Deck 14: Patient Billing and Collections

Question 1

Under the Federal Trade Commission's rules, it is not legal to make a collection call to a patient at which time?

A) 8 p.m.
B) 7 p.m.
C) 7 a.m.
D) 8 a.m.

Answer 1

7 a.m.

Question 2

The law that regulates calling hours and collections methods is

A) FACTA.
B) HIPAA.
C) Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
D) FDCPA.

Answer 2

Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Question 3

Collection agencies are outside services that are hired to

A) collect overdue accounts.
B) bill for accounts to third-party payers.
C) refund patients after insurance pays their portion.
D) bill patients for the deductible portions.

Answer 3

collect overdue accounts.

Question 4

The type of patient billing that spreads out the workload of mailing statements is called

A) guarantor billing.
B) beginning-of-month billing.
C) cycle billing.
D) end-of-month billing.

Question 5

The day sheet in a medical office summarizes

A) all the transactions that were posted to all patient ledgers on a particular business day.
B) all the payments received from patients on that day.
C) all the charges and payments from the start of the month to the current date.
D) all the payments received from insurance on that day.

Question 6

What is a summary of the financial transactions that occur each day?

A) financial policy
B) day sheet
C) account ledger
D) patient statement

Question 7

A practice's retention policy for patient medical records must reflect applicable __________.

A) state laws
B) federal and state laws
C) local requirements
D) federal laws

Question 8

A __________ is a log of how long various types of documents must be stored for a particular practice.

A) payment plan
B) retention schedule
C) credit reporting
D) patient refunds

Question 9

Financial policies cover which of the following?

A) past-due balances
B) all of these are covered
C) deductibles
D) collection of copayments

Question 10

What document is used by the medical insurance specialist to update the patient billing program with the payer's payments and the amount due from the patient?

A) RA
B) EFT
C) IRA
D) OIG

Question 11

When a person receives a legal declaration of the inability to pay debts, it is called

A) bankruptcy.
B) prepayment plan.
C) means test.
D) credit reporting.

Question 12

The job of creating and implementing the practice's collections policies is done by

A) the bookkeeper.
B) the physician assistant.
C) the billing/collections manager.
D) the collections specialist.

Question 13

FDCPA is the abbreviation for

A) Fair Documentation Credit Practices Act.
B) Fair Documentation Collection Practices Act.
C) Fair Debt Credit Practices Act.
D) Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Question 14

Which of the following shows a particular day's transactions?

A) day sheet
B) collection ratio
C) patient statement
D) walkout receipt

Question 15

The term "credit reporting" applies to

A) physicians.
B) insurance companies.
C) consumers.
D) clinics and facilities.

Question 16

A good financial policy is clear to

A) payers.
B) patients.
C) practice staff.
D) both patients and the practice staff.

Question 17

Who is responsible for regulating the hours during which collection calls may be made?

A) FDCPA
B) there is not any regulation on what hour collection calls can occur
C) both the FDCPA and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
D) Telephone Consumer Protection Act

Question 18

When a practice accepts a credit card payment in advance for payments billed after treatment, what does the practice send the patient?

A) zero-balance statement
B) patient statement
C) walkout receipt
D) day sheet

Question 19

Which of the following functions involves a process to follow up on overdue accounts?

A) collections
B) fund recording
C) audits
D) billing

Question 20

The __________ totals the transactions that were posted to all patient ledgers on a particular business day.

A) patient statement
B) walkout receipt
C) day sheet
D) collection ratio

Question 21

When patients are scheduled to have major, expensive procedures, the practice's policy may be to set up

A) coinsurance plans.
B) postpayment plans.
C) deductibles.
D) prepayment plans.

Question 22

The law that regulates collection practices is

A) RA/EOB.
B) FACTA.
C) FDCPA.
D) HIPAA.

Question 23

The job of working directly with the practice's patients to resolve payment problems is done by

A) the bookkeeper.
B) the collections specialist.
C) the billing/collections manager.
D) the physician assistant.

Question 24

A practice's retention schedule protects the

A) payer.
B) provider.
C) patient.
D) both the provider and the patient.

Question 25

Uncollectible accounts refer to

A) monies owed by supply companies.
B) monies owed by payers.
C) monies owed by patients and payers.
D) monies owed by patients.

Question 26

The __________ process is used to locate a patient who owes an account balance to the practice.

A) bad debt
B) credit reporting
C) skip tracing
D) means test

Question 27

Which law modified the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect the accuracy and privacy of credit reports?

A) FDCPA
B) TCPA
C) FACTA
D) HIPAA

Question 28

Which law requires disclosure of finance charges and late fees for payment plans?

A) Telephone Consumer Protection Act
B) FDCPA
C) Truth in Lending Act
D) FACTA

Question 29

Which law required consumer reporting agencies to have reasonable and fair procedures?

A) HIPAA
B) FACTA
C) FCRA
D) FDCPA

Question 30

Which of the following requires a practice to follow a specific series of steps before an account can be written off?

A) Medicare
B) Medicaid
C) both Medicaid and Medicare
D) neither Medicaid nor Medicare

Question 31

In cycle billing, how often does the practice mail all patient statements?

A) once a month
B) daily
C) at intervals during the month
D) once a week

Question 32

Patients may agree to a(n)__________ for expensive procedures before the date of service.

A) truth-in-lending form
B) payment schedule
C) annual percentage rate calculation
D) prepayment plan

Question 33

A patient statement is

A) a bill that is sent to the patient by the insurance after the insurance has made a payment.
B) a bill that is sent to a patient for medical services that have been provided.
C) a bill that is sent to the patient after the insurance pays their portion.
D) a bill that is sent to the patient by the insurance after a bill is received.

Question 34

What is a printed bill that shows the amount a patient owes?

A) day sheet
B) account ledger
C) financial policy
D) patient statement

Question 35

The patient aging report is a(n)

A) list of outstanding bills.
B) age-related profile of the medical practice's patients.
C) accounting for how many patients the facility has.
D) list of outstanding bills and for how long each has not been paid.

Question 36

Embezzlement is a form of

A) fraud.
B) abuse.
C) stealing.
D) violating HIPAA.

Question 37

For most patients, their first notice that their bill is past due is a

A) credit report.
B) call from the practice's lawyer.
C) collection letter.
D) collection call.

Question 38

The practice's policy about keeping records is summarized in a __________, a list of the items from a record that are retained and for how long.

A) retaining schedule
B) retention schedule
C) record schedule
D) filing schedule

Question 39

What is the term for monies owed to a patient from the provider?

A) credit reporting
B) patient refund
C) bad debt
D) means test

Question 40

Which of the following statements is true?

A) The guarantor is always the husband/father.
B) The guarantor is only a term used by insurance companies.
C) The guarantor is always the head of household.
D) The guarantor and the patient may be the same person.

Question 41

FACTA is the acronym for

A) Fair and Acceptable Credit Transfer Act.
B) Fair and Accurate Credit Transfer Act.
C) Fair and Acceptable Credit Transaction Act.
D) Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act.

Question 42

When a payment plan is agreed to by patient and practice that involves no finance charge or late fees, and has four or fewer payments, it is

A) regulated by state law.
B) not regulated by state law.
C) regulated by federal law.
D) not regulated by federal law.

Question 43

__________ is a legal declaration of a person's inability to pay his or her debts.

A) Collections
B) Skip trace
C) Bankruptcy
D) Embezzlement

Question 44

Under the Federal Trade Commission's rules, it is not illegal to

A) threaten a patient during a collection call.
B) leave a message on an answering machine that discusses the debt.
C) use profane language during collection calls.
D) call a patient at 8 p.m.

Question 45

The __________ helps a practice decide whether patients are indigent.

A) skip tracing
B) credit reporting
C) bad debt
D) means test

Question 46

The __________ report is the start of the process of collecting payments due from patients.

A) insurance aging
B) patient aging
C) accounts unbilled
D) accounts uncollected

Question 47

FCRA is the abbreviation for

A) Fair Collections Reporting Act.
B) Focused Collections Reporting Act.
C) Focused Credit Reporting Act.
D) Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Question 48

What term refers to all the activities that are related to patient accounts and follow-up?

A) fraud
B) cash flow
C) embezzlement
D) collections

Question 49

Collections from patients are classified as consumer collections and are regulated by __________ and state laws.

A) regional
B) city
C) county
D) federal

Question 50

Under the Federal Trade Commission's rules, it is illegal to

A) call three times a week.
B) call multiple times daily.
C) call more than once a week.
D) there is not a guideline for how often calls can be made.

Question 51

Credit bureaus supply information about

A) how well patients pay their bills.
B) credit bureaus do not monitor physician practices.
C) how well insurance companies pay their bills.
D) how well physicians monitor their financial policies.

Question 52

Under the Federal Trade Commission's rules, it is not legal to

A) identify the practice where the debt was incurred.
B) contact a patient via mail.
C) contact a patient who wants calls to be made to an attorney.
D) discuss the patient's balance during collection calls.

Question 53

The patient statement shows

A) all of these
B) how much the insurance paid.
C) the services provided to the patient.
D) the balance that a patient owes the practice.

Question 54

The job of accurately recording the funds coming into and going out of the practice is done by

A) the collections specialist.
B) the billing/collections manager.
C) the bookkeeper.
D) the physician assistant.

Question 55

After an account is determined to be uncollectible, it is removed from the practice's expected accounts receivable and classified as

A) credit reporting.
B) bad debt.
C) means test.
D) skip tracing.

Question 56

Patients are grouped under the insurance policyholder in what type of billing?

A) cycle billing
B) end-of-month billing
C) electronic billing
D) guarantor billing

Question 57

Which of the following is the cost of a borrower's credit calculated as an annual rate?

A) payment schedule
B) annual percentage rate
C) finance charge
D) amount financed

Question 58

The retention schedule specifies

A) privacy rules.
B) which patients' records to keep.
C) the method used to store records.
D) the fees associated with filing.

Question 59

Assigning patient accounts to a specific time of the month to standardize the times when patients are mailed and payments are due is known as

A) guarantor billing.
B) cost reporting.
C) cost billing.
D) cycle billing.

Question 60

Effective patient billing begins with

A) good collection calls.
B) good collection letters.
C) efficient credit reporting.
D) sound financial policies.

Question 61

Which of the following employees learns and applies the correct techniques for effective follow-up of overdue accounts, as well as is most likely to work directly with patients?

A) collections manager
B) billing manager
C) collections specialist
D) patient account representative

Question 62

The abbreviation NA stands for

A) no answer.
B) no assignment.
C) no awareness.
D) no arrangements.

Question 63

When money needs to be paid back to patients because the practice has overcharged a patient for a service, it is known as a

A) bad debt.
B) patient refund.
C) patient credit.
D) write off.

Question 64

Bad debt includes all collections that are

A) over 30 days on the aging report.
B) over 90 days on the aging report.
C) classified as uncollectible accounts.
D) over 60 days on the aging report.

Question 65

Under guarantor billing, which of the following is true?

A) The insured, instead of the patient if they are not the same person, receives a practice's bill for services.
B) The insurance company will send out a bill to the guarantor.
C) The patient received a practice's bills for services.
D) The guarantor has to request whom the bill is sent to.