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Using Automated Messaging to
Recover Past Due Patient Account Balances

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Abstract:
An Interview with Gerry Wilson, Administrator of Iredell Radiology Associates, Statesville, NC.

The staff of Iredell Radiology Associates were individually calling patients with overdue balances, in addition to mailing up to six invoices per patient. We asked Wilson to share the results her practice experienced after implementing PhoneTree Patient Messaging to address these past due accounts.

PhoneTree: Thank you for speaking with us today. Please tell us about your practice.

Gerry Wilson: We average approximately 200 patients a day and the majority of those have at least two films done — usually three or four. Our annual procedure average is approximately 70,000 and that’s not including our mammogram center which averages 500 per month (6,000 per year).

PT: And how long have you been using PhoneTree Patient Messaging?

GW: For almost five years. It expedites patient payments and allows me to utilize personnel in a more efficient manner — they don’t have to call the patients.

PT: Why were you considering a PhoneTree Patient Messaging system?

GW: We had staff members calling patients, but we weren’t getting the results we wanted. By using PhoneTree, we’ve been able to reassign staff members to other tasks.

PT: Has using the PhoneTree system helped you save on salaries?

	“The report notes are priceless. When patients say they didn’t receive a call, I tell them the date and time they were called; if they hung up early; or if a machine or person answered — this always stops the excuses.”

GW: PhoneTree (rather than staff) calls past due accounts to collect payment, so in that respect, yes, we save on salary. If we were to perform our collection calling manually, as we did prior to PhoneTree, we’d need two full time people to perform the task.

PT: Have you seen an increase in payments?

GW: Yes. The first year with PhoneTree we used a billing system to track payments as a result of PhoneTree calls, and our patient payments increased by 51%.

PT: How long did it take to see payments increase?

GW: The reaction was almost immediate.

PT: Did using your PhoneTree system let you reduce sending reminders or invoices to patients?

GW: Yes. Paper correspondence continues, and will always continue — but now much, much less than before. It allowed us to change our billing cycle to 21 days from 30. We know patients have been contacted at least once a month by phone, and we’ve gone from six statements to four. This also allows our accounts receivable some breathing room. With all the calls and faster statements reminding people to pay, our accounts receivable days are now at around 19 per month.

PT: Do the reports generated from PhoneTree calling jobs help your past-due recovery?

GW: The report notes are priceless. For example, when patients say they didn’t receive a call, I tell them the date and time they were called; if they hung up early; or if a machine or person answered — this always stops the excuses.

PT: Do you call on all balances or just specific balance ranges?

GW: We call everyone within our criteria of $1.25 over balance and 60 days late. We also don’t call patients on budget plans as long as they make payments in a timely manner.

PT: How do you construct your messages?

GW: Our messages tell patients to call us, as we have “an important matter to discuss.” We never leave financial information on answering machines (this is prohibited by The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act).

PT: What’s your satisfaction level with PhoneTree Patient Messaging?

GW: When we run a PhoneTree job, we know it has to be scheduled on a day no one is off and that we’re fully staffed for the next couple of days, as all the phone lines ring and it takes all of us to answer. It was easy using PhoneTree with our practice management system, and it works very well. It completes well over 900 calls a day, sometimes continuing after we leave the office for the evening. And our regular phone lines are not interrupted in any way. We never imagined how well it would work — it’s amazing!

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