Trying to reach your patients to remind them about overdue and unpaid medical bills? In tough financial times such as these, depend on the help of trained debt collectors for medical bills. Needing to ask for payment more than once — even with customers who typically pay on time, can be stressful. Skilled debt experts understand and abide by legal guidelines. They collect customer debt in a professional, objective matter.
Some of the ways you’re trying to reach customers may not be working therefore you need professional assistance from debt collectors for medical bills. Consider the following:
- Only 5% of letters get read.
- Only 15% of emails are opened.
After all, how easy is it to toss a piece of mail in the bin or delete an email? There is a high chance that your company’s emails are going to the spam folder instead of the patient’s primary inbox.
Debt Collectors for Medical Bills Advice 
With evictions on the rise, you may see even less return on snail mail because you may not be reaching anyone. Still, you should absolutely use those methods as a backup way to capture those who may not pay attention to their phone calls. Above all, the best strategies to focus on are cell phones, texting, and working with a third-party medical debt collection agency. Here is what you need to know.
Use Cell Phones to Receive Medical Debt Collections
As you know, fewer people today have landlines. In fact, as many as 50 percent of households are cell phone only, with no landline.
We’ve mentioned before the importance of asking for people’s cell phone numbers on intake forms. The critical task is to ask for mobile or cell numbers on your forms in addition to home and work numbers. Include a separate line for this information.
Set Up a Texting Alert System for Customer Bills
While cell phones are obviously critical, they still aren’t reliable. Americans now answer less than half of the calls that go to their cell phone. You might leave a message, but you’re not really connecting with them. Research also shows that 67% of people would rather text than talk.
Studies show 99% of text messages are read, with a 40% response rate. Of those responses, 95% are within three minutes. Of course, texting comes with its own challenges, notably compliance. If you want to send messages about billing and payment, it’s essential to get prior consent. Read more in our post about using text messages in your collections, or check out this useful checklist for Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) compliance.
Contact a Medical Debt Collection Agency for Help
One option that is giving medical companies success is to receive help from a collection agency. To start, collection agencies can set up a “ringless call” system. Most of these options are TCPA compliant — though you should certainly confirm! They work by sending a call directly to the person’s voicemail. Such programs also increase the volume of calls you can send, casting your net wider and quicker.
Capital Recovery Consultants are debt collectors for medical bills who offer TCPA-compliant texting options and ringless calls, a one-stop-shop for reaching your customers. We can help collect, but our services extend to much more, such as health insurance denials and 5010 and 837/835 handling. Get professional help adjusting your processes, and see better results in payment outcomes.
If you’re struggling to reach your customers about health care payment, contact us for help.