Sponsored Insight
Finding ways to cover medical expenses can be confusing and frustrating for patients. Many of them put off paying bills or don’t pay them at all because they don’t know or understand their options.
That’s a big concern for hospitals and health systems seeking to improve the overall patient experience. Quality of care is more important than ever in today’s constantly changing world of healthcare consumerism. And if patients take longer to pay their bills because they are dissatisfied, then the longer it takes for hospitals to receive reimbursement.
Meanwhile, the current administration is stalled in perpetual turmoil over potential changes to healthcare, and uncertainty over state and local rules is prevalent. It’s a complex environment that compounds the difficulty patients face. These are challenging times for hospitals and health systems too — many are consolidating vendors to cut costs and give breathing room to ever-shrinking margins.
So, what’s the best approach to handling patients who need help finding and enrolling in available coverage programs, such as Medicaid?
And what about patients who are uninsured or under-insured, and patients with balances after insurance? This population is on the rise — the patient is now the No. 3 payer for healthcare services behind Medicare and Medicaid.
A recent case study of a large hospital shows how eligibility and early out services, when paired together, can help patients cover their medical expenses, improve patient satisfaction, and increase revenue. Key to the hospital’s success was how its revenue cycle management partner, MedData, was able to seamlessly integrate and implement both services.
Patient advocates used MedData’s proprietary technology to discover eligibility programs whenever possible and then smoothly transition to a self-pay option as needed. After six months, the hospital already had achieved dramatic improvements in inpatient and outpatient certification charges, early out revenue, and self-pay net collection rate.
Learn more about how eligibility and early out services work better together to cut revenue cycle time, create a better patient experience, and improve the bottom line. Download the case study here.