Bates County Memorial Hospital would like to take a moment and let our patients and their families know that we value the comments we have received in regards to our billing statements and phone calls you receive for services with us. In an effort to respond to those concerns, Bates County Memorial Hospital, in conjunction with The Outsource Group, a St. Louis based firm, have modified the way in which we collect on outstanding accounts. We are making changes to our current billing statement format. Going forward, patients will be receiving telephone calls in addition to their regular billing statements with two types of calls: Reminder Calls and Collection Calls. Below are explanations of those changes:
Changes to Patient Statements
Very soon, your billing statement will begin to reflect where the services you receive were provided. For example, if a service was rendered at one of our family care clinics, the statement will reflect the clinic on the statement. This should allow you to match up the statements you receive from the hospital or clinic with the dates and location where you have had services.
Reminder Calls
Patients will receive a Reminder Call after 30 days have passed on an account for which a billing statement has been sent. This call is being originated in St. Louis and uses a local number, (660)-200-2002 which is also located on your statement. The person calling you may inform you of the current balance due, as well as any other balances due even though you may have not yet received a statement. This is to help alert our patients to upcoming balances that would possibly qualify for discounted amounts for prompt payment and/or help them if financial assistance is needed or a payment plan needs to be set up. Again, these are patient friendly calls and not a collection agency call.
Collection Calls
Our patients may receive a call from our collection agency called Medi-Credit located in St. Louis. Before accounts due are sent to the collection agency, our patients receive a series of three letters, which includes the original billing statement. If there has been no payment or response from the patients from the letters or the reminder calls, the account will be sent to the collection agency. The hospital urges our patients to contact The Outsource Group at 660-200-2002 for questions they have on a billing statement as soon as possible to avoid any accounts being sent to collections. Once an account is sent to the collection agency, it can affect your credit rating.
Your feedback is important. Let us hear how we are serving you. Please contact us at 660-200-7000 or 660-200-2002 for any questions or concerns regarding your billing statement. Bates County Memorial Hospital extends its thanks to our patients and their family members for allowing us to serve your healthcare needs. We look forward to the future and hope you will continue to entrust us with your care.
