By utilizing a sophisticated tax season collections strategy, you can resolve unpaid accounts like no other time of the year.

Hospitals today are struggling with increasing bad debt and struggling to collect payment from the uninsured. But with a rise of high deductible health plans, they are also being snubbed by insured patients who can’t or won’t pay their skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs. What are the best strategies to reduce debt in 2020?

The federal law, the “Fair Credit Reporting Act,” is the law that governs credit reporting practices. But each individual state can impose additional restrictions on credit reporting. Those furnishing information to the consumer reporting agencies should be aware of and comply with each applicable state credit reporting requirements. How can this affect your ASC?

Accounts receivable management industry companies may want to begin reviewing overtime and scheduling policies as a new overtime rule took effect on Jan.1, 2020. This new rule makes 1.3 million workers eligible for overtime pay and raises the standard level of pay according to the Department of Labor. Will this affect your ASC?

A helpful financial experience not only builds patient loyalty and satisfaction but also generates repeat business and referrals. Here are some insights into how patients pay by generation.

According to the AHA, 79% of the 4840 US community hospitals today are nonprofit which means that these hospitals may qualify for favored tax treatment under federal tax laws, as well as a variety of state and local income, property and sales laws. Read more after the jump.

A group of plaintiffs lost their argument in a case based on the ongoing court debate about the definition of an automatic telephone dialing system and the capacity to randomly or sequentially generate numbers. Click to read more.

Healthcare M & A slowed compared with the second quarter, according to a recently released statement by healthcaremanda.com. The number of deals announced fell 13% compared with the previous quarter and was 15% lower than the same quarter in 2018. Click to read this article.

Hospitals under 501r. Did you know that your billing & collection policy must explicitly state the actions the hospital may take in the event of non-payment? Here are some other helpful insights...

With patients having more financial responsibility for their healthcare, outpatient settings like surgery centers are becoming more attractive to patients. In general, procedures at ASC’s are 35% to 50% than hospitals. This steady growth for ASC’s presents new opportunities but will also present some new challenges as well. What are the major challenges?

With an increasing number of patients with high deductible health plans, it is essential that ambulatory surgery centers leverage technology and automation to improve the patient financial experience. A recent report shows that the ASC market could grow to $120.8 billion industry by 2026 but there is a great need to begin using technology to make improvements to the patient financial experience.

The U.S Small Business Administration submitted comments to the CFPB’s proposed rule for the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in line with ACA International’s suggestions on consumer communications and disclosure notices and noting the significant impact it could have on small business. Read more to find out the most noteworthy comments.

To maximize revenue claims denials management, healthcare providers need to follow the advice “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” For surgery centers and surgical hospitals, being proactive means preventing revenue leakage and being profitable. Building a solid strategy and doing regular checkups to maintain a healthy bottom line sets your facility up for growth.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service recently proposed a rule that would require hospitals to make pricing information publicly available. It is CMS’s position that the rule would increase competition by enabling patients to shop for healthcare that meets their needs and budgets.

With constant news about data breaches compromising personal information, it is no wonder that Americans are increasingly squeamish about being hacked. A new poll found that a majority of American adults worry about hackers gaining access to their social security umber and credit card information.

According to McKinsey research, nonhospital-provider segments are primed for growth and could account for almost 55 percent of projected profit pools by 2021; including everything from diagnostics, pre-, non-, and post-acute services, surgery centers, physicians and other healthcare professionals. In a rapidly changing healthcare landscape, it is critical to understand these trends; otherwise, surgery centers may be missing opportunities to optimize payment and enhance their bottom line.

Medical debt accounts for one of the largest markets in collections. While the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regulates debt collection in general, the American Hospital Association (AHA) created a set of guidelines for member hospitals to follow regarding their billing and collection practices. Other state hospital associations have implemented their own guidelines as well. ACA members who collect medical debt should be aware of both state and federal guidelines for hospital billing and collections.

The state of Texas recently enacted new healthcare measures related to medical billing and credit reporting of out-of-network care. There are some implications regarding the billing of consumers for out-of-network care as well as the reporting of debts related to out-of-network care. Read more about it after the jump.

The ASC market is expected to grow at 4 percent between 2017 and 2027, with multispecialty ASC's expected to dominate over the next decade. How can the ASC world adapt to the growing trend of consumerism in healthcare and thrive?

Not every hospital sues over unpaid bills, but a few sue a lot according to an article published by NPR. While hospitals say lawsuits are rare, they concede that they cannot stay afloat without getting paid for services.

A collection of news and notes from in and around the world of healthcare. This month: "Pelosi Expects Drug Pricing Bill in September", as well as "Senate Health Committee Continues to Work on Lower Healthcare Costs."

Before the July 4th holiday, the Senate Health, Education, and Pensions Committee approved legislation that ends surprise billing, creates more transparency and increases competition to reduce prescription drug costs. Read more about this story by clicking here.

1 in 6 Americans in 2017 were surprised by a medical bill they received after treatment in a hospital despite having insurance. Most of them came from doctors offering treatment at the hospital, even when the patients chose an in-network hospital.

Healthcare providers today face increasing cost pressures to grow their revenues-which can lead to diminished operating results. A recent survey revealed that operating loss per physician has increased from 10% to 17.5% in 2017. Here are 3 tips for improving your revenue cycle.

Working with consumers to explain and help resolve medical bills in collections is a complex process for accounts receivable management companies and their healthcare provider clients. State legislatures have been working on tackling the issue of balance billing to prevent unexpected charges from reaching the consumer and a bipartisan debate continues.

The cost of healthcare in the US is a significant source of apprehension and fear for millions of Americans, according to a new national survey. With over $3.5 trillion spent in 2017 alone, the national poll indicates this financial burden causes a multitude of worries and anxieties for a large section of Americans.

Offshoring revenue cycle management has been an increasing phenomenon in the healthcare landscape, however, seemingly apparent economic advantages have been replaced by controversies and debate against offshore outsourcing. Read more after the jump.

In a report released by CNN, a woman received nearly $375,000 from her insurance company over several months for treatment she received at a California rehabilitation facility. Those allegations are part of a lawsuit winding its way through federal court that accuses Anthem and its Blue Cross entities of paying patients directly in an effort to put pressure on health care providers to join their network and to accept lower payments. Read more about the suit after the jump.

In today's evolving healthcare landscape, healthcare providers are under intense pressure to reduce spending while improving care quality and revenue cycle outsourcing has the potential to significantly decrease costs and increase efficiency. However, there can be pitfalls if providers don't pick the right partners. What's the best way to find the right vendor/partner?

Supporting ambulance triage options aims to allow beneficiaries to receive care at the right time and place. The new model known as the Emergency Triage Treat and Transport will make it possible for participating ambulance suppliers and providers to partner with healthcare practitioners to deliver treatment in place. Find out more after the jump.

Patient balances present one of the most significant challenges in healthcare especially for surgery centers. With ever-rising costs, ASC's see an increase in the number of patients with high deductible insurance plans. Studies show patient obligations have increased by almost 30 percent since 2015 and many are finding it difficult to pay off their medical bills. How should my center approach this problem?

New data on health insurance in the U.S. reflects quality of coverage and the impact of coverage levels on consumers' ability to pay medical bills and access care. The survey finds that consumers who are underinsured are more likely to have challenges paying their medical bills or simply avoid medical care due to the expense.

In an ongoing effort to evaluate nonprofit hospitals required to follow Section 501 (r), Senator Chuck Grassley has requested data on the number of hospitals in compliance with this rule pertaining to charity care. Get more information after the jump.

As out-of-pocket healthcare costs continue to increase, more patients prefer payment plans to manage their medical bills. Find out other insights gathered by this survey of patients taken in the previous year.

It may pay to consider patient consumerism when dealing with patients. Healthcare is a major expense for patients, so it has become important for clinics and practices to demonstrate that their care is as much about the patient's financial health as their physical health.

The healthcare reimbursement landscape has changed dramatically in the past few years. Just five years ago healthcare providers could get 90% of their revenue from government payers and commercial insurance companies; but today patients payments make up as much as 33 % of provider revenue. How will this affect your ASC?

An ever growing number of consumers are doling out more of their paychecks for healthcare premium contributions through their employer insurance plans. The cost of employer health insurance premiums and deductibles continues to outpace growth in wages which is concerning because it can put coverage and healthcare of of reach for the people who need it most. Click to read more.

As patient financial responsibility grows, the patient experience becomes very important in your revenue cycle. Here are three strategies you might want to consider in aligning your healthcare revenue cycle with the needs of your patients. Click to read more.

Recent research shows some hospitals lagging in implementing revenue cycle management solutions and outsourcing services as a short term solution. In fact, Black Book Market Research has conducted a survey that shows that twenty-six percent of all U.S. hospitals still don't have a viable, effective RCM in place. Click now to see what other findings the survey has to offer.

Two US sentators recently introduced companion legislation that would help consumers manage healthcare costs and stop unexpected medical bills. How will this legislation affect your hospital or medical center?

Online payments are catching up in the healthcare industry, where common methods of payment continue to be "on-site" and "on the phone with a live agent." A new survey from BillingTree reports that 63 percent of providers now offer web portal payments and more than 25 percent are offering text-based payment options. Click now to read more stats from the survey.

The trend in the healthcare payments system is that high deductibles are the norm and patients are responsible for a greater portion of their services. In fact, out-of-pocket expenses are projected to reach $608 billion in 2019. What other trends are expected in 2019?