Identify unpaid accounts to be followed up
These metrics can help identify unpaid accounts to increase cash flow and reduce the risk of debt. This metric can be used to review and create lists for your team to follow up.
Regularly reviewing the practice’s outstanding debt allows you to identify and monitor unpaid accounts and proactively measure increased cash flow while minimising the risk of debt accumulation.
Keeping debtors low not only helps with the cash flow but will also help show your Service Fee-paying Practitioners that the practice is working on minimising what is owed by patients or other account holders.
Practice managers and receptionists can use this metric to
- Address DNA/cancellation/no-show fees: Filter the MBS item column to identify patients with outstanding DNA/cancellation/no-show fees. Check if they have upcoming appointments and ensure the account is settled or cleared before their visit, helping to reduce the debtor list for repeat DNA cases.
- Send bulk SMS reminders: Filter the list by patient account and export it with internal IDs to send bulk SMS reminders to all patients with outstanding debts.
- Follow-up during appointments: Identify patients with upcoming appointments by filtering the list by appointment date. Print a daily list for the reception team to address outstanding accounts upon the patient’s arrival.
To navigate to this cabinet, go to Clinic Insights > Today's clinic metrics > Outstanding debt.
The sections included in this article are:
Understanding the metric and key components
The Outstanding Debt metric focuses on unpaid private invoices, the number of patients with unpaid invoices, and the total count of unpaid invoices. By default, Medicare/DVA debt is excluded from this metric. However, you can enable its inclusion using the toggle available under the filters.
This metric shows you at a glance the outstanding debt based on:
- Outstanding debt: This dollar amount shows the value of all unpaid private invoices.
- Debtors: This figure is the combined number of private payers with an outstanding invoice.
- Outstanding invoices: This figure is the number of unpaid private invoices.
Oustanding debt is then broken down in graphs via:
- Practitioner and age of debt - This graph represents the dollar value for all unpaid private invoices by Practitioner. This can also include Medicare and DVA services, using the respective filters.
- Payer - This figure represents the proportion of total outstanding debt attributed to the different type of Payers. This can also include Medicare and DVA services, using the respective filters.
- Age - This figure represents how long debts have been outstanding. This can also include Medicare and DVA services, using the respective filters.
At the bottom of the page you will find the detailed lists of:
List of outstanding debt:
This list shows account holder, patient and invoice details of invoices having an unpaid service and which are not billed to Medicare/DVA.
List of debtors:
This list shows account holder and patient details for those who have unpaid services which are not billed to Medicare/DVA.
Use the filters on the page to filter down the data via:
- Patients with - Filter to view patients with upcoming appointments
- Practitioner - View the data and lists for each Practitioner
- Payer - View the data and lists for each Payer
- Invoice age - View the data and lists via invoice age group
Using the metric in your practice
Practice managers and receptionist can use this metric to:
1. Address DNA/Cancellation/ No shows
Use your MBS item filter, in column, to get a comprehensive list of your patients with outstanding debt for DNA/cancelled/no show fees.
Utilising the 'Next appointment' column allows you to determine if a follow-up appointment is scheduled, enabling proactive communication regarding any outstanding debts either prior to the appointment or upon the patient's arrival at the practice.
2. Send bulk SMS reminders
Filter by payer to patient accounts to see a full breakdown of all outstanding debt for your patient accounts. Export the data using the internal IDs to send a bulk SMS reminders to these patients.
3. Follow-up during appointments
Simply use your filters to select appointments for a specific date range. By filtering for 'appointments today,' you'll get a clear view of all accounts with outstanding debts who are visiting the practice today. For an even more detailed breakdown, filter by payer to show only 'Patient' Accounts.
Use the print preview button, or download button to distribute to team members in order to settle the outstanding debt.
Additional resources and tools
This metric will also allow for quick access at the practice's historical outstanding debt.
This can be found in the hyper link at the top of the page.
