Closing the Books by IC System

icsystem
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  • MANAGEMENT
Closing the Books by IC System

IC System is a privately held accounts receivable management firm founded in 1938 on the principle of ethical collection practices. Now in our third generation of family ownership, our purpose is “Making Collections Better.” This simple statement guides every decision our leaders make and influences every interaction we have with consumers, our clients, our industry, and our community.

  1. 08/09/2024

    LEVERAGING AAHAM INFLUENCE: HOW IC SYSTEM EXCELS IN HEALTHCARE COLLECTIONS

    Closing the Books by IC System

    23 min

  2. 06/14/2024

    A Different Approach for Collection Agencies with John Erickson

    John Erickson, President and CEO of IC System, believes there’s a compassionate way to approach the collection agency business. That model leads to higher recoveries and positive outcomes for clients. A lot in the industry has changed in Erickson's 20-year involvement with collections. Increased regulations, and a re-thinking of the approach, helped reduce some of the more aggressive tactics used in the collections’ process. “How we treat people is one of our core values at IC System,” Erickson said. “How we handle all of the people we speak with on the phone - we must treat them with dignity and respect.” Empathy training is something Erickson’s employees receive. This type of training helps provide a better understanding of what a consumer might be going through financially. Another differentiator Erickson believes makes a big difference in IC System's success is conducting post-call surveys. “As far as I know, we are one of the only companies in our industry that does this,” Erickson said. “All consumers are given the option of taking a survey at the end of every call.” This approach validates consumer satisfaction with IC’s process is working. Erickson admits skepticism from some clients who believe a more aggressive approach will lead to a higher collection rate. “But that is not true,” Erickson said. “Our data proves that. “When we score out our calls and score well on our calls, we collect more money.”

    14 min

  3. 06/14/2024

    Affordable Debt Collection with InstiCollect

    Bryan Campbell, Business Development Manager at IC System talks about the options for affordable debt collection services. Key points: IC System offers an online solution based approach to debt collection. Within 24 hours InstiCollect can have debt monitoring activity. InstiCollect allows for credit reporting, skip tracing and more. IC System strives to make debt collection better. With innovation being one of the core values, IC System identified a business segment that was underserved and created a product to take what they've done for 80+ years to address this segment in a new, modern way. This new method, called InstiCollect, is a two-phased approach that allows members to get going within 24 hours - as soon as debt is placed in the system through IC System's newly enhanced client portal system. InstiCollect is available for all industries from property managers to dental practices, small physician groups, veterinarians, and law firms. Its goal is to fit across the board within each industry. IC System has over 85 years of experience in medical and dental debt collection, rent recovery and other business collections. For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

    14 min

  4. 06/14/2024

    BONUS EPISODE: Creating A People-Focused Culture in Debt Collection

    Debt collection rarely, if ever, has a positive connotation. Joe Erickson, Director of HR at IC System, spoke with Eric Johannes, Director of Corporate Marketing at IC System, about how this relates to the significance of creating positive culture in this sector. Erickson has worked for IC System, a family business founded by his grandmother, for 22 years. He sees the main benefit of working for a private-owned company as being able to say when something is wrong and act with integrity, even when difficult. “Our core values are something that we’ve stuck by, and we have held to even when it is inconvenient,” he stated. “Being a private-owned company, we’re able to be more flexible, we’re able to do what’s right for our clients maybe more and were able to do what’s right for our employees maybe more.” Because collections has a negative connotation, it’s crucial for IC System to spread the message that they are trying to do good. “We’re really trying to be the good guy and be an extension of our clients and treat people the way we’d want to be treated out there,” Erickson explained. This involves finding the right people to do the job and being a good steward of clients, the community, and employees. IC System creates a culture of buy-in where employees believe in their vision. “If you have people that are not living your core values, it can spoil the water and it can make it bad for everybody else. And I think that we protect that, we protect our core values, and we really don’t make our people work with people that don’t align with us,” Erickson said. To learn more about IC System and how they instill positive culture, subscribe to Closing the Books on Spotify OR Apple iTunes. IC System has over 85 years of experience in medical and dental debt collection, rent recovery and other business collections. For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

    17 min

  5. 06/14/2024

    BONUS EPISODE: Debt Collection Through the Years with Kay Drinkwitz

    On this episode of Closing the books, a podcast by I.C. System, Host, Eric Johannes, sat down with Kay Drinkwitz, a Lead at IC System. The two discussed Drinkwitz’s 27-year journey at I.C. system, from her early days as a college student to her work today as a mentor for other collectors, as well as how the task of debt collecting has evolved throughout her years at I.C. System. Drinkwitz was only 18 when she got referred by her supervisor to start at I.C. System. She recalls her first years working in debt collection being intimidating, especially when comparing herself to some of the more experienced collectors. “I was very soft on the phone,” Drinkwitz explains, “I think it helped me develop a lot of my self-confidence over the years. I’ve grown with the job for sure.” After graduating college with a degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Mathematics, Drinkwitz found that her job at I.C. system ultimately worked best with the life changes she was experiencing at the time. Now, 27 years later what started as a part-time job in college has turned into many years of experience and fostered relationships. “I definitely could not work for a company that was not in line with my own values,” Drinkwitz explains. “We really try to put people first and that's important to me. The approach that we have always taken is to try to help people and try to do the right thing.” The two go on to discuss the evolution of debt collecting at I.C. system, such as changes in terminology like “consumer” instead of “debtor”, as well as dealing with the negative connotations associated with debt collecting and navigating through difficult conversations with consumers. For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

    21 min

  6. 06/14/2024

    Challenges of Debt Collection 2023

    On the newest episode of Closing the Books, a podcast by IC System - expert in all things debt collection - host Gabrielle Bejarano chats with President and CEO of IC System, John Erickson, about the challenges of debt collection for the previous years, rolling into 2023. The two discuss... 1) The impact the past few years of consumers’ ability to repay debts has had on the business and IC System’s solutions to these challenges 2) How IC System has outperformed its competitors using new communication systems despite the consumer payment issue 3) What challenges the collection industry will have moving into 2023 and how IC System is well positioned to navigate these challenges “For our clients in 2023, it’s going to be important for us to continue to use analytics, continue to use modelling and employ these new tools we have smartly . . . always measuring ourselves against the competition,” said Erickson. Erickson started his career at IC System as a collector, 26 years ago. Erickson has helped grow IC System into the company that it is today and was awarded the Vistage Minnesota IMPACT award in 2017. IC System has over 85 years of experience in medical and dental debt collection, rent recovery and other business collections. For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

    11 min

  7. 06/14/2024

    Changes to Credit Reporting in the Healthcare Industry

    The most expensive car ride someone may take in their life is an ambulance ride, which racks up to a whopping average of 1,200 dollars. Most individuals probably cannot or will not pay that bill outright, meaning it will serve as a form of debt to them. So, how is credit debt any different from more “voluntary” types of debt and how does it impact patient credit scores? On today’s episode, Host Gabrielle Bejarano speaks with Michelle Dove, Chief Corporate Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at IC System, to talk about recent and upcoming changes in credit reporting in the healthcare sector and how this will impact patients. Bejarano and Dove also discussed… 1. How paid healthcare debt will no longer be credit-reported 2. Medical account reporting time frame changes and the impact on patients and the industry 3. The pending change in the debt threshold for credit reporting Dove elaborated on how the current and upcoming changes will impact patients. “There are positives—the patient gets more time, but I think the negative is it takes away one method of communicating with the patient to help them understand their account,” she stated. Dove is Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel at IC Systems and ensures documentation complies with federal, state, and local laws. She has previous experience as an attorney at Bassford Remele, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, and Rider Bennet, LLP. Dove has a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology from the University of Michigan and earned her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. IC System has over 85 years of experience in medical and dental debt collection, rent recovery and other business collections. For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

    14 min

  8. 06/14/2024

    Choosing The Right Collection Agency Partner

    Chasing down a debt can be an unpleasant process, but that makes it all the more important to pick the right collection agency. In many ways, IC System Vice President of Client Service Chris Morris said, the collection agency is an extension of your business. While a payment may be delinquent, the relationship between a business and a client is still important. “You selected this collection agency to work on your behalf, and if you’re selecting a collection agency that is abusive or is harassing your customers, that’s going to reflect negatively on you and potentially create a negative view of your organization from the marketplace,” Morris said. IC System is responsible with its data collection, making sure not to expose phone numbers and addresses that other agencies may not treat as carefully. Morris said one of the best ways to see if a collection agency is the right partner is to review their website. If they have a professional site complete with features like online portals showing the process of cases and easy-to-find information, they’re more likely to be responsible when working to recover debt. “Collection agencies generally will contact consumers via the phone and via the mail and via email now, but I think what sets IC System apart is our client service and our commitment to our clients. That’s demonstrated through having a sense of urgency, being available to our clients via telephone or email … following up with any requests our clients have is incredibly critical,” he said. “The last thing you want to have is to entrust a significant amount of your revenue with a collection agency partner [where] you don’t know what they’re doing.” For more information, visit https://www.icsystem.com/.

    14 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

IC System is a privately held accounts receivable management firm founded in 1938 on the principle of ethical collection practices. Now in our third generation of family ownership, our purpose is “Making Collections Better.” This simple statement guides every decision our leaders make and influences every interaction we have with consumers, our clients, our industry, and our community.

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