Why Burns & Carlisle?

Why Burns & Carlisle, Inc.?

You are an expert when it comes to your accounts receivables. You already know that a receivables value depreciates rapidly while it remains uncollected. The average receivable loses 55% of its value in the first year, 50% of the remaining value in the second year, and most remaining value by the third year. As a result, the ability to collect an outstanding receivable is dependent upon how quickly the account is placed for collections. Therefore, we will answer your immediate question…..why should you choose Burns & Carlisle, Inc.?

We realize you have exhausted all the tools and time available to you to try to collect on your debt. Now it is time to utilize a new strategy in dealing with your patients. For centuries debt has been collected by making personal contact with the debtor. Whether the debt was for a store credit account, overdue rent, or unpaid utilities - you could expect a knock at your door. We combine this old fashion way of collecting with modern technology and good old southern hospitality.

We focus on the situation or problem, not the person. When someone is delinquent on an account it is generally the circumstances, not the person that has changed. We use the powerful tool of “negotiation” with all patients. While some collection agencies simply rely on letters to do the work for them, our experience has shown us that personal communication yields the results we are both looking for. After all, you can not negotiate with a letter. If a contact by mail is necessary then we use only the most professional and proficient letters available, at no cost to you. We work with the patient and assist in addressing circumstances whenever possible.

Simply put, we are unlike any other collection agency. We believe that all people should be treated with dignity and respect regardless of the debt they owe. Our collectors are trained to work with the patient to every extent possible. We do not ‘demand’ payment, instead, we ‘negotiate’ payment. Our telephone technique is so successful that less that 4% of our payments come through the mail. Instead, through obtaining the trust and confidence of each patient, our collectors are able to obtain almost every payment received in our office while on the phone with the patient. This collector-patient relationship can only be obtained by using the most professional, skilled, and trained collection staff available. Collection agencies have a reputation for promising services they never render just to obtain your business. We guarantee that you will receive and benefit from every service we offer. For that reason, we do not lock you in to an agreement. We only require a 90 day notice to allow us sufficient time to remove your accounts from our database and the Credit Bureaus. Our relationship with our clients is far more important to us than all the debt in our database.

Our style and approach may be simple but it is what sets us apart from any other collection agency. We make it ……as simple as black and white. Burns & Carlisle, Inc. surpasses all others when it comes to the art of collecting. We guarantee that 100% of our efforts will be to collect on your unpaid accounts. Our reputation and success depend on it!

Collection Process

Our collection process is ……..as simple as black and white and one that makes us unique in the collection industry. Our process is not driven by a schedule of events set to occur on a specific date or at a specific time. Instead, our collection process is driven by the patient and their personal and unique set of circumstances. A timeline simply could not and would not apply to all patients. As a result, it would be impossible to provide you with an outline of a step by step process that we follow.

All collectors are trained in communication and basic counseling skills. In fact, two of our collectors have a MSW (Masters degree in Social Work) and one spent over 23 years as a Jr. College Counselor. Each collector employs a specific counseling technique used to evaluate the patient’s personal situation and their ability to pay. We know that personal situations will have a direct impact on the amount a patient can pay and when a patient can pay. Personal situations change so a patient that may not be able to pay today may be able to pay at a later date.

Although some patients are difficult or elusive, others simply need a gentle hand in guiding them throughout the collection process. While one patient might be a single mother on maternity leave with no pay, another may be waiting on their first pay check because they have just recently been able to return to work from a major injury. We would have no way of knowing this important information without actually speaking to the patient. As a result, one patient may avoid our calls resulting in numerous collection letters while other patients respond to a friendly phone call from a collector and will never receive a collection letter other than the first notification of debt.

Every day our collectors are negotiating payments with patients, reminding patients of a past due payment, working with patients to fit a payment into their personal situation, scheduling patient letters, adding patients to the Credit Bureau, or deleting patients from the Credit Bureau. All of these actions are based on the individual – not a process. In short, we make the collection process “fit the patient” instead of making the patient “fit the collection process.”

Medicare Database

In September 2008, TrailBlazer Health Enterprises released clarification to Medicare providers regarding the requirements for handling Medicare bad debt. The new requirements forced most of our clients to make decisions regarding the placement of their Medicare and non-Medicare accounts in collections. Some facilities elected to pull back all of their bad debt accounts from their collection agency to avoid placing their Medicare accounts in collections. One of our Clients that pulled all their placements, to avoid Medicare placements, has since reinstated us because they lost just short of $450,000.00 in collection revenue last year alone.

Your business is important to us and we know how important your Medicare accounts are to you. Having prepared cost reports myself, I recognize the amount of revenue at risk. We are aware of your concerns and as a result, Burns and Carlisle, Inc. has purchased a separate database to assist you in managing your Medicare Bad Debt. This database allows us to separate all of your Medicare accounts from your regular placements. The best part of this is you will be able to focus on your core duties without having to worry about this group of accounts. You will not have to run any reports or pay any cancellation fees. Once you send us the file we do all the work so you can get back to focusing on your more important tasks.

Here is how it works:

Upload your Medicare file to our server. Ensure that your facility name and the word “Medicare” is in the file name. Example: BaylorMedicare.com
We will scrub and import your Medicare accounts into the Medicare database. We will not report any of your Medicare accounts to the Credit Bureaus.
All Medicare accounts are assigned to seasoned collectors that will be dedicated to working your accounts.
Each account will get two letters (see sample letters) and two phone calls.
If the consumer has not paid after the second letter and phone call, the account will be closed ‘RTP” (Refuses To Pay). No other attempts to contact the patient will be made.
In the first week of December, of each year, we will return all accounts placed with us between October of the previous year up to September of the current year so you can include them on your cost report. If your facility operates on a fiscal year basis, we will work with you to determine when your accounts need to be returned to you.
Along with your regular monthly statement you will get a separate monthly statement and check on accounts where payment is received.

Our Medicare database and procedures allow you to have the best of both worlds. You will no longer be forced to discard revenue on one side just to obtain revenue on the other. We are up to date on the Medicare requirements and will continue to stay informed. In addition, you have our guarantee that your Medicare patients will receive special treatment. We have read reports that facilities are still not handling their Medicare accounts properly and therefore, not eligible for payment on their Medicare Cost Report. Remember, if you keep all your accounts in-house then you must treat all accounts with outstanding balances the same. You either attempt collections on ALL outstanding balances or on NO outstanding balances. The slightest difference may result in a huge financial loss for your facility.

I hope our solution will make your job easier and eliminate the burden of trying to manage Medicare and non-Medicare bad debt.

Medicare Accounts are given a lowered collection fee of 15%

Payment Monitoring Services

We are aware of how busy offices can become. Staff members are often overwhelmed with multiple duties and unable to stay on top of accounts that have been assigned to regular payment plans or insurance claims. Insurance companies love to play the “float “ game with your money. Delaying payment on claims is commonplace. Monitoring payments can be a labor intensive task that can often be done more economically outside the business office environment – especially for larger facilities, like hospitals! All too often regular monthly payers will end up in collections because they slipped through the cracks. Their payments become delinquent and by the time contact is attempted, the patient has moved, changed phone numbers, or simply lost interest in their debt. More importantly, your monthly revenue is greatly decreased by days of their payment becoming delinquent. Where you simply do not have the manpower and/or time to track these monthly payers, we do! Our program does more than just follow your monthly payers, it also performs regular evaluations to determine an upgraded ability to pay.

Here is how it works:

We will make one (1) initial phone call to introduce ourselves, as a representative of your facility, and to confirm the terms of the payment arrangement.
We will make a follow-up call (friendly reminder), five (5) to ten (10) days after a payment is missed. This is to allow you time to report any payments you have received so we are not contacting patients that have paid in a timely fashion.
We will send a delinquent notice, with your contact information, to those patients that we are unable to reach by telephone. This prevents a patient from becoming confused on whom they should be paying. All mail-in payments will be directed to you.
We will accept payment via: Check, Credit Card, or Debit Card over the phone for any patients that want to make immediate payment or who wish to pay off their balance in full.
We will conduct quarterly reviews, at your request, to update financial status and to evaluate the ability for higher payments or balance in full.
If an account becomes delinquent for more than 60 days, at your request, we can immediately place that account in collection status. This prevents the debt from aging which results in a lower collection fee for you.
Your accounts will be handled by dedicated staff so they do not get commingled with collection accounts. The added benefit is that your accounts will be handled by the same individuals each month. This will make your patients feel more at ease because they will be talking to individuals that are familiar with both their account and their personal situation.
We can negotiate any other terms you desire to make this an effective and profitable part of your business office.

Our fees for payment monitoring are nominal and a small price to pay when you consider the man-hours, postage, telephone calls, and materials costs to maintain this function within your business office. If these monthly payers are not monitored closely, at least 50% of them will become delinquent. Of those, approximately 30% will end up in collections where the fees will increase to an average of 35%. Many large facilities are outsourcing, or looking to outsource, this is a costly and time consuming function of their business office. Doing so will free up your staff to handle more important functions. Most importantly, you will be able to depend on this part of your monthly revenue.

Web Host

Have you ever wondered whether your accounts are really being worked by your collection agency or why the agency has failed to obtain payments on certain accounts? Although some clients will allow you access to view your accounts through their database, few allow you total access to your accounts or give you control over your accounts. Web Host is a gateway to your accounts. Using any Internet Browser, our clients can log into our secured server at any time to monitor our performance and check the status of their accounts. Clients can add new accounts, read the collector’s notes, post payments, or add notes they want us to see on their existing accounts. In addition, clients can retrieve reports, view statements, or update contact information. To log into our sample database please call our toll-free number for a user ID and password.

We believe all collection agencies should allow client access to their database. Given today’s technology, and internet security, this is not an impossible feat, just one that most collection agencies like to avoid. We respect that even though you have placed your accounts with us for collections, the accounts still belong to you. You have an absolute right to know what is being done with your accounts and how they are being worked.

Communication

At Burns & Carlisle, Inc., we believe that communication is very important in maintaining a good working relationship with our clients. Statistical reports of all types are available, at your request, including Acknowledgements of Accounts Received, monthly Activity Statements, and quarterly Status Reports.

Activity Statements are sent to your office on a monthly basis. They are generated on the first day of each month and include all payments received on your accounts for the previous month. A check for the net amount collected by Burns & Carlisle, Inc. will be included with your statement.
Acknowledgement Listings are sent to confirm receipt of your placements. This is an alphabetical listing of accounts assigned on that day, including the account number, name, and balance.
Status Reports are a complete listing of all accounts placed with Burns & Carlisle, Inc. by your office. It reflects payments made, current balances, promise to pay information, and the current status of the account (i.e., skip-tracing, bankruptcy, deceased, refusals to pay, etc.) We only send status reports when you request one. We know you are busy and do not always have the time to review these reports so we supply them on demand. Your status reports will be a true and honest reflection of your accounts status.

If you elect to use Web-Host you will have full access to these reports and can print them as needed.

NOTE: Management analysis reports and various statistical reports are also available at no additional charge to you. Simply give us a call anytime you need additional reports.

Data Entry/Data Import

We give you several options for placing your accounts with us. We will manually enter your accounts into our database if your system will not allow you to export your data. Simply mail your accounts, with patient and guarantor information, and we will do the rest. We maintain a secured server for those clients that can export and upload their data. Simply log into www.bcclient.com, select the “file upload” button, and transmit your file electronically. We will then import your file from the server and into our database. If preferred, you can mail or email us your file. If you elect to use Web-Host you can enter your accounts straight into our database as they become delinquent.

Non-Sufficient Fund (NSF) Check Service

Our recovery rate on Non-Sufficient Fund Checks is in excess of 93%! Turning your NSF checks over to us will save you time, money, and expedite recovery. We will send the required notification via certified mail so you don’t have to. Most often a patient will pay their NSF check and fees to avoid a filing with the County or District Attorney’s office and a possible arrest warrant. If we are unable to collect your NSF check we will inform you so that you can proceed and file with the appropriate official.

Association of Credit and Collection Professionals (ACA)

In an on-going effort to protect ourselves from litigation and to provide quality training, in collections and compliance, all employees of Burns & Carlisle, Inc. are provided a full membership to both the International and the Texas ACA. In fact, Burns & Carlisle, Inc. is one of only three (3) collection agencies North of Houston and East of Dallas that holds membership in our professional organizations. The Healthcare Services Program (HSP) helps us keep up with the constant changes in the complex healthcare market. With topics ranging from privacy and data security to outsourcing to collecting from the underinsured, HSP is a reliable source of healthcare receivables and collection news and information. Burns & Carlisle, Inc. abides by the ACA Code of Ethics!

Fully Staffed Call Center

Burns & Carlisle, Inc. operates a quality full service call center with state-of-the-art technology. Fully staffed with dedicated, loyal, and professional employees, our call center hours of operation are in direct compliance with FDCPA regulations. By providing maximum telephone coverage and a website where patients can make payment at their convenience, we are able to provide service virtually around the clock. We keep your repeat business in mind when working with your patients.

Our experienced agents will make immediate telephone contact with the patient.
Every call is handled with the utmost professionalism and in compliance with all collection laws, both State and Federal.
Every account is worked with the same diligence and thoroughness, regardless of the amount owed.
We have bi-lingual collectors available to assist with your non-English speaking patients.

Because we only hire career professionals, our agents are empowered to negotiate all aspects of an account with a patient. This includes credit bureau removal, skip tracing accounts, offering account settlements, accepting and making payment arrangements, etc.

Staffed Business Office

Our Business Office is staffed with experienced and fully committed administrative and financial professionals. This group of professionals performs everything from ensuring the accuracy of our database to making sure your invoices expedited. They are responsible for all financial activities of the business. Our staff strives to meet the needs of our Clients' and their Customers' by providing information quickly, effectively, and through various channels of communication undertakes. Like any other business, they are the hub of our organization.

Credit and Bank Debit Cards

We have the ability to secure immediate payments right over the internet. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and bank Debit Cards. This process allows us to receive real-time authorization and secure your funds faster. In addition, we can set up recurring monthly payments for patients where their payments are automatically deducted until the balance is paid in full!

Automated Clearing House (ACH)

According to the Federal Reserve, next to cash, checks are the most frequently used method of completing transactions in the United States. The Automated Clearing House (ACH) provides for electronic, single or recurring, check payments which results in early recovery. We have patients that say the same thing month to month …"the check is in the mail" or "I'll mail it off tomorrow." With ACH we can electronically debit a patient’s account immediately or on their due date until the balance is paid in full!

Ability to Pay on-line 24 hours a day

http://www.burnsandcarlisle.com

Our web-site is geared towards patient education and payments only! It is not designed as a sales tool for our company or a location where our clients are required to login to request information or statements. We provide our web address on every statement we mail so patients can pay on-line 24 hours a day – 7 days a week! We also provide answers to the most frequently asked questions about debt collection agencies. By logging into our web-site, patients can even email us questions regarding their statements.

Credit Bureau Reporting

One option for collecting debt is to negotiate Credit Bureau reporting/removal with the patient. We inform each patient, during our initial contact, that their account is going to be reported to the National Credit Bureaus. We allow the patient the opportunity to pay their balance in full or to make monthly payments to keep the account off the Credit Bureaus.

For those patients that still refuse to pay their bill, Credit Bureau reporting will mark the patient’s record for lack of payment. This will be an obvious detriment to the patient’s credit report adding difficulty for future credit purchase attempts. Once reported to the credit bureaus the patient must negotiate with us to get this negative information removed from their credit report. More often than not, the patient will pay their balance in full just to clean up their credit!

The E-OSCAR system is a state-of-the-art solution for processing consumer disputes and to instantly remove any patient from the credit bureau outside our normal reporting cycle

Skip Tracing

Skip tracing forms an integral part of debt recovery solutions. Skip tracing can be defined as the technique employed to trace and locate patients who have intentionally or non-intentionally vanished without leaving a trail. Such an act of absconding can be due to evasion of financial or legal liabilities. Although skip-tracing is both time consuming and costly, it is vital in collection and recovery efforts. We are networked with the finest skip tracing databases available giving us the power to locate a patient quickly. We pay annual subscriptions to a number of nationally known Skip Tracing companies, including Experian. In addition, skip tracing allows us to verify bankruptcies, imprisonment, and even death. We don’t just skip over patients we cannot locate - we find them.


	(800) 736-2182 info@burnsandcarlisle.com
Home Make a Payment General Information Why Burns & Carlisle? Testimonials Fees & Sample Agreements Request a Full Brochure Contact Us
Over 40 years experience in Medical Collections.
Why Burns & Carlisle? Why Burns & Carlisle, Inc.? You are an expert when it comes to your accounts receivables. You already know that a receivables value depreciates rapidly while it remains uncollected. The average receivable loses 55% of its value in the first year, 50% of the remaining value in the second year, and most remaining value by the third year. As a result, the ability to collect an outstanding receivable is dependent upon how quickly the account is placed for collections. Therefore, we will answer your immediate question…..why should you choose Burns & Carlisle, Inc.? We realize you have exhausted all the tools and time available to you to try to collect on your debt. Now it is time to utilize a new strategy in dealing with your patients. For centuries debt has been collected by making personal contact with the debtor. Whether the debt was for a store credit account, overdue rent, or unpaid utilities - you could expect a knock at your door. We combine this old fashion way of collecting with modern technology and good old southern hospitality. We focus on the situation or problem, not the person. When someone is delinquent on an account it is generally the circumstances, not the person that has changed. We use the powerful tool of “negotiation” with all patients. While some collection agencies simply rely on letters to do the work for them, our experience has shown us that personal communication yields the results we are both looking for. After all, you can not negotiate with a letter. If a contact by mail is necessary then we use only the most professional and proficient letters available, at no cost to you. We work with the patient and assist in addressing circumstances whenever possible. Simply put, we are unlike any other collection agency. We believe that all people should be treated with dignity and respect regardless of the debt they owe. Our collectors are trained to work with the patient to every extent possible. We do not ‘demand’ payment, instead, we ‘negotiate’ payment. Our telephone technique is so successful that less that 4% of our payments come through the mail. Instead, through obtaining the trust and confidence of each patient, our collectors are able to obtain almost every payment received in our office while on the phone with the patient. This collector-patient relationship can only be obtained by using the most professional, skilled, and trained collection staff available. Collection agencies have a reputation for promising services they never render just to obtain your business. We guarantee that you will receive and benefit from every service we offer. For that reason, we do not lock you in to an agreement. We only require a 90 day notice to allow us sufficient time to remove your accounts from our database and the Credit Bureaus. Our relationship with our clients is far more important to us than all the debt in our database. Our style and approach may be simple but it is what sets us apart from any other collection agency. We make it ……as simple as black and white. Burns & Carlisle, Inc. surpasses all others when it comes to the art of collecting. We guarantee that 100% of our efforts will be to collect on your unpaid accounts. Our reputation and success depend on it! Collection Process Our collection process is ……..as simple as black and white and one that makes us unique in the collection industry. Our process is not driven by a schedule of events set to occur on a specific date or at a specific time. Instead, our collection process is driven by the patient and their personal and unique set of circumstances. A timeline simply could not and would not apply to all patients. As a result, it would be impossible to provide you with an outline of a step by step process that we follow. All collectors are trained in communication and basic counseling skills. In fact, two of our collectors have a MSW (Masters degree in Social Work) and one spent over 23 years as a Jr. College Counselor. Each collector employs a specific counseling technique used to evaluate the patient’s personal situation and their ability to pay. We know that personal situations will have a direct impact on the amount a patient can pay and when a patient can pay. Personal situations change so a patient that may not be able to pay today may be able to pay at a later date. Although some patients are difficult or elusive, others simply need a gentle hand in guiding them throughout the collection process. While one patient might be a single mother on maternity leave with no pay, another may be waiting on their first pay check because they have just recently been able to return to work from a major injury. We would have no way of knowing this important information without actually speaking to the patient. As a result, one patient may avoid our calls resulting in numerous collection letters while other patients respond to a friendly phone call from a collector and will never receive a collection letter other than the first notification of debt. Every day our collectors are negotiating payments with patients, reminding patients of a past due payment, working with patients to fit a payment into their personal situation, scheduling patient letters, adding patients to the Credit Bureau, or deleting patients from the Credit Bureau. All of these actions are based on the individual – not a process. In short, we make the collection process “fit the patient” instead of making the patient “fit the collection process.” Medicare Database In September 2008, TrailBlazer Health Enterprises released clarification to Medicare providers regarding the requirements for handling Medicare bad debt. The new requirements forced most of our clients to make decisions regarding the placement of their Medicare and non-Medicare accounts in collections. Some facilities elected to pull back all of their bad debt accounts from their collection agency to avoid placing their Medicare accounts in collections. One of our Clients that pulled all their placements, to avoid Medicare placements, has since reinstated us because they lost just short of $450,000.00 in collection revenue last year alone. Your business is important to us and we know how important your Medicare accounts are to you. Having prepared cost reports myself, I recognize the amount of revenue at risk. We are aware of your concerns and as a result, Burns and Carlisle, Inc. has purchased a separate database to assist you in managing your Medicare Bad Debt. This database allows us to separate all of your Medicare accounts from your regular placements. The best part of this is you will be able to focus on your core duties without having to worry about this group of accounts. You will not have to run any reports or pay any cancellation fees. Once you send us the file we do all the work so you can get back to focusing on your more important tasks. Here is how it works: Upload your Medicare file to our server. Ensure that your facility name and the word “Medicare” is in the file name. Example: BaylorMedicare.com We will scrub and import your Medicare accounts into the Medicare database. We will not report any of your Medicare accounts to the Credit Bureaus. All Medicare accounts are assigned to seasoned collectors that will be dedicated to working your accounts. Each account will get two letters (see sample letters) and two phone calls. If the consumer has not paid after the second letter and phone call, the account will be closed ‘RTP” (Refuses To Pay). No other attempts to contact the patient will be made. In the first week of December, of each year, we will return all accounts placed with us between October of the previous year up to September of the current year so you can include them on your cost report. If your facility operates on a fiscal year basis, we will work with you to determine when your accounts need to be returned to you. Along with your regular monthly statement you will get a separate monthly statement and check on accounts where payment is received. Our Medicare database and procedures allow you to have the best of both worlds. You will no longer be forced to discard revenue on one side just to obtain revenue on the other. We are up to date on the Medicare requirements and will continue to stay informed. In addition, you have our guarantee that your Medicare patients will receive special treatment. We have read reports that facilities are still not handling their Medicare accounts properly and therefore, not eligible for payment on their Medicare Cost Report. Remember, if you keep all your accounts in-house then you must treat all accounts with outstanding balances the same. You either attempt collections on ALL outstanding balances or on NO outstanding balances. The slightest difference may result in a huge financial loss for your facility. I hope our solution will make your job easier and eliminate the burden of trying to manage Medicare and non-Medicare bad debt. Medicare Accounts are given a lowered collection fee of 15% Payment Monitoring Services We are aware of how busy offices can become. Staff members are often overwhelmed with multiple duties and unable to stay on top of accounts that have been assigned to regular payment plans or insurance claims. Insurance companies love to play the “float “ game with your money. Delaying payment on claims is commonplace. Monitoring payments can be a labor intensive task that can often be done more economically outside the business office environment – especially for larger facilities, like hospitals! All too often regular monthly payers will end up in collections because they slipped through the cracks. Their payments become delinquent and by the time contact is attempted, the patient has moved, changed phone numbers, or simply lost interest in their debt. More importantly, your monthly revenue is greatly decreased by days of their payment becoming delinquent. Where you simply do not have the manpower and/or time to track these monthly payers, we do! Our program does more than just follow your monthly payers, it also performs regular evaluations to determine an upgraded ability to pay. Here is how it works: We will make one (1) initial phone call to introduce ourselves, as a representative of your facility, and to confirm the terms of the payment arrangement. We will make a follow-up call (friendly reminder), five (5) to ten (10) days after a payment is missed. This is to allow you time to report any payments you have received so we are not contacting patients that have paid in a timely fashion. We will send a delinquent notice, with your contact information, to those patients that we are unable to reach by telephone. This prevents a patient from becoming confused on whom they should be paying. All mail-in payments will be directed to you. We will accept payment via: Check, Credit Card, or Debit Card over the phone for any patients that want to make immediate payment or who wish to pay off their balance in full. We will conduct quarterly reviews, at your request, to update financial status and to evaluate the ability for higher payments or balance in full. If an account becomes delinquent for more than 60 days, at your request, we can immediately place that account in collection status. This prevents the debt from aging which results in a lower collection fee for you. Your accounts will be handled by dedicated staff so they do not get commingled with collection accounts. The added benefit is that your accounts will be handled by the same individuals each month. This will make your patients feel more at ease because they will be talking to individuals that are familiar with both their account and their personal situation. We can negotiate any other terms you desire to make this an effective and profitable part of your business office. Our fees for payment monitoring are nominal and a small price to pay when you consider the man-hours, postage, telephone calls, and materials costs to maintain this function within your business office. If these monthly payers are not monitored closely, at least 50% of them will become delinquent. Of those, approximately 30% will end up in collections where the fees will increase to an average of 35%. Many large facilities are outsourcing, or looking to outsource, this is a costly and time consuming function of their business office. Doing so will free up your staff to handle more important functions. Most importantly, you will be able to depend on this part of your monthly revenue. Web Host Have you ever wondered whether your accounts are really being worked by your collection agency or why the agency has failed to obtain payments on certain accounts? Although some clients will allow you access to view your accounts through their database, few allow you total access to your accounts or give you control over your accounts. Web Host is a gateway to your accounts. Using any Internet Browser, our clients can log into our secured server at any time to monitor our performance and check the status of their accounts. Clients can add new accounts, read the collector’s notes, post payments, or add notes they want us to see on their existing accounts. In addition, clients can retrieve reports, view statements, or update contact information. To log into our sample database please call our toll-free number for a user ID and password. We believe all collection agencies should allow client access to their database. Given today’s technology, and internet security, this is not an impossible feat, just one that most collection agencies like to avoid. We respect that even though you have placed your accounts with us for collections, the accounts still belong to you. You have an absolute right to know what is being done with your accounts and how they are being worked. Communication At Burns & Carlisle, Inc., we believe that communication is very important in maintaining a good working relationship with our clients. Statistical reports of all types are available, at your request, including Acknowledgements of Accounts Received, monthly Activity Statements, and quarterly Status Reports. Activity Statements are sent to your office on a monthly basis. They are generated on the first day of each month and include all payments received on your accounts for the previous month. A check for the net amount collected by Burns & Carlisle, Inc. will be included with your statement. Acknowledgement Listings are sent to confirm receipt of your placements. This is an alphabetical listing of accounts assigned on that day, including the account number, name, and balance. Status Reports are a complete listing of all accounts placed with Burns & Carlisle, Inc. by your office. It reflects payments made, current balances, promise to pay information, and the current status of the account (i.e., skip-tracing, bankruptcy, deceased, refusals to pay, etc.) We only send status reports when you request one. We know you are busy and do not always have the time to review these reports so we supply them on demand. Your status reports will be a true and honest reflection of your accounts status. If you elect to use Web-Host you will have full access to these reports and can print them as needed. NOTE: Management analysis reports and various statistical reports are also available at no additional charge to you. Simply give us a call anytime you need additional reports. Data Entry/Data Import We give you several options for placing your accounts with us. We will manually enter your accounts into our database if your system will not allow you to export your data. Simply mail your accounts, with patient and guarantor information, and we will do the rest. We maintain a secured server for those clients that can export and upload their data. Simply log into www.bcclient.com, select the “file upload” button, and transmit your file electronically. We will then import your file from the server and into our database. If preferred, you can mail or email us your file. If you elect to use Web-Host you can enter your accounts straight into our database as they become delinquent. Non-Sufficient Fund (NSF) Check Service Our recovery rate on Non-Sufficient Fund Checks is in excess of 93%! Turning your NSF checks over to us will save you time, money, and expedite recovery. We will send the required notification via certified mail so you don’t have to. Most often a patient will pay their NSF check and fees to avoid a filing with the County or District Attorney’s office and a possible arrest warrant. If we are unable to collect your NSF check we will inform you so that you can proceed and file with the appropriate official. Association of Credit and Collection Professionals (ACA) In an on-going effort to protect ourselves from litigation and to provide quality training, in collections and compliance, all employees of Burns & Carlisle, Inc. are provided a full membership to both the International and the Texas ACA. In fact, Burns & Carlisle, Inc. is one of only three (3) collection agencies North of Houston and East of Dallas that holds membership in our professional organizations. The Healthcare Services Program (HSP) helps us keep up with the constant changes in the complex healthcare market. With topics ranging from privacy and data security to outsourcing to collecting from the underinsured, HSP is a reliable source of healthcare receivables and collection news and information. Burns & Carlisle, Inc. abides by the ACA Code of Ethics! Fully Staffed Call Center Burns & Carlisle, Inc. operates a quality full service call center with state-of-the-art technology. Fully staffed with dedicated, loyal, and professional employees, our call center hours of operation are in direct compliance with FDCPA regulations. By providing maximum telephone coverage and a website where patients can make payment at their convenience, we are able to provide service virtually around the clock. We keep your repeat business in mind when working with your patients. Our experienced agents will make immediate telephone contact with the patient. Every call is handled with the utmost professionalism and in compliance with all collection laws, both State and Federal. Every account is worked with the same diligence and thoroughness, regardless of the amount owed. We have bi-lingual collectors available to assist with your non-English speaking patients. Because we only hire career professionals, our agents are empowered to negotiate all aspects of an account with a patient. This includes credit bureau removal, skip tracing accounts, offering account settlements, accepting and making payment arrangements, etc. Staffed Business Office Our Business Office is staffed with experienced and fully committed administrative and financial professionals. This group of professionals performs everything from ensuring the accuracy of our database to making sure your invoices expedited. They are responsible for all financial activities of the business. Our staff strives to meet the needs of our Clients' and their Customers' by providing information quickly, effectively, and through various channels of communication undertakes. Like any other business, they are the hub of our organization. Credit and Bank Debit Cards We have the ability to secure immediate payments right over the internet. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and bank Debit Cards. This process allows us to receive real-time authorization and secure your funds faster. In addition, we can set up recurring monthly payments for patients where their payments are automatically deducted until the balance is paid in full! Automated Clearing House (ACH) According to the Federal Reserve, next to cash, checks are the most frequently used method of completing transactions in the United States. The Automated Clearing House (ACH) provides for electronic, single or recurring, check payments which results in early recovery. We have patients that say the same thing month to month …"the check is in the mail" or "I'll mail it off tomorrow." With ACH we can electronically debit a patient’s account immediately or on their due date until the balance is paid in full! Ability to Pay on-line 24 hours a day http://www.burnsandcarlisle.com Our web-site is geared towards patient education and payments only! It is not designed as a sales tool for our company or a location where our clients are required to login to request information or statements. We provide our web address on every statement we mail so patients can pay on-line 24 hours a day – 7 days a week! We also provide answers to the most frequently asked questions about debt collection agencies. By logging into our web-site, patients can even email us questions regarding their statements. Credit Bureau Reporting One option for collecting debt is to negotiate Credit Bureau reporting/removal with the patient. We inform each patient, during our initial contact, that their account is going to be reported to the National Credit Bureaus. We allow the patient the opportunity to pay their balance in full or to make monthly payments to keep the account off the Credit Bureaus. For those patients that still refuse to pay their bill, Credit Bureau reporting will mark the patient’s record for lack of payment. This will be an obvious detriment to the patient’s credit report adding difficulty for future credit purchase attempts. Once reported to the credit bureaus the patient must negotiate with us to get this negative information removed from their credit report. More often than not, the patient will pay their balance in full just to clean up their credit! The E-OSCAR system is a state-of-the-art solution for processing consumer disputes and to instantly remove any patient from the credit bureau outside our normal reporting cycle Skip Tracing Skip tracing forms an integral part of debt recovery solutions. Skip tracing can be defined as the technique employed to trace and locate patients who have intentionally or non-intentionally vanished without leaving a trail. Such an act of absconding can be due to evasion of financial or legal liabilities. Although skip-tracing is both time consuming and costly, it is vital in collection and recovery efforts. We are networked with the finest skip tracing databases available giving us the power to locate a patient quickly. We pay annual subscriptions to a number of nationally known Skip Tracing companies, including Experian. In addition, skip tracing allows us to verify bankruptcies, imprisonment, and even death. We don’t just skip over patients we cannot locate - we find them. Testimonials Dear Burns & Carlisle: This letter is being written to thank you for your professionalism and your hard work. Your Staff has always been courteous, friendly and professional. It has been a pleasure to work with an agency that you can trust and have full confidence in their ability. We appreciate what you have done for us and the results you have produced. I have and will continue to recommend any healthcare provider looking for a good, effective collection agency to try Burns & Carlisle.
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