Directions
Please review the following case study and respond to the questions outlines below.
- Tom Anderson is the controller for Morningside Medical Clinic. At the end of each month, the financial management system used by Morningside generates a series of standard financial reports. In his review of the current reports, Mr. Anderson notices that the accounts receivable aging report shows that patient accounts receivable over 60 days old has been steadily increasing over the past 6 months and is increasing at a rate faster than the growth of inpatient visits and scheduled fees for services. An accounts receivable aging report is a report available in computerized financial management systems that categorizes receivables based on the number of days elapsed since the date of service. Receivables are grouped as:Receivables less than 30 days old
- Receivables between 31 and 60 days old
- Receivables more than 60 days old
This report serves as a measurement of the effectiveness of the medical facility's billing and collection procedures.
Morningside has detailed procedures in place to collect patient deductibles and co-payments at time of service as well as procedures for billing account balances remaining after payments from insurance. Mr. Anderson calls a meeting with both employees responsible for receiving payments from customers at time of service and accounting personnel responsible for accounts receivable. The employees charged with the responsibility of receiving payments at time of service share an embarrased look and admit that at times of high patient volume, they will sometimes tell patients that no payment is due simply to avoid delays at checkout. The accounts receivable clerks then share with Mr. Anderson how heavy their daily workload is and admit to neglecting to bill patients for balances due when other work needs to be completed. Mr. Anderson now understands the reasons behind the growth in accounts receivable balances.
Harrison, C., & Harrison, W. (2013). The Rising Costs of Medical Services and Health Care Reform. In Introduction to Health Care Finance and Accounting (1st ed., p. 199). Clifton Park: Cengage Learning.
What steps would be appropriate to resolve the problem?
- Construct a one page response that would map out what Mr. Anderson should do to solve the problem.
- Upload and submit your response in a Word document.