A Guide to Managing Your Client Share

Restaurants do not go out of business because the chef forgets how to make food. Mismanaged inventory will depelete cashflow and sink a restaurant regardless of how good the food is.

In comparison, client share (deductibles, co-pay's and coinsurance) is the inventory of your practice. Effective management of client share is the #1 reason we have seen practices struggle.

Before we get into some specific strategies on how to stay on top of the money your clients owe you, we would like to remind you why you can (and should) be confident in collecting these balances.

  • It is Your Contractual Responsibility to Collect it

    This is an important one and its easy to forget. When you become a participating provider with an insurance company, you become contractually responsible to collect the client share.

    Insurance companies depend on providers collecting client share. Their prices to their members (your clients) depend on it. They are so serious about this that they go to the extreme of reserving the right to void your contract if you fail to collect.

  • The Policy Holder Picked the Plan They are Using

    Clients with high deductible plans made that choice when they selected their plan (usually with their employer). They are saving significant money on their premium in exchange for taking on a larger share of financial responsibility when they want services.

    If the client is not happy with the amount they owe on their deductible, you should direct them to speak with their employer (or the policy holder to their employer) about different plan options when it is time to renew coverage.

  • Your License is Not 2nd-Tier

    No one questions when a primary care doctor or specialist collects credit card information before services are offered.

    It is okay for you to require a card on file with an authorization to charge for client share. This is common practice within other specialties and yet many therapists feel reluctant to do this for fear of upsetting clients.

    The most succesful practices that we support will not render the intake until a credit card is on file with authorization to charge. We strongly recommend this to all of our practices.

Now that you are feeling better about collecting what is owed to you, here are some strategies to help you do so:

  • Collect the Card Before Providing Services

    We mentioned it above and we will mention it here again because of how important it is.

  • Be Aware of Your Fee Schedule's

    Knowing what your contracted rates are is very powerful. Through our eligibility process we will confirm with you that your intake has an active policy and what the applicable client balances are.

    If you see that the client still owes on their deductible, you will be able to tell that client what their responsibility will be at the time of service and you can charge the card

  • Step 3
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  • Credits vs Refunding
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