Regulation F Brings New Regulations to Debt Collection. Here’s How It Impacts Healthcare.

 

Commentary:

The debt collection industry is facing new regulations that will shape collections practices to come. As an extension and supplement of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “Regulation F” aims to cut back on usurious collection tactics, improve communications around debt collection, and address prohibitions on abusive or false representations.

With Regulation F come new processes and methods for interacting with debtors, like allowing a limited content voicemail message to create a touchpoint with the consumer, a restriction on coercive advertisements or violent language against the consumer, and overall new call restrictions around time zones and contacting a consumer’s place of employment.

For a more focused analysis on the impact of Regulation F, Olivia Britt, Sr. Director of Revenue Cycle Strategy at Savista, gave her perspectives on how Regulation F’s collection rule changes will ripple into the healthcare industry’s revenue integrity and accounts receivable operations.

Abridged Thoughts:

To summarize Regulation F for our customers, Regulation F is the final rule. It implements the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, FCPA. This final rule goes into effect November 30 of 2021 and what this rule does is it clarifies three things for us. It tells us the information that we must provide before collection activity begins on account. So what information must we send to that patient before we start collection activity? Two, it prohibits collectors’ collection agencies from threatening legal action on a time-barred debt, and a time-barred debt is a debt that is past the statute of limitation, so a long term payment agreement. A patient may have a moral obligation to make the payment, but after the statute of limitations is passed, they do not have a legal obligation. And the last thing that it clarifies for us is what steps must be taken before we report a patient’s debt to a credit reporting agency. And that’s really how I would summarize Regulation F for our consumers, and this impacts all of our providers, all of our providers that send AR to a collection agency.

More Like This Story:

Transforming How Lower-Middle Market Healthcare Firms are Represented

Medical Professionals Leave and Join the Industry in Droves. How Should This Shape Healthcare Education?

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

healthcare
The Future of Employer Benefits: Balancing Rising Healthcare Costs with Creative, Employee-Centered Perks
August 28, 2025

The landscape of employee benefits has undergone a seismic shift in the last decade. From the rise of telemedicine to the introduction of lifestyle spending accounts and stipends for services like DoorDash and HelloFresh, employers are reimagining how they support workers in a post-pandemic, inflation-conscious world. With healthcare costs rising and talent competition intensifying,…

Read More
How Smart EHR Features Return Time to Patient Care: Insights from Healthcare Leaders
August 27, 2025

When Documentation Technology Finally Works for Clinicians At ChartLogic, we’ve spent years perfecting the features that matter most to healthcare providers. But rather than tell you what we think works, we wanted to hear directly from clinicians about the EHR capabilities that have genuinely improved their workflows. We asked healthcare professionals: Have you ever used…

Read More
sustainability
From Green Initiatives to Guest Loyalty: Building the Future of Hospitality Through Tree Planting and Plastic Cleanup Programs
August 27, 2025

Sustainability is no longer optional in hospitality—it’s the expectation. A recent Booking.com report found that 84 percent of global travelers now prioritize making their trips more sustainable, raising the bar for hotels worldwide. Yet too many properties are still relying on the basics—like towel reuse cards or energy-saving reminders—that guests increasingly see as table stakes….

Read More
The Future of Directional Drilling: How Emerging Technologies Are Reshaping Performance Standards
August 27, 2025

Driving Innovation in Energy Exploration At Altitude Energy Partners, we’ve long understood that the future of energy development depends on continuous innovation in directional drilling technology. As formations become more complex and environmental standards more stringent, the industry is experiencing a technological revolution that promises to redefine what’s possible in drilling performance. We asked industry…

Read More