Looking afield: debt collection tips hospitals can borrow from banks.

When developing strategies for collecting on patient debt, hospitals can benefit from following the example of the banking industry: Banks take a "do-it-yourself" approach, working delinquent accounts in-house for as long as practical. They embrace technology to give in-house debt collectors optimal opportunity to connect with customers to work out terms for resolving debt. They strategically leverage outside collections agencies based on the makeup of their debt portfolio.