What percentage of my accounts receivable should be personal balances?
Question: What percentage of my accounts receivable should be personal balances?
Answer: The Medical Group Management Association surveys report on gross charges by payer type - not exactly what you are looking for, but close.
It reports that family practices have a median of:
I have never seen a norm in terms of balances.
If self-pay patients represent a large portion of your business, it would follow that you can expect that balance to be relatively high. That is not necessarily a problem except that it is very difficult to collect from individuals as the accounts age.
Make timely collections from patients a high priority.
Collect copays and deductibles at the time of service. Many groups now collect these at check-in, when possible. Tell staff to keep a report of when a copay is not collected - they should collect them all. Offer staff a script to work from.
Set up payment plans for patients with large bills - before they leave the office.
Send only three collection letters before sending a patient to collections (some offices send 10 or more; the eighth will have little more effect than the fourth.)