Can I Be Denied Service From A Doctor For An Outstanding Balance

A physician asks whether he can legally refuse treatment to a patient with an unpaid residual. Here are five legal considerations.

The following is a question from a dr. reader:

Question:Can a do legally refuse to care for a patient if they accept an unpaid residual only they haven't been officially dismissed from the practice?

Answer: This consequence was touched upon in an before weblog in which I discussed terminating a patient from your practise. In all patient challenges, the most important goal is to avoid a claim of patient abandonment and clinch that patient care is not neglected. Regardless of the reason for your issues with a patient, whether it's unpaid bills, failure to follow advice, or mistreatment of staff, the same advice applies:

Make sure not to terminate a patient until at that place is bear witness in the record of the trouble(due south). Patients should exist provided with notice of such problem(due south) and an opportunity to change their behavior. If the item patient's issue is an unpaid balance, meet with the patient privately and discuss the effect. Can a payment programme be established? Tin the patient demonstrate financial hardship that you are able to document. Document your coming together with the patient, the issues discussed, and the patient's response.

Follow up in writing and let the patient know that unless a payment plan is established by a certain date, the practice will provide find of termination.

You may need to finish the patient. Always call up that the patient must be provided with sufficient fourth dimension to find alternative care before termination from the exercise. Reasonable notice can vary depending on the patient'south medical condition and the difficulty which a patient may accept in finding alternative intendance. For instance, I recommend that an oncologist not terminate a patient for nonpayment of medical bills until the patient has completed the current course of chemotherapy. Alternatively, a patient of an internist who but comes in when he or she has a cold or other minor issue may require only thirty days' notice. There may be state-specific laws regarding minimum notice periods and these must also exist observed. It's not your responsibleness to brand certain the patient has institute a new physician, merely to provide sufficient fourth dimension for the patient to practice so. However, in certain circumstances, there may certainly be ethical obligations to provide boosted assistance to extremely ill patients to secure continued care.

However, at all times through the termination process and thereafter, information technology should exist the goal of the practice to effort to establish a payment organization with the patient and to decide if in that location is a documented financial hardship.

In any notice provided to patients, brand sure you clearly note the engagement on which they volition no longer receive care and how they tin obtain copies of their medical records. Y'all should as well offering assistance in locating a new physician, such as providing contact information for a state medical association or similar organization. The patient should understand that in the consequence of an emergency or urgent state of affairs (which may depend upon specialty), the exercise should accept the necessary steps to assure the patient is properly cared for.

Like any other concern, physicians should not exist required to continue to offer services without payment. Still, in medicine it's not all about the lesser line. Take the time to properly handle each patient and to assure their understanding and continued medical intendance in order to best protect your medical practice.

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About the Writer

Ericka L. Adler, JD, LLM has practiced in the area of regulatory and transactional healthcare constabulary for more than xx years. She represents physicians and other healthcare providers beyond the country in their day-to-day legal needs, including contract negotiations, sale transactions, and complex joint ventures. She as well works with providers on a broad variety of compliance issues such equally Stark Police force, Anti-Kickback Statute, and HIPAA. Ericka has been writing for Physicians Practise since 2011.