(813) 251-0802
(800) 741-0802
LEADER IN EXTENDED RECEIVABLES RECOVERY
If you received a statement from Preferred CMS click HERE.
Preferred Collection and Management Services D/B/A The Preferred Group of Tampa, is a family-founded, local-owned, faith-based, and values-driven organization passionate about helping further the mission and vision of local healthcare providers by providing much-needed revenue recovery on extended receivables for the Patient Financial Services departments or hospitals, physicians, and physician groups of all sizes. Having been in the accounts receivables management industry for over 35 years, our customer-centric approach to revenue recovery is different from traditional collection agency models because healthcare is not the same as other consumer debt like credit cards debt. Many times, patients are receiving care not by choice but out of necessity and unexpectedly.
As part of the “patient experience”, financial responsibility can often be confusing, frustrating, and a source of both frustration and complaints, if not handled with a white-gloved approach. This approach not only avoids complaints and frustration but it enhances your brand and the patient experience by open communication, building trust and rapport, problem-solving, and finding solutions to revenue recovery in a time and manner convenient to your patient. Feel free to call us today. Florida (813) 251-0802 or Toll-Free (800) 741-0802
OUR VISION
"Making a difference by doing the right thing"
We ensure that our employees know they can make a difference in our world by simply doing the right thing, AT ALL TIMES. Being honorable and honest with excellence in our performance sets us apart from the ordinary. This means doing the right thing for our clients, our vendors, our partners, each other, and for every debtor and third party payer that we come in contact with.
Our Company Vision Statement is simply this:
WIN
If we purpose to compete each and every day, to not let anything stop us, to find a way, to figure it out, all while doing it the right way… we will be successful and significant. When we purpose to relentlessly compete with honor, honesty and excellence, we win, our clients win and our community wins.
OUR VALUES
At Preferred, our Core Values are based on scripture.
Philippians 4:13 (New King James Version (NKJV)) tells us:
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
C- Continuous Improvement
H- Honesty
R- Respect
I- Integrity
S- Stewardship
T- Teamwork
THE PREFERRED DIFFERENCE
What makes Preferred different?
Many agencies, when competing for your business, will overpromise and underdeliver. Preferred has been in business for more than 35 years with some of the same clients since inception. When we partner with you, we are not merely acting as a vendor collecting on your receivables, we provide invaluable feedback to your teams on trends we are seeing like bad data and missing data that could be affecting your front end processes and all receivables.
We also convey industry trends, recent legislation and court cases that can keep you out of court. When you have government agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) trying to create law by imposing over burdensome fines and rulings while also positioning themselves in a power grab to have first party creditors fall under their purview, it is increasingly important to have an agency that understands, communicates to you and can minimize your exposure. Reg F, which will take effect at the end of November 2021, is the biggest change to the Accounts Receivables Management industry since the 70's.
Preferred has two past presidents of the Florida Collectors Association still serving on its board as well as serving the American Collectors Association International, the collection industry trade group. This helps to shape policy at the state and local level. For more information, click the FCA link.
SEE MORE BELOW
Tips For Increased Recovery
Communications After a Disaster
Download TCPA Information
FAQs
<---- Download Printable brochure here
<---- E&Y SURVEY ON DEBT COLLECTION AND THE ECONOMY
ID Theft Info Why A Police Report is Required
Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc., d/b/a The Preferred Group of Tampa is one of Florida’s most successful agencies specializing in revenue recovery especially in the healthcare market. Founded in 1985, Preferred has grown steadily over the years with no sales personnel and has been selected three times for the Florida 100 which recognizes the top 100 fastest-growing private companies in Florida.
At Preferred, we created a niche for providing unparalleled representation on sensitive account types no matter whether they are healthcare, consumer, government or commercial, all while obtaining the highest possible recovery. At Preferred, it’s not what we do as much as how we do it that governs our company’s work ethos. We ensure our team upholds our strict compliance protocols and adheres to our core values, even when nobody is watching. Everyday we believe we can “make a difference by doing the right thing.”
HIGHLIGHTS
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Privately owned company
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First Party, third party and special focus "cleanup" projects
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Over 30 years specializing in healthcare accounts and the special attention they require
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We collect on consumer, government and commercial debt
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Bilingual support
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Active members of ACA International and the Florida Collector’s Association
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Extreme focus on compliance, LEAN "best practices", while incorporating the most efficient technological solutions our industry has to offer
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The ability to collect in all 50 states
At Preferred, it is our philosophy and living out of that philosophy that makes our company rather unique in the accounts receivable industry. For healthcare clients, we understand the special requirements of the provider-patient relationship and the impact that it has on the community. We also understand the nuances of regular consumer and government bad debt collections and why a different texture in our collections protocol is needed that is distinctly different from the protocols that healthcare collections require.
When a patient has a need in which our client is involved, it often overshadows everything else going on in their lives at that time. When a person owes a ticket and can't get their auto registration renewed, that too creates frustration. Our calling protocol is to provide them with quick, efficient, and correct answers and excellent service to effect the most professional recovery of every owed dollar possible to ensure that the work of our client not only continues but also is resourced in a way to continually enhance their own operations- whether that is in healthcare, traffic enforcement, utilities, leasing or HOA management. It is not what we do that matters as much as how we do it. Preferred has developed its unique and proprietary COLLISIO model for collections. Click the link below for more information on COLLISIO.
For any inquiries, questions or any special needs please contact us or fill out the following form and a member from our support department will contact you.
Interested in knowing how a champion-challenger model could help improve your recoveries? Need recommendations for a mail processor, executive staffing, IT consulting, or merchant services? We are here to help. Please contact us today.
THE PREFERRED GROUP OF TAMPA
8875 HIDDEN RIVER PARKWAY, SUITE 100
TAMPA, FLORIDA 33637
Support@preferredgroupoftampa.com
Phones:
813.251.0802
800.741.0802
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What is the difference between a debt, a debtor, a consumer, a creditor, an original creditor and a client?"A debt is money that is owed for goods sold and delivered, services that were rendered, a ticket, fine, loan or some other obligation provided for by a contractual duty to pay. A debtor is the person or business that received the benefits of the goods or services or was ticketed or fined or by contract agreed to pay but didn’t follow through. A consumer is synonymous with debtor in our industry. The consumer may be a patient if the debt is medical. A creditor is the party that may contract directly with an agency to collect on a debt it is owed. The original creditor is the party involved in the original transaction that created the debt and was once or still is the party of a legally-owed the debt. The original creditor could be different than the entity contracting with the agency to collect a debt if it sold the debt to another party called a debt-buyer. The client is the party contracting with the agency to collect money. The client could be a debt buyer, the original creditor, a government entity, or a business.
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How much does it cost to use a collection agency?The cost to recover on an account varies according to how old an account is, how good the data is, the data available to identify the debtor’s address, phone, employer, social security number and date of birth, and the type of debt that it is. Agencies incur hard costs for data scrubbing, skiptracing, scoring, postage, phone calls and time and labor working to collect on the account numerous times and numerous dayparts in order to try and reach the right party and get them to pay. There are also costs associated with compliance, audits, licensing, legal fees, and continuous training. Taking the above factors into consideration, along with the number of initial accounts you are placing and the volume thereafter, frequency of placement and the average balance of your accounts, an agency will calculate a rate of which they will keep that portion of any recovered money owed to a creditor. This is called the contingency rate.
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What is contingency fee-based collections?Instead of paying per account placed, contingency-based collections means the agency only gets paid if it collects money. It doesn’t charge you for its hard and actual cost to work the account. So, for example, if the contingency rate is 35%, then the agency will be owed its fee of 35 cents of every dollar it collects from the debtor. If an account is settled for less than the amount placed, or the client permits or requires any other type of adjustment of the initial amount placed the agency does NOT take a fee on the adjusted amount, only the net amount collected.
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What is credit reporting and what does it cost?A consumer who has maintained a good record of paying their bills on time, manages their money wisely, doesn’t take on too much debt in the forms of loans, and has a low debt to income ratio will be able to secure credit at lower and more preferable rates than a consumer who does not. Many times, if the consumer has not paid the original creditor when the amount owed became due, and the account goes to collections, if a client (creditor) allows us to credit report, then we can use credit reporting as leverage in order to get the creditor paid. Sometimes, despite searching for a consumer who has moved or changed their phone number through skiptracing, we cannot reach them and credit reporting is the only way they will know about the money you are owed. They will often dispute the debt which gives us an opportunity to get updated demographic information so that we can contact them and validate the debt. This gives us another opportunity to collect what you are owed. We do not charge anything extra to credit report accounts even though there are hard costs associated with reporting and responding to disputes. We find clients that permit credit reporting enjoy greater recoveries than clients that do not credit report. Clients may choose to credit report or not for their own reasons and not all debts are credit reportable. In order for an account that is permitted to be credit reported, can actually be credit reported, we must have a social security number and/or birthdate of the debtor.
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What is skiptracing?When a consumer or business has moved and/or changed phone numbers, our letters and calls may not reach them. Therefore, we use a variety of methods and vendor services to try and locate the current phone number and/or address so that we can reach out to the right party and collect the debt.
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What if a debtor gets an attorney?If the original creditor knows that a consumer is represented by an attorney, it must notify the agency so that the agency can (by law) deal only with and through the consumer’s attorney. If the agency finds out a consumer is represented by an attorney, it can’t call or write the consumer or communicate in any way with the consumer while the consumer is represented unless the attorney permits it or, after a reasonable period of time trying to contact the attorney, we get negative results in our contact efforts. Accounts can be credit reported even if the consumer is represented by an attorney in most situations.
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What is a Letter of Protection (LOP)?Many times, if a consumer was, for instance, in an auto accident, they will get an attorney to represent them and offer an LOP either to the original creditor (like the medical provider) or to the agency. The LOP states that they will protect your claim and pay you once the matter is settled as long as you agree to protect the account from being reported to the credit bureaus and stop collection activity while the case is pending. This agency does not accept LOPs nor do we recommend our clients accept LOPs because they are not worth the paper they are written on. You have no control over when the case will settle. You won’t receive any money during the time the case is pending. There is no guarantee of a recovery or that it will be enough to cover all of your costs (and that of other providers). Once the settlement is obtained, the consumer can change his/her mind regarding paying you. The attorney is more than likely, getting paid his/her full fee out of the recovery (with some exceptions).
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What if a debtor files for bankruptcy?If a debtor files for bankruptcy and your date of service or last charge off date precedes the filing, the debtor can include your account in the bankruptcy. If the debtor files under Chapter 7, all debts except student loans and certain government debt like fine, tickets and taxes, are dischargeable meaning we can’t collect on them. They will also be removed from being credit reported due to changes made under the last administration. If the debtor files under a Chapter 13 (reorganization) certain debts will be prioritized over others (secured vs. unsecured) and the Bankruptcy Trustee will develop a payment plan whereby you may recover some or all of what you are owed depending on if the creditor or agency filed a claim and if the debt was secured or unsecured. We do not charge for filing a Chapter 13 claim form on the creditor’s behalf.
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What if a debtor dies?When the debtor dies we have to rely on the person taking care of his/her affairs to make good on the amount owed. If Probate is filed (where the courts take control of disbursing money and assets, we can file a probate claim and try and collect all or part of the amount owed. We do not charge to file a probate claim.