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When Doctors Save Lives and Get Stiffed for the Bill |
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Written by Webmaster
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Thursday, 19 February 2009 |
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By Art Gib
 Being a medical doctor is often thought of as not only a prestigious occupation, but also a noble one. You are, after all, helping those in need and even saving or extending lives on occasion. And becoming a doctor is something that requires a strong determination just to get through the schooling.
Twelve years spent in school adds up to quite a bit of tuition. And when you receive your degree, you've acquired a knowledge that only an elite few have obtained -- along with a monstrous bill from the university to go with it. Time to get to work saving lives and making a living!
Many doctors will find that the nobility of their cause is not nearly enough to pay the bills. They will also find that medical bills are one of the most commonly ignored debts that people get involved with. So what is a doctor to do when his or her patients stiff them for the bill, possibly after having saved their life?
To start with, apply understanding. Unlike buying a TV, a person rarely goes out seeking
to purchase the round of services that result from a medical emergency. Medical services are often an unplanned expense. Furthermore, the healthcare system requires piles of paperwork from hospitals and insurance companies. A patient might not even know that they have an overdue bill as it gets lost in the shuffle of red tape.
Let's not forget that medical expenses are often, well, expensive. You may have saved their life, but that person might be missing work as a result of their condition, is too poor to afford insurance, or is simply already having difficulty making ends meet. Chances are they aren't stiffing you out of spite or because they want to, but because they feel like they don't have much other choice.
It's true that there are those who might feel that their "rich doctor" doesn't deserve payment -- a real doctor doesn't do it for the money anyway, right? -- but those attitudes ought to be few and far between and you certainly don't want to go after an otherwise excellent patient of yours with that kind of an attitude in mind.
So what to do? You don't want to be the "bad guy" in all of it. Besides, you've got a practice to run. Lucky for you, there are professional services that specialize specifically in medical collection. Choose a professional medical collection services company that will have empathy with your patient with just the right balance of determination to work out an amicable solution.
This way, you'll not only have a happy patient, but you'll get paid too.
Visit http://billsmedicalcollectionservice.com for top-shelf professionalism in medical collection services. Art Gib is a freelance writer.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 19 February 2009 )
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