TikTok. It’s a great place to find fun dances and funny videos, but not such a great place to find advice about how to eliminate your medical debt. And unfortunately, your patients may be doing just that!
If you search “Medical Debt Collections” on TikTok, you’ll find a plethora of videos claiming a variety of reasons and ways that your patients can quickly and easily eliminate medical debt from their credit report. While there may be bits of information that are true, there is a lot of information that is conveniently left out or downright misinformation being given.
Below are just a few of the common claims and why they’re not exactly true when it comes to medical debt collection.
Debt Validation Letters
One TikToker, who bills herself as a credit coach, claims that a 609 Debt Validation letter is the key to having medical debt removed from credit reports. She says that by sending this letter, creditors have to remove the debt from credit reports, but does admit at the end that, “It doesn’t always work.”
She was right at the end saying this doesn’t always work, but unfortunately, there are times it does – just not the way they claim. When a collection agency receives a dispute concerning the accuracy of information contained in a consumer report it must complete an investigation and report the results to the consumer reporting agency within a limited timeframe.
Most of the “victories” TikTokers claim are not from the agencies not being able to validate the debt, but because the collection agency runs out of time to process the request. These delays can be for a variety of reasons, including slow responses from the healthcare provider, lack of access to the healthcare provider’s system, or even that the collection agency is filing insurance on behalf of the patient. One thing you can do to help reduce the number of these validation letters that go unanswered is to work closely with your collection agency to ensure they have proper access to information.
HIPAA Release Form Argument
Another favorite method for the TikTok crowd is to try and claim that information provided in a debt validation is a HIPAA violation.
How can that be? When your patients see a doctor or have a procedure done, a HIPAA Release Form should be signed, and this form should cover third-party agencies such as your collection agency. What they are telling viewers to do is once they receive the validation, which often includes detailed billing statements and other documentation, to turn around and claim this is a HIPAA violation. This is not true. Collection agencies (which are known as a healthcare provider’s business associate) tend to receive the minimum PHI necessary to obtain payment for healthcare services.
This means that collection agencies are not furnished with medical records to collect outstanding debt. If a validation is requested, you as the healthcare provider can send the billing statements and documentation as proof of existing debt. If you are unable to validate the debt, your collection agency will have to cancel the account back to your office.
Many of the TikToks that are posted offer a variation of these claims. Watching these videos, you would think all it takes is a form letter sent via certified mail, or a HIPAA argument, and poof! – your patient’s medical debt is gone! But, if you dig deeper into many of the TikTok posters offering this advice, you’ll find that they’re trying to sell their services to your patients. They want your patient’s money. They take advantage of people that need help and guidance to milk them for a little bit more.
But there are honest resources, like the Know My Debt website, an advocacy and education project from the members of ACA International. This website was designed to help consumers know their rights, navigate their debts, and plan for their financial future. Do yourself and your patients a favor and tell them to use TikTok for good reasons – the latest dances and funny videos, not to take financial advice or make their medical debt disappear.
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