Outsourcing payment collection to billing companies is common for medical practices. When the goal is cutting costs and improving efficiencies, billing companies can help — especially when paired with a payment collection solution like PayGround. 

Here are 5 tips to help your practice build a solid foundation between billing companies and payment collection partners.  

Payment Collection Tip #1: Minimize Human Error.

Accurate data entry is crucial for practices, and that includes patient payment information. When you use billing companies to process payments, your staff often has to handwrite credit card information, which introduces an opportunity for error that can result in incorrect charges, delayed payments or even legal issues.

If, however, you have an online payment collection system like PayGround in place, you reduce that risk because everything is done online. 

Payment Collection Tip #2: Safeguard Security & Compliance.

When you partner will billing companies without an online payment solution in place, your staff will have to accept and send faxes with sensitive personal information, which is not PCI compliant. 

Two ways to safeguard your practice’s security:

1. Make sure the billing companies you choose collect payments in compliant and secure ways. 
2. Use an online payment solution like PayGround that was built with healthcare compliance in mind. 

Payment Collection Tip #3: Streamline Records & Reporting.

Ever-changing regulations are challenging for private practices, and quality reporting is one way to reduce your practice’s exposure to legal actions, as well as streamline reimbursements. Payors have become even more aggressive in conducting audits and denying claims for services they deem medically unnecessary, or for those where errors occur. 

Make sure your billing company tracks everything, and log online payments through a single payment gateway like PayGround to streamline record keeping. 

Payment Collection Tip #4: Ensure Gateway Access.

Gateway access is crucial when your practice is working with billing companies. If the company doesn’t have access to the gateway, it adds additional friction to the patient who’s trying to make a payment.

Look for safe but unfettered access to ensure your billing partners can help you streamline payments — both for the patients and your practice. With PayGround, one billing company can have access to multiple practice payment gateways using a single login.

Payment Collection Tip #5: Proactively Manage Your Revenue Cycle.

As a medical practice, your business relies on timely claims submissions and prompt reimbursement to stay solvent. Make sure your billing companies have a process for handling delinquent accounts, and that they know how to partner with your online payment collection company. 

A solution like PayGround will build reminders and follow-ups into the process, and it will allow patients to pay their bills online — something 90% of patients want to do. 

Added Benefits Of Pairing PayGround & Billing Companies

When you establish the right partnerships, PayGround can bolster your billing company’s efforts by allowing your practice to do all of the following:

• Request and accept online payments seamlessly
• Accept all payments types, including virtual credit cards from insurance reimbursements
• Lock in a low, fixed rate for billing services with no long term contracts
• Avoid legal issues and make bill collection more secure
• Avoid collection agencies on the back-end because our enterprise software ensures on-time collection 
• Consolidate all payments into one platform for accounting ease 

Contact us to get started.