The Importance of Social Security Numbers

We understand that your patients are not really obligated to give you their social security numbers however without the social security number we as debt collectors have no leverage.

As their doctor, your patients “should” feel comfortable and have no problem in providing you with their social security numbers. Some of our clients simply tell the patients that they need their social security number in order to pursue them if they fail to pay. It always makes me a bit suspicious if a patient won’t give their social security number to their own doctor.

Two of the main reasons why we as collectors need the social security number is :

1. Locating the patient/address

2. Turning them over to the credit bureau

Our agency uses Accurint which is a locater service that we pay for each month. Without the social security number you cannot locate a person. So if the mail comes back to us then we need to be able to find this person in order to resend the letters.

Also, we as collectors cannot turn over a patient to the credit bureau without the social security number. In essence if your patient owes over $50.00 and you do not have his social security number then we cannot pursue him beyond sending him a couple of letters and trying to call him. Beyond that, we have zero leverage. If we do have a social security number then we can turn over that debt as long as the debt is above $50.00 and we have a social security number. That will stay on their credit report for 7 years. In that time span we are betting that some of these debtors will want to get a loan or to refinance their homes. They will be forced into paying all of their debt off before they can be loaned any money. The credit bureau is sort of like an escrow account.

We have patients that pay us even after 3 -4 years later because they are just now trying to obtain credit. So please understand the importance of getting your collection agency all of the social security numbers. They will be able to help you at a different level if you can get that social security number to them.

January 20, 2011   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Patient vs. Guarantor

This seems to confuse many practices when they send an account to collections.  Let me see if I can clarify the two. 

You cannot turn over a “minor” to  collections. Many times we receive an account whereby the patient turns out to be a minor. When turning accounts over to a collection agency make sure that you look at the birth date of the patient. If the patient is indeed a minor then you will need to send the account over in the Guarantor’s name. You will also need to include the Guarantor’s address, telephone number and especially their social security number. Please make sure that you don’t send the minor’s social security number! A collection agency cannot send a minor a letter or make calls to a minor.

Another confusing point is the INSURED PARTY. Sometimes the INSURED PARTY is confused with the GUARANTOR. Just because someone holds the insurance does not make them liable for the patient’s debt. For example, let’s say the wife is the patient but the husband holds the insurance. The wife is an adult and she is responsible for her own debt. Being the insured party does not make that person the Guarantor of the debt nor does it make them responsible for the debt.

If you still have questions about an account just pick up the phone or email your collection agency. They will be glad to help you decipher whose name the account should be under.

April 7, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Turning over accounts to a collection agency in a timely manner

I know, I know…collection accounts sit on the back burner of the medical practice’s stove and just simmer there. No one is really that concerned about them because they have already been written off. There is really no sense of urgency to do anything with them. The truth of the matter is the longer the debt sits there, the more difficult it becomes to collect.

Many practices call us up and ask us if we can help them. They send us packages of debts that are from 2006, 2007 or possibly even older than these etc. Where have these been all of this time? Why haven’t these debtors been pursued? They more than likely have been sitting on someone’s desk languishing.  If you aren’t in the collections business you probably don’t understand how difficult it is to collect consumer debt, let alone OLD consumer debt.

A practice should only be sending a total of 3 statements out to a patient. If a patient has not paid by the end of the 3rd statement you are now looking at a 90 day delinquency. At 120 days a debt should be turned over to a collection agency in order to have a “shot” at getting that debt collected. 

Most practices are short-staffed and each staff member wears many hats. Chances are that your staff may not have the appropriate time to devote to telephone calls. Once your practice has sent 3 statements and made 3-4 calls you need to turn them over to a collection agency. A medical practice does not have the leverage to get your patient to pay that a collection agency has.

Collection agencies can and do turn over debtors to the credit bureaus if they do not pay. We send out a 1st notice, a second notice and a Final notice. In between the notices we make telephone calls. The Final notice tells the debtor that we will be reporting them to the credit bureau within 10 days if they do not pay the debt. At the end of each month we send an electronic report to the credit bureau and the debtor’s credit is affected. This black mark on their report stays there for the next 7 years. If that person seeks credit of any type their credit report will show that they owe x amount to us and they must pay it in order to get credit. Keep in mind that the credit bureau will only accept debtors with a social security number and debt that is $50.00 and higher. A collection agency can and will damage a debtor’s credit if they refuse to pay. That is something that a medical practice cannot do.

A collection agency also has the resources to work with collection attorneys if the debt is large enough.

Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of getting your delinquent accounts turned over quickly to a collection agency. Your chances of ever getting your money are reduced each week or month that you hold onto those accounts. Below is a graph regarding commercial debt but it shows how the percentages quickly drop as time goes by:

The CCAA’s most recent survey was performed in June 2001. They polled 115 member commercial collection agencies, which in the aggregate handle about 80% of claims placed with professional commercial collection agencies in the U.S.

The results, presented graphically below, show that the probability of full collection on a delinquent account drops dramatically with the length of the delinquency.

Do your practice a great favor and turn those accounts over no later than 120 days. You believe that by holding on to them and having your staff make calls that you will hang on to more of your money but the reality is that you will lose money. Make an effort to really look at your collection procedures and ask an expert to help you. You will be glad you did.

February 19, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Our Philosophy

I have been in collections since the late 1980′s. I started out in commercial debt collection. Back then you could basically get away with murder when talking to a debtor. Times have changed. I have grown older and wiser. I started my own medical collections company in 2004. My philosophy from day one was that I would treat all debtors the way I would want to be treated. The simple “Do unto others” theme for me seemed to be the only way that I would be successful and feel good about what I was doing. My approach works. If you call a debtor on the phone and start yelling and threatening them they will more than likely just hang up on you. On the other hand if you start out respecting them then at least 95% of them will talk to you in a civil manner. There will always be that 5% that just won’t be nice. They are miserable people anyway. There is nothing you can do about those people. For the most part people are honest and hard working. I said for the most part. Those 95 % honest hardworking  people have had some misfortune. They have had serious medical issues or they have lost their jobs. Believe me, medical debt can make you sink pretty quickly. I have planted my philosophy of doing unto others into our collectors. I will not tolerate a collector that is rude. It just doesn’t fly in this company. We catch alot more bees with honey than with vinegar. It just works for us. We have had people who have told us that we are nice and are we really collectors? Yes we are nice and we collect money. We have had people call and pay us in full with a credit card and then say “Bless you” for being so nice. Well, we sleep at night. We feel good about what we do and how we do it. We have no lawsuits against us. We have never had a debtor complain that we were rude. We adhere to the FDCPA and HIPAA laws. It works for us. Until it stops working we will be respectful and put ourselves in their shoes…..and continue to laugh all the way to the bank!

February 17, 2010   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments