Dos and don'ts for practice finance: Institute the one-day rule

Patients who owe money to the practice should be contacted when they are one day overdue. In a difficult economy, the occurrence of overdue patients is happening more frequently. Remember, the practice deserves to be paid for services that it provides

Lay down the law. Inform patients that they will receive a reminder phone call when their payment is one day overdue. Patients quickly learn that the practice is on top of its account receivables and that they need to make their payments.

Don't procrastinate. Every day overdue patients aren't called makes it more likely the fee will never be collected. Overdue bills should be managed effectively to hit the target of 99% or more collected in the practice.