GSB Confirms New ACA Healthcare Guidelines

General Services Bureau, Inc. (GSB), a nationwide collection agency serving primarily healthcare creditors, announced today it has adopted ACA International’s new guidelines for healthcare debt servicers and purchasers entitled, Healthcare Collection, Servicing and Debt Purchasing Practices–Statement of Principles and Guidelines—effective retroactively to the company’s founding in 1946.

The new ACA (www.acainternational.org) guidelines were adopted overwhelmingly by the ACA Board of Directors on February 22, 2007.  ACA member agencies who assent to these guidelines provide their healthcare clients with assurance that their receivables will be handled ethically, legally, and professionally in a manner consistent with a patient-centered mission and maximum collections with minimal complaints.

GSB (www.gsbcollect.com), along with its sister company, Early Out Services, Inc. (EOS), have confirmed compliance with ACA’s new healthcare guidelines retroactively to 1946 to reflect the fact that the organization has complied with the spirit of these guidelines for the duration of its service to healthcare creditors, starting way back when Truman was president and when many current agency owners and managers were not yet born.

The guidelines were written in response to the increasing awareness, by healthcare providers and their larger constituency of patients and families, of the importance of patient-centered care within the healthcare industry, and as a response to the growing healthcare debt purchasing market.  They serve as a best-practices model for agencies and debt purchasers who service the needs of healthcare providers and their patient communities.  Agencies like GSB who have adopted these guidelines demonstrate their support of what is covered within them: patient communications, business relationships, legal and compliance, and agency operations. 

“We always tend to be ahead of the curve,” said Mr. Robert Leavitt, president of both operating entities.  “These guidelines have been an integral part of our operations since my father owned and managed the business.  Our commitment to the letter and spirit of these guidelines started with the business in 1946 and continues through even today as our people strive to make sure they work hand in hand with how we manage our Professional Practices Management System (PPMS) program.  For us, these guidelines were easy to adopt, so retroactive affirmation just made sense for our organization.”