E-Mailing Responsible Parties

A new lettering communication channel continues to gain acceptance, resulting in a letter at a significantly lower cost. By working with an experienced ARM letter partner, you can easily begin to take advantage of e-mail to further communicate with responsible parties.

Significant benefits can be realized by organizations who select the right ARM e-mail partner. It is important to review five key factors before choosing an e-mail partner.

1. ARM Industry Experience
   While there are many e-mail management companies that offer the ability to individually contact responsible parties, the unique requirements of the ARM industry demand a partner who can ensure your e-mail communication remains compliant in regards to language, format and privacy.
   
2. Security
   Be certain your e-mail provider can send ARM communication in an encrypted format. Best practices dictate the collection letter should be sent as an encrypted PDF and attached to an email that provides instructions to open the document. Otherwise, you risk interception and third-party disclosure, not to mention potentially sharing personal health information, personally identifiable information and credit card information. To further ensure privacy compliance, you should only consider solutions which use a shared password to open the encrypted PDF.
   
3. Compatible with Current Workflow and IT Infrastructure
   Implementation will be dramatically easier if you select an e-mail system that integrates with your current collections software and workflow. All of the data scrubs you use with a printed letter, such as Bankruptcy and Deceased, should also be available for e-mail communication. It should use the same transmission process as a printed letter with a simple flag to denote it is an e-mail. Using an integrated system and existing workflows will streamline your implementation and on-going system management.
   
4. E-Mail Monitoring with Print Option
   Your e-mail solution should monitor hard bounces and open rates with a workflow to send a printed letter as needed. If an e-mail receives a hard bounce, or is not opened within a specified period of time, an automated workflow to print and mail the same communication will reduce the labor required to ensure communication occurs in a timely manner by the most appropriate channel.
   
5. Payment Portal Flexibility
   Whether you already have an online payment portal established, or you need one developed to fully utilize e-mail, you need a partner who can meet your needs. Your e-mail provider must be able to seamlessly connect to your existing payment portal from the body of the letter. Or, if needed, provide a secure payment portal that meets the needs of ARM providers, such as PCI DSS certification. Either way, responsible parties should be able to connect to your payment portal with a single click from the body of the letter.

*DANTOM Systems recommends you consult with your attorney before using e-mail to communicate with responsible parties.