RCM tip of the day: Align consumer expectations early in the process

The shift from payer reimbursement to patient reimbursement has major implications for revenue cycle management, forcing hospitals and health systems to abandon traditional processes for the adoption of patient-centric practices.

This means working to ensure patients are aware of their financial obligations upfront.

Matias Klein, vice president of product management for RelayHealth Financial, the RCM arm of McKesson: One way to do this is to offer simple price transparency tools. Providers need to be able to furnish accurate cost estimates to patients prior to service, and be ready to collect more from them beginning at the point of service. And they must be sensitive in their collection efforts, as patient satisfaction scores are not only used to inform federal payments for healthcare services, but patient collections are increasingly linked to overall satisfaction. Financial counseling is another proactive strategy that can help. We've seen providers employ a variety of strategies. One hospital system used an online patient portal along with a patient financial advocacy program to boost online patient payments by 40 percent, realize a $1 million year-over-year increase in insurance self-payments and dramatically reduce call center volume.

To learn more about consumer financial engagement challenges and opportunities, access this story from Becker's Hospital Review.

If you would like to share your RCM best practices, please email Kelly Gooch at kgooch@beckershealthcare.com to be featured in the "RCM tip of the day" series.

 

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