Midwest Service Bureau FAQ

DAY ONE - the referral is received and processed. DAY TWO - Acknowledgments are sent to the client, and the validation notice is mailed to the debtor. DAY THREE - the account is assigned to a collector and coded as 'Priority New Business.'

The account remains open until the statute of limitations has expired unless special circumstances occur. New accounts from other creditors are linked for more information.

All accounts will receive a demand letter, and if other accounts exist for the debtor, they will be linked and assigned to a collector, regardless of the size.

MSB searches for assets when the debtor is not willing to pay voluntarily and before recommending a suit. Client approval is required before proceeding with litigation.

Quality is ensured through random audits by managers, real-time call monitoring, written reviews, and regular training. All calls are recorded for review by management.

Clients can track their accounts through an online portal, customized reports, and direct communication with customer service representatives. Our portal provides real-time account status, payment history, and aging summaries. We also deliver monthly performance reports that include liquidation rates, contact statistics, and account-level detail so you always have full visibility into how your portfolio is performing.

MSB provides collection services for healthcare providers (hospitals, physician practices, dental offices), commercial businesses (B2B trade credit and accounts receivable), municipal and government agencies (utility collections, court fines), education institutions (tuition and fee recovery), and real estate companies (property management, HOA collections). Each industry team understands the specific regulations, billing patterns, and debtor demographics relevant to your sector.

MSB works on a contingency-fee basis for most collection services. That means you pay nothing upfront — we only earn a fee when we successfully recover money on your behalf. Our rates vary based on account volume, age of debt, and industry. We provide a detailed fee schedule during your free consultation so there are no surprises. For early-out and first-party services, we offer competitive flat-fee and hybrid pricing structures as well.

Yes. MSB maintains full HIPAA compliance for all medical debt collection activities. This includes encrypted data transmission, secured physical facilities, regular staff training and certification, documented privacy policies, Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) with all healthcare clients, and routine internal audits. Our compliance program is reviewed and updated annually to reflect current regulations and industry best practices.

MSB is licensed and bonded in all states that require collection agency licensing. We maintain active licenses and comply with state-specific regulations across the country, allowing us to collect on accounts for clients located anywhere in the United States. Our compliance team monitors regulatory changes in every state to ensure we remain current with licensing renewals and new requirements.

Yes. We integrate with all major EHR and billing platforms including Epic, Cerner (Oracle Health), MEDITECH, athenahealth, NextGen, and eClinicalWorks. We support automated account placement via SFTP file transfers, direct API connections, and manual upload for smaller portfolios. Most integrations are completed within 5-7 business days during onboarding.

Midwest Service Bureau was founded in 1970 and has been in continuous operation for over 55 years. We are BBB-accredited, a member of ACA International, and headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Many of our client relationships span 10, 15, and even 20+ years, which we believe reflects the quality of our work and the consistency of our results.

Patient experience is a top priority in our healthcare collections process. Every collector assigned to medical accounts receives specialized training in empathetic communication, financial counseling, and patient rights. We use your organization's name in initial communications (first-party branding) to maintain continuity, and our tone is always professional and respectful. We also screen accounts for charity care eligibility, Medicaid qualification, and financial hardship programs before pursuing aggressive collection activity. Our approach has been shown to maintain patient satisfaction scores while significantly improving self-pay recovery rates — many of our hospital clients report that patient complaints actually decrease after partnering with MSB because we handle these sensitive conversations more consistently and professionally than in-house staff juggling multiple responsibilities.

Yes. While our primary focus is on patient self-pay and bad debt collections, MSB also assists with insurance denial appeals and follow-up as part of our early-out patient collections program. Our team can identify accounts where insurance was billed incorrectly, where additional documentation could reverse a denial, or where coordination of benefits issues have resulted in the patient being billed for amounts that should have been covered. By resolving insurance issues before they become patient responsibility, we reduce the overall volume of accounts that require active collection — saving your organization time and improving the patient financial experience.

The No Surprises Act (effective January 2022) protects patients from unexpected medical bills for emergency services and out-of-network care at in-network facilities. MSB's compliance team has integrated No Surprises Act requirements into our collection workflow. Before pursuing collection on any balance, we verify that the account is not subject to surprise billing protections, that proper good faith estimates were provided when required, and that the patient's rights under the Act have been respected. Our system flags accounts that may involve out-of-network emergency care, anesthesiology, radiology, or other commonly affected specialties for compliance review before any collection activity begins. Learn more about our compliance framework.

MSB remits recovered funds to clients on a regular schedule — most clients receive remittances monthly, though we also offer bi-weekly and weekly remittance options for higher-volume accounts. Each remittance is accompanied by a detailed accounting report showing which accounts were collected, the amount recovered on each, our fee, and the net amount being remitted. Payments are sent via ACH direct deposit or check, depending on your preference. Our standard remittance cycle is net-30, meaning funds collected in a given month are remitted by the end of the following month, though expedited schedules are available for qualified clients.

Yes. Payment plans are an important tool in our collection strategy, and our collectors are authorized to arrange structured payment plans within parameters that you define. You set the rules — minimum payment amounts, maximum plan duration, down payment requirements — and our team works within those guidelines to find solutions that debtors can realistically maintain. Payment plans are documented in writing, and our system automatically tracks compliance, sends reminders, and flags accounts where payments are missed. For healthcare clients, we also assist patients in applying for financial assistance programs, charity care, and Medicaid when appropriate.

You can recall accounts from MSB at any time. We understand that circumstances change — a customer may contact you directly to arrange payment, an account may be placed in error, or you may decide to handle certain accounts internally. To recall an account, simply notify your account manager or submit a recall through our client portal. The account will be returned immediately and no further collection activity will occur. There is no fee for recalled accounts on which no recovery was made. If a partial payment was collected before the recall, our standard contingency fee applies to the amount collected.