By becoming a member of
American Credit Bureau you will have access to a variety of very
powerful collection resources. These are the same collection tools
used by agencies and other collection professionals.
STRONG WARNING LETTERS
Have a patient with a past due balance? As a member, just complete a
simple form and send it to us and we’ll mail your patient a series of
warning letters (on our letterhead). You can even pick the style and
tone of letters you want us to send to your patients. Choose from the
Firm Letter Series or the Courtesy Letter Series.
Both series will advise patients that you are a member of the National
Credit Bureau Network and that a blemish will be recorded on their
permanent credit files if they don’t immediately resolve their past
due balance.
Our letters also warn that the blemish will have a negative impact on
future applications for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, etc., for
as long as seven years. To avoid the blemish, the patient must
immediately contact your office and pay off the balance or set up a
payment schedule.
The threat of an impending blemish is a powerful collection tool. Many
patients will pay immediately to avoid having a negative entry
reported to their credit files. This is the same process a collection
agency uses – except they will charge you 35 to 50 percent of all
money collected.
The goal of the letters is not to blemish a credit file but to recover
money owed to you. Physicians nationwide have collected millions of
dollars as a result of our highly effective warning letters.
THE CREDIT BLEMISH
What happens if the patient doesn’t respond to the warning letters? If
at the end of our letter series you have not received payment or made
payment arrangements, the debt owed to your office will appear on the
patient’s permanent credit file at the nation’s leading credit
bureaus.
The blemish will remain in effect for up to seven years, in many cases
preventing a debtor from obtaining any additional credit until your
account has been paid in full.
What about patients who just don’t care? Some patients will tell you
they don’t care if you damage their credit. Remember, they will have
to deal with the negative impact of the blemish for up to seven years.
Routinely, we see patients paying past due bills three, four, five and
even six years later because they need or want additional credit.
THE PATIENT FINDER
Do you have a patient that has vanished? Now locating a patient is
easy. Just complete and send us the simple Address Search Request
form. We’ll search hundreds of the nation’s leading databases and send
you the new address within 24 hours. We find the new address more than
85% of the time. It’s that easy!
PROFESSIONAL COLLECTORS
Do you have a patient who doesn’t respond to warning letters or the
credit blemish? As a member, you have a team of highly skilled
healthcare collectors just waiting to work for you. We also utilize
the services of a law firm that specializes only in the recovery of
past-due accounts. They have unlimited resources available to recoup
your money.
To activate this tool, just send us a collection authorization form.
The success rate of our recovery specialists is impressive. They
routinely collect accounts once deemed uncollectible.
CREDIT REPORTS
Need to extend credit terms to a patient? Doctors often lose money
when treating self-pay patients, those who may be subject to a high
deductible or simply need to pay for services over time. As a member,
you will have access to a patient’s credit report with all the
information you need to evaluate a patient’s credit-worthiness and
ability to make monthly payments.
Suing a patient for a past-due bill? Taking a patient to small claims
court can be time-consuming and expensive. The Credit Report Generator
helps you to evaluate the patient’s financial condition, identify
assets and determine the true collectibility of an account – before
you hire an attorney or incur other court costs.
PREVENTION
Would you like to eliminate many of your past due accounts? Your
membership sign is the first step … it has been carefully worded to
prevent many of your accounts from ever becoming a collection problem.
Place it in a prominent area where your patients will see it. They
will immediately recognize that you are a member of the national
credit bureau system and that there is a consequence for non-payment.
The words “Credit Bureau” are two of the most powerful words in the
collection vocabulary. Without saying a word, your patients will
realize there is a consequence for non-payment and most will
immediately pay your bill.
COLLECTION NEWSLETTER
Want to keep updated? To complement your membership, you will receive
an informative quarterly newsletter entitled Paid in Full to keep you
up-to-date on the latest medical collection issues, techniques and
tools.
Would you like to have a collection consultant ready to help you with
any collection issue? A toll free number will connect you to your
personal consultant who will advise you how to handle a collection
concern.
PERSONAL COLLECTION CONSULTANT
Don't know how to handle a collection problem? This is a great
benefit. You’ll have free unlimited access to a collection consultant
or the Bureau’s legal department to help you resolve a collection
issue.
FREE WEBINARS
Yes, as a member you’ll be able to attend free WEBINAIRS without ever
leaving the office. Every month you’ll have the opportunity to learn
about a new collection technique. Like . . . What do you do when a
patient writes, “paid in full”, on the back of a check even though
there is still a balance due? What do you do when you receive a
bankruptcy notice? The child’s parents are divorced, who is
responsible – the father or mother? Or, how to I fire a patient from
the practice?
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