Wcoghill:
I found reference to the technique you describe in Family Practice Managment magazine from April 2002 (forgive the extensive quoting but I couldn't link directly to the article).
Somehow, I had it in my mind that this would conflict with one of my contracts, but perhaps I'm confused. I will have to speak with my billing guru on Monday.
Brian
(quote follows)
"Our practice offers our uninsured patients a 30-percent discount on all office visits. The discount applies only to the office visit charge; we charge our regular price for medicines and tests associated with the evaluation and management (E/M) service because our profit margin on these items is so small. We simply charge the uninsured patient according to our regular fee schedule and then write off the 30-percent discount.
We notify uninsured patients of the discount policy when they make appointments and require that they pay in full at the time of the visit. Ninety-five percent of them are grateful for the discount and readily pay for their visits at the time of service. This not only enables our uninsured patients to obtain cost-efficient medical care, it also increases our practice's cash flow. Thirty-five dollars in our cash drawer is much more valuable to our practice than $50 sitting in accounts receivable for three months or more. The 30-percent discount is comparable to the discounts that our managed care contracts obligate us to provide to our insured patients, but we don't have to wait 15, 30 or even 90 days to collect it. "
