Collections of Past Due Accounts from Dead Beat Patients
When you have a patient (or patients) with a past due account balance, and you are unsuccessful in your attempts on payment collection for the professional services you have rendered, what are your options?
You can try a collection agency. They will charge a percentage on the amount collected, and this percentage varies from agency to agency. They will use their people, systems, and tactics to get your money, which will allow you to hand off the stress and time of the ordeal. However, they will take a chunk of your money, and you will have no control of the methods by which they will extract the money from your patient who most likely will quickly become a former (and disgruntled) patient.
Another option is to use an attorney. The process will involve a demand letter with thirty days notice on the demand for payment on a sworn account and/or services rendered. The demand will include the amount due, plus attorney fees. If the patient does not pay, then your next step is to have the attorney file a lawsuit, most likely in small claims court. However, for this option, you have to do the math: do the attorneys fees plus the potential filing and service fees far outweigh the amount you are chasing to collect, or is the amount to be collected more than enough to justify those expenses. In my experience, if the amount you are trying to collect is less than $5,000.00, then utilizing an attorney may not be the most cost efficient way to go.
