EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to a new regular feature on AccountsRecovery.net, the Industry Trailblazers. In this weekly feature, we will spotlight agencies and individuals within the ARM industry who are charting a new path. Whether through the use of technology or applying difference principles and perspectives, these companies stand out among the rest. This series is being generously sponsored by BillingTree.
Mnet Financial understands that the healthcare industry is evolving as never before. Patients are faced with higher healthcare costs and the burden is causing more stress on their personal financial situation. That means collection agencies must evolve as well. Read on to learn more about how Mnet is embracing that evolution and becoming a trusted partner for its’ clients.
How many years has your agency been operating?
We’ve been in business since 2005.
What associations is your agency a member of?
We are members of ACA International as well as several state associations including the California & Texas state associations.
Number of employees:
We are currently a team of 35 FTEs and 35 contractors.
In what category of collections does your agency specialize?
Healthcare.
What values do you instill in your workforce?
We always put the patients’ dignity and our clients’ needs first. Our aim is to help clients get referrals and return visits without damaging their patient satisfaction through a collection effort that is too aggressive.
If we asked an employee to describe the agency in one word, what word do you think he or she would use?
Friendly.
We don’t always hire experienced collectors. We tend to hire college students and those with a strong customer service or retail background. We place an emphasis on client service. We have a catered luncheon for employees on Fridays. We want our workplace to be different than what those on the outside might think working for collection agency would be like.
What word would you least like them to use?
Boring. We want to create a work environment that people can thrive in and do a job that they find rewarding and satisfying.
How does your agency maintain a Trailblazing company culture on a daily basis?
It comes down to training. Educated representatives are the best way to truly reach patients. If they are educated about how their debt came to be, they are more likely to pay for it. Highly trained representatives who are well-versed about what’s going on in the industry are better at doing their jobs. Training helps make them be the best collector that they can be. If you’re going to do something, make sure to do it well.
What is the key to motivating your employees?
Environment is everything. We often spend more of our waking hours with our co-workers than we do with our family; so we want them to feel as close to home as they can. We want them to be as comfortable as they can be while they are at work. While you need to make routine phone calls, we find that you can still be engaged and find the work environment to be very rewarding.
How do you define success at your agency?
For us, success is being able to find a creative way to meet our clients’ needs. Whether it’s in the form of new product development – an example was when we were able to enter the first-party space – that for us was success. We want to create new opportunities for our clients as well as their patients.
What makes your agency so productive?
We have found productivity can be boosted by promoting a casual office atmosphere – while always making sure we are in compliance. While we do not allow collectors to have their phones on the collection floor, we do allow them to take breaks from their desks and get up to stretch and walk around. We want to keep our agents mentally stimulated while they make their outbound phone calls, and mentally engaged while they handle their inbound calls or successful outbound phone connections.
What separates you from other agencies?
It’s the creative process that we go through when we’re developing new programs. We like to really listen to our clients. Healthcare is changing so rapidly and it’s a challenge to keep up. We like to brainstorm as a partner about how we can help with their AR, that is what really separates us from the pack.
We have a passion for collecting. We place an emphasis on meeting the consumer where they are at and helping them to be successful.
We like being the first phone call. If a client is experiencing a headache, we want to hear about it. We have account managers who have close relationships with clients and find out what’s new in their world and what they’re working on so that we can bring some new ideas to help.
Where do you see the industry in five years?
The ARM industry will always be here. I think there is a lot of upside in getting more language from the CFPB — like safe harbor language. For the healthcare industry to work well, collection efforts will need to find viable ways to get them paid.
Where do you see your agency in five years?
I think we will continue to grow. More and more, we try to offer solutions that are not just bad debt. Financial technology is expanding; so taking advantage of that with our financial partners, we can offer different solutions to consumers. We are expanding our horizons to be a real partner for the healthcare segment, which we are obviously so closely aligned with. We also want to continue evolving to meet their needs.
Thanks to BillingTree for sponsoring the Industry Trailblazer. BillingTree is the leading provider of integrated payments solutions to the Healthcare, ARM, Property Management, B2B, and Financial Services industry verticals. Through its technology-enabled suite of products and services, BillingTree enables organizations to increase efficiency and decrease the costs of payment processing while adhering to compliance regulations. Leveraging more than a decade of market experience, BillingTree is dedicated to growing payments with technology through an integrated omni-channel offering, suite of proprietary products and value-added services, and a company-wide focus on delivering extraordinary customer service.