I have a patient who has not been in the office in several years. Her account was turned over to collections. She called yesterday stating she was pregnant again and is without insurance. I informed her that she had been turned over to collections and we could not see her. She offered to pay her balance - from 1999.When I pulled her chart I found that we had never sent her a letter of withdrawal. What are my options? Do I have to send her a letter stating we will see her for 30 days for an emergency? She had long been aware of her balance and that she was turned over to a collection agency.
Question: I have a patient who has not been in the office in several years. Her account was turned over to collections. She called yesterday stating she was pregnant again and is without insurance. I informed her that she had been turned over to collections and we could not see her. She offered to pay her balance -- from 1999.
When I pulled her chart I found that we had never sent her a letter of withdrawal. What are my options? Do I have to send her a letter stating we will see her for 30 days for an emergency? She had long been aware of her balance and that she was turned over to a collection agency.
Answer: You've discovered the perils of not having (or not following) a written policy on this subject. You should develop such a policy now. It will allow you to treat all your patients the same, and keep you from getting in this boat again. (Make sure you don't already have a policy that everyone has forgotten about. If you do, review it and either start enforcing it or replace it with something else.)
Here is the norm for written policies:
As you do not have such a policy and did not formally dismiss her, why not treat her if she pays off her balance and pays upfront for her treatment this time around?
If you don't want to do that, yes, I'd suggest sending her a formal letter of dismissal that includes you continuing to see her for 30 days until she has time to find a new provider.
Asset Protection and Financial Planning
December 6th 2021Asset protection attorney and regular Physicians Practice contributor Ike Devji and Anthony Williams, an investment advisor representative and the founder and president of Mosaic Financial Associates, discuss the impact of COVID-19 on high-earner assets and financial planning, impending tax changes, common asset protection and wealth preservation mistakes high earners make, and more.