Medical Coder & Biller Certification (MCBC) Practice Exam

Sending a patient's bill to a collection agency early can occur due to various circumstances that indicate a lack of payment or inability to collect the owed amount. Each of the listed scenarios points to a situation that disrupts the normal billing process.

When a patient's check is returned for insufficient funds, it signifies that the patient is unable to meet their financial obligation at that moment. This could be seen as a risk to the practice's revenue, prompting the office to consider sending the bill to collections sooner rather than later.

If contact information for the patient is outdated, it becomes challenging to reach them for payment reminders or negotiations. This lack of communication can lead to assumptions that the patient is unwilling or unable to pay, resulting in the decision to escalate the matter to a collection agency.

When a patient explicitly states they will not pay the bill, this clear indication of unwillingness to settle the account can compel practice management to take immediate action by involving collections.

All these scenarios reveal significant barriers to collecting payment, justifying the decision to turn the account over to a collection agency early in the billing process. Each reason signifies a failure in the standard payment expectations, harmonizing to support the action of seeking external help for recovering the owed funds.