Collecting the Patient's Responsibility for Care

The Medical Group Management Association’s most recent MGMA Stat poll asked healthcare professionals to describe which patient payments are collected at the time of service. With government and commercial insurance payers requiring patients pay an increased proportion of the cost of services, medical practices are placing increased emphasis on collecting these payments when the patient is in the practice.
Virtually all respondents described their organizations collected copayments while only 5 percent of respondents indicated their organizations did not collect patient payments prior to providing services. Overall, 34 percent indicated their organizations only collected the copayment amount while another 59 percent described that their organizations also made efforts to collect multiple areas of patient’s responsibility. Among these organizations, 98 percent stated their organization collected the copayment amounts as well as various other fees (such as deductibles and major procedure estimates).   
The poll was conducted on April 2, 2017 with 1,434 total responses. Of this total, 96 indicated the question was not applicable to their situation with a net of 1,338 answering the question.

MGMA Stat is a national poll that addresses practice management topics, the impact of new legislation, and related topics. Participation is open to all healthcare professionals. See results of other polls and information on how to participate in MGMA Stat.