GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR BANK<

by: Laurie Hyland Robertson

Let's say you've got the basics well in hand: You have both corporate and personal checking and savings accounts and reliable access to credit. That's what most of us think banks are for.

Surprisingly, though, they also have other services — help physicians usually don’t even know about. Here's your guide.

When you shop, be aware that physicians in general make attractive personal banking customers because their high income potential means banks are willing to compete for their business.

HR HELPERS

What else is out there? For starters, consider human resources tools like direct deposit for employee salaries. Mike Ramsden, vice president, group manager at Fifth Third Bank, encourages physicians to take advantage of direct deposit because it eliminates the need for an outside agency to prepare checks.

Automating the payroll process saves staff time — and could save the practice cash as well by allowing it to avoid the fees that often come with cashing checks from the main account. Many practices further streamline the payroll function by hiring a service to perform the actual computation; that company then controls the movement of payroll funds between accounts.

Furthermore, according to Tom Chana, senior vice president, division manager for Fifth Third, “Most large banks offer what’s known as an employee banking service.” In addition to dealing with a practice's physicians, “They’ll have a package of services available for the receptionist, the bookkeeper, everyone else who’s an employee at the practice.” Because of the bank’s relationship with you, your staff might get discounts on mortgages or perhaps a higher interest rate on deposit products — perks that can add to your attractiveness as an employer.

LOCKDOWN

The next tool to consider is a lockbox service. Basically, if you have a lockbox, payments come into the bank instead of into your office. The bank accepts them on your behalf through a post office box or processing center.

Alternatively, physicians can set up an electronic transfer of those payments directly from the payer's account into the practice's account via an automatic clearinghouse (ACH). The ACH, also known as an electronic funds transfer (EFT), is similar to a wire transfer and allows immediate access to the funds.

Why is this good? First of all, it generally means payments get to your accounts faster — that means better cash flow.

Lockboxes also do away with the need for someone in the practice to handle receivables. This reduces the practice’s processing and archiving costs, but Ramsden points out that it can address other concerns as well. “A lot of times when we run into problems with clients, typically what we find out is that you have someone [in the practice] who was handling those items and there was some kind of theft, and this eliminates that.”

Ramsden adds that lockboxes mean one less person handling patients’ checks, too, so the service addresses their security as well.

You may already be able to skip some additional deposit trips to the bank by instead faxing (or submitting online) a request to move funds between accounts. Bob Franko, president of Beach Business Bank, says soon it will be possible to avoid manual deposits altogether, as check scanning is on the horizon.

Experiments are underway with a machine that scans checks and sends the images to the bank via the Internet. The technology is completely automated, and it currently works 85 percent to 90 percent of the time. That accuracy isn’t high enough yet to warrant implementation, but Franko estimates that check scanning will be widely available within a year or two.

MARKET SWEEP

Because many corporate accounts, by law, can’t earn interest, personal money market<

For Healthcare Professionals