Patient Dismissal for Failure to Pay

Most practices have at least one of them; a lot of practices have many of them:  Patients who continually fail to pay despite reminders, warnings, and suitable payment plans. Though failure to pay is a common issue at practices, it’s never an easy one to handle.

What do you believe is the appropriate course of action when a patient continually fails to pay despite your attempts to work out a suitable payment plan with him? Do you believe patient dismissal is appropriate? Should the course of action be handled on a case-by-case basis? Do you believe failure to pay is never an appropriate reason for dismissal? 

Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Your response might help other physicians deal with this issue.

Facing a dilemma in practice? E-mail it to Aubrey.Westgate@ubm.com. We’ll share it without revealing your name, and we will ask other physician readers to weigh in.