Let experts do the bill chasing

So you’ve still not been paid? Well, sending the invoice is the easy bit. Findlay Fyfe shows why.

We occasionally find doctors who wonder why their secretary might want or need to outsource their billing and collection.

When this happens, the first thing that springs to mind is the fact that the specialist may be unaware of all the demands arising from running a modern successful practice.

This is fine, as their focus should be on the delivery of excellent patient care, but a consultant should never underestimate how time-consuming and often awkward the billing process can be in private healthcare.

A good secretary or practice manager who can manage the day-to-day running of the practice and everything it brings as well as the billing and collection is worth their weight in gold.

The heavy workload is also multi-faceted, so some secretaries who are good at dealing with patients are often not as good at asking for money. Not everyone is comfortable having these conversations, especially if there is a difficult patient to deal with.

So let’s consider the various parts of the billing and collection process and the issues these bring.