Health systems were already under pressure to increase collections as patients assumed more financial responsibility for their care. But now, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in high unemployment, delays to revenue-generating medical procedures and the challenge of transitioning many hospital employees to remote work, all of which are intensifying the pressure on healthcare organizations to increase collections.
During an Aug. 19 webinar hosted by Becker's Hospital Review and sponsored by Change Healthcare, presenters discussed strategies to manage patient financial liability and uncompensated care.
Presenters were:
- Keith Slater, national vice president of patient access and revenue cycle for Change Healthcare
- Taylor Williams, MHSA, MBA, vice president of revenue cycle and the medical group at Dothan, Ala.-based Southeast Health
- Randy Ray, MBA, associate administrator of revenue cycle services at Los Angeles-based Keck Medicine of USC
Here are three strategies from the discussion:
1. Address cash management challenges. Patients already face barriers when trying to pay medical expenses, such as not understanding the amount they owe before care is rendered. And the pandemic has created even more barriers. As Mr. Slater put it: "What happens when something like COVID affects that [payment] arrangement [for a patient], and now suddenly a patient has lost their job, or is furloughed, and can't make the commitments [the organization] budgeted for?" He said this can lead to cash management challenges. To address those challenges, he recommended strategies that include evaluating and capitalizing on federal assistance programs as well as assessing accounts receivable and how patient accounts are prioritized for collection.
2. Examine policies and procedures. Mr. Williams said health systems should examine policies and procedures around self-pay and charity care to ensure guidelines are consistent across the organization and that patients understand their financial obligations. "If you have a very manual process as it relates to designating patients for financial assistance or for charity, then you're going to see high bad debt, [meaning patients who don't qualify for financial assistance and still don't pay], [as well as] low collections based upon your ability to understand who can and can't pay," he explained. "And then you're diluting your overall collections efforts if you mix those two together." He recommended implementing automated processes to get more insight into patients' financial situations, their ability to pay and whether they are eligible for Medicaid.
3. Implement new technology to help manage remote staff. Keck Medicine of USC has historically invested heavily in revenue cycle technology. But Mr. Ray said the health system was unprepared in terms of technology for the sudden change in the oversight and management of remote staff during the pandemic. "We did not have technology in place to help us manage that transition," he explained. "We are now doing a change to implement better technology so we can have that oversight and management." That new technology is expected to be in place by year's end.
To view the webinar, click here. To learn more about Change Healthcare, click here.