continue until the bill is paid off. These agencies have access to far more sophisticated debt collection tools and services, which the in-house staff of a senior living center does not have.
Some bill recovery services are flat fee-based, and others are contingency-based. Due to the delicate nature of collections, almost all Assisted Living Community forward accounts to a third-party collection agency that can even take the debtor or the responsible party to court as the last step if required and approved by the center/creditor, provided the balance is significant.
Assisted living community centers are committed to serving every senior with the respect and dignity they deserve while providing comfort and fulfillment. Some senior care services are outsourced to facilitate inpatient and outpatient services, medication management, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.
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Without proper accounts receivable strategy, these retirement housing centers, in-home senior care, companion care services and senior care centers like Brookdale senior living and Harmony Senior Sevices would find their accounts turning red and a reduced cash flow, which may impact their daily operations.