Bedside Collections: Growing Trend or Potential Controversy?

Will patient financial services professionals need training in bedside manner?

Over on Forbes.com, I write about how healthcare providers and their debt collection partners have teamed up to create best practices for collecting medical debt. As we reported last week, a combined HFMA and ACA task force has drafted those guidelines, but has yet to release them to be reviewed.

One of the growing trends in patient financial services is bedside collections. At last month’s HFMA annual conference, several hospitals reported they had instituted the practice, which had resulted in increased collections. The concept of collecting during an inpatient stay made some healthcare professionals decidedly uncomfortable.