I’ve noticed a troubling policy that some physician offices inflict on their patients. They require a credit card on file, which is charged when patients don’t pay their bills. I recommend staying away from any medical practice with this billing policy. Here’s why this policy is unadulterated BS:
- Medicine is one of the few businesses in the US in which customers are typically informed of the fees after the services are performed. When you sign a credit card authorization form, you are typically giving the practice permission to charge any unpaid bill to your credit card, regardless of whether you agree with the bill. Giving a business carte blanche access to your card is incredibly risky.
- Medical visits are frequently coded incorrectly. As an example, a physician recently billed my insurance company for a procedure that was never performed. I then received an EOB with a several hundred dollar fee for a test that would have been free if this error wasn’t made. Sometimes it takes weeks or months to have claims corrected. Gone are the days when insurance companies correct obvious mistakes over the phone.
- In some cases, medical charges are rip-offs, especially when insurance companies deny claims. Without negotiated fees, physicians may charge any amount they think they can get away with.
- Despite what billing offices may tell patients, medical bills are negotiable. Debt collectors buy medical debt for a few pennies on the dollar. For this reason, medical practices are much better off negotiating with the patient, rather than sending a bill to collections.
- When is the last time your physician’s office explained its information security practices to you? Small businesses tend to be very resistant to spending money on information security until they’ve been hacked.
When you reject a medical practice for requiring a credit card on file, make sure to tell the staff why. Greedy businesses do not deserve your business.