As you may know, the Healthcare Financial Management Association and ACA International have released new medical collection guidelines to their members. This has spurred a myriad of credit bureaus, consumer protection agencies, healthcare organizations and others to try to cooperate with each other, build relationships and protect their bottom lines. Their ultimate goal, of course, is to contact consumers with medical debt without causing problems with HIPAA, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) or the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
What to know on Direct Dropped Voice Messaging
This video is for informational purposes. Be sure to consult your own attorney for questions specific to your business.
Directly Dropping your pre-recorded Message sends one voicemail to thousands of clients quickly and compliantly - without interrupting them.
Direct-To-Voicemail for Business or "ringless voicemail" is helping these medical debt collectors achieve their goals by directly delivering or “dropping” a voicemail message straight to the voicemail server. Respectfully communicating with consumers via their cell phones without ringing the phone, disturbing consumers or charging consumers for the call.
With the onset of higher premiums and less coverage for beneficiaries along with diminishing reimbursements for health care providers, the medical service provider’s relationship with their medical debt collector is more important than ever. But with increased class action lawsuits in the debt collection industry, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus’ re-interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, medical debt collectors need to do everything they can to stay “under the radar” while increasing consumer communication initiatives.
How Directly Delivered Messaging helps Medical Debt Collectors with TCPA Compliant Calling - and callbacks!
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The program does not ring the cell phone or charge the consumer. This allows the critical services of the Medical Debt Collector to proceed without interference from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
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Straight-To-Voicemail Mobile Messages never touch a wireless network. Cell messages are carried over a landline network directly to the consumer cell phone voice message system. Another TCPA Compliance plus.
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Because this delivery method directly "drops" the message, it generates fewer consumer complaints on mobile calls than even live associate calls. The consumer is never interrupted by the call. The CFPB monitors these complaints to help determine next audits.
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The program is sustainable and profitable and capable of helping your highly skilled associates field more inbound calls from consumers with a higher propensity to close in our view. It’s the perfect addition to your already successful outbound initiatives.
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This cell message delivery system creates inbound callbacks from informed consumers. This helps associates spend more time closing and liquidating debt. Fielding calls and closing for more successful events, rather than exhausting themselves reaching out.
According to ACA International, the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, “An estimated 48 million people were paying off medical debt in 2012, up from 44 million in 2010 and 37 million in 2005.” In addition, 75 million Americans reported that they experienced difficulties paying off health-related expenses last year. Healthcare-related debt is the leading category of debt collection, accounting for more than half of all debt collected in the industry.
Of course, along with this spiraling debt is the corresponding increase in TCPA suits – class action certifications through predatory attorneys partnering with desperate consumers looking to sue debt collectors – usually for inappropriate methods of contact.
In Summary:
Medical Debt Collectors have found their best chance for getting successful liquidations is talking with the consumer on the phone. But consumers rarely pick up their phone. And cell phones are rapidly becoming the only method of contact.
Directly dropped messages can help by providing a cost effective, quick boost in call-back rates without disturbing the consumer or causing issue with call prohibitions. (Ed note: up to this writing, the program has 10 million successful deliveries over 3 years without complaint).
We see Medical Debt Collectors adding Direct Messaging as an effective complement to consumer outreach initiatives, as the program is low tech and easily implemented. You simply supply the phone numbers to call, return ANI’s, and your MP3 recording. Or, professional messages can be created for you.
The system can be fully automated through an API, or numbers submitted via a website each morning. You’re only charged for two-way carrier certified successful deliveries – and reports on campaigns are generated each evening. All you need to participate is your calling list, return caller ID, MP3 message and time to begin.
The program will even throw in real-time carrier certified wireless ID, the gold standard in wireless number identification (A separate call is made before each campaign asking the carrier to identify wireless vs landline) – and you’ll need to scrub those cells every 15 days anyway - an absolute necessity in your consumer initiative recordkeeping today.
Related Blogs: "TCPA Compliant Calling for Debt Collectors"
For more information on how to directly drop a cell voicemail message, call me at 561-317-3001
Editors note: This article is referring to the inventors of Direct-To-Voicemail Cell Messaging for Enterprise Deployment - holding the patent on the program. Complete messages are double carrier certified at both start and finish – or you are not charged. Messages are clear, the phone does not ring, and the delivery rate is extremely high. The TCPA and CFPB are aware of the landline delivery system to cell voicemail platform, and so far, have not had issue with it. Keep in mind, all Ringless Voicemail is not careated the same! - and some actually do ring the phone almost half the time. Direct-To-Voicemail for Business is not designed for cold calling or non-relationship communication.
