Hospitals missing out on collection opportunities, study finds

Healthcare providers don't do enough to collect on many payable bills or to provide government assistance or charity care to patients, according to a study by Telagent Inc. Telagent's analysis of account balances from 40 providers nationwide found that about half of patient accounts with some capacity to pay for services were written off when they could have been re-billed or outsourced for collections. Telagent works with healthcare companies to improve collections.