Collection Agencies

The WSMA believes that in referring a delinquent account to a collection agency, the physician should first give due consideration to the patient's ability to pay the fee which is due. The physician should not utilize the services of a collection agency whose tactics and methods of collection might be unfair or abusive; nor should he/she enter into any arrangement under which he/she would lose complete control of the delinquent account or the method of its collection. (JC 6.15-87) (Reaffirmed A-23)

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Abbreviations for House of Delegates report origination:

EC – Executive Committee; BT – Board of Trustees; CPA – Council on Professional Affairs; JC – Judicial Council; CHS – Community and Health Services