The Outsource Group: Who They Are and Your Rights

Type

Collection agency

Also known as

The Outsource Group, Inc; TOG

Headquarters

St. Louis, MO

Collects

hospital bills, physician bills, self-pay patient balances

304 debt collection complaints were sent to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about The Outsource Group, Inc from November 13, 2023 to November 12, 2026. A complaint is a consumer's account, not a finding that the company broke the law. Read the complaints in the CFPB database.

Who Is The Outsource Group?

The Outsource Group (TOG) is a healthcare revenue cycle management company. A 2012 industry report described it as nationally headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, with offices and operations centers around the country, and said an acquisition that year had added a facility in Houston, Texas. That report listed its services as hospital business office outsourcing, insurance billing and follow-up, third-party liability, early-out and self-pay work, primary and secondary bad-debt collection, Medicaid eligibility advocacy, on-site financial counseling and physician billing.

In June 2013, Parallon Business Solutions, which provides business and operational services to hospitals and other healthcare providers, announced it would buy The Outsource Group, and American Banker reported in July 2013 that the acquisition was complete. We did not find a current official website for The Outsource Group, so we have not listed a phone number; use the number on your own letter and confirm it with the hospital or provider that billed you.

Why The Outsource Group May Be Contacting You

TOG's work sits inside hospital billing. Depending on the stage of the account, it may contact you as an "early-out" representative working a self-pay balance for the hospital, or as a collector on an account the hospital has written off as bad debt. In either case, the bill almost always comes from a hospital stay, emergency visit, outpatient procedure or physician service.

Because TOG also handles insurance follow-up and Medicaid eligibility work, it is worth telling them if you had insurance or Medicaid coverage on the date of service; the balance may be an unbilled or denied claim rather than money you truly owe.

How to Check a Debt The Outsource Group Says You Owe

Hospital bills tend to have the most moving parts: facility charges, separate physician bills, insurer adjustments and charity-care discounts.

• Ask whether the account is in collection. If TOG is acting as a third-party collector on a defaulted account, it must send a validation notice naming the hospital and itemizing the balance (15 U.S.C. § 1692g; 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34).
• Dispute in writing within the validation period. Ask for the itemized hospital bill, the dates of service, and every insurance payment and adjustment. Collection must pause until verification is mailed.
• Apply for financial assistance. Ask the hospital for its financial assistance policy and application; eligibility can reduce or erase the bill even after collection starts.
• Check Medicaid or insurance coverage for the date of service, and send proof if the claim was never billed.
• Note the age of the bill. Texas generally allows four years to sue on a consumer debt (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004), and debt buyers cannot sue on time-barred consumer debt (Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307). Other states set their own periods.

What The Outsource Group Can and Can't Do

When TOG collects a defaulted hospital account for a client, it is a "debt collector" under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6); the FDCPA generally does not cover accounts it received before they were in default (§ 1692a(6)(F)(iii)). Some rules that matter for hospital accounts:

• A licensed Texas health care facility may not pursue collection until it has sent a written itemized bill (Texas SB 490).
• Paid medical collections, and those under $500, no longer appear on reports from the three national credit bureaus (details).
• As a collector, it may not call more than seven times in seven days about one debt (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)) or discuss the bill with your family or employer (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b)); and
• may not threaten garnishment of your wages over a hospital bill in Texas, which does not allow it for ordinary consumer debt.

If TOG's collection went too far, see our Texas FDCPA attorneys page.

We Sue Debt Collectors That Break the FDCPA

Texas Debt Law files Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuits against debt collectors in federal court for consumers in Texas, California, Illinois, Georgia and Colorado. If The Outsource Group or anyone collecting for it harassed you, misstated what you owe, threatened action it could not take, or told others about your debt, you may have a claim. A court can order a collector that violated the FDCPA to pay your actual damages, up to $1,000 in additional statutory damages, and your attorney's fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)). An FDCPA claim generally must be filed within one year of the violation (§ 1692k(d)), so keep your letters, call logs, voicemails and screenshots, and talk to us early. Texas residents may also have claims under the Texas Debt Collection Act. Learn more from our FDCPA attorneys.

Free FDCPA Case Review(214) 851-2250

Or start your free case evaluation online. No lawyer can promise a result; every claim depends on its facts and proof.

Sources

• insideARM: revenue cycle management provider The Outsource Group (Aug. 24, 2012)
• American Banker: Parallon to Acquire Medical Debt Collector (June 13, 2013)
• American Banker: Parallon Completes Acquisition of The Outsource Group (July 2, 2013)
• CFPB Consumer Complaint Database: The Outsource Group, Inc, debt collection

This profile is general information compiled from public sources, not legal advice, and it does not state or imply that The Outsource Group has violated any law. Company details change; tell us if something here is out of date.