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Article: Early classification may ease bad debt burden.
- Article from:
- Healthcare Financial Management
- Article date:
- July 1, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Healthcare Financial Management Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The March installment of "Patient Accounts Management" outlined considerations in developing a charity care policy and procedure. Because a fine line separates charity care and bad debts, an institution also should carefully consider how it classifies bad debt.
Because of variations among providers' bad debt procedures, HFMA has not developed a model policy aside from Principles and Practices Board Statement No. 2 (a) and an HFMA monograph on that statement.
Bad debt occurs when a party obligated to pay a bill refuses to pay and does not qualify for a special consideration, such as charity care. Refusal to pay could be an outright refusal for which no ...