Surge in underinsured, self-pay? Use these tips
The utilization of services by self-pay patients has increased by 6.9% over the last fiscal year at St. Joseph's Hospital and Candler Hospital, both located in Savannah, GA, says Susan M. Younggreen, director of patient financial services.
a. a result, Younggreen says that patient access staff have recently become more proactive about informing patients on how they can receive help with their bills.
Registrars refer patients to the hospital's financial counselors and/or the Medicaid eligibility vendor, inform them of prompt-pay and self-pay discounts, and provide financial assistance applications with instructions, says Younggreen.
"This is really not a new role for the patient registrars," says Younggreen. "They are just providing more information than before, and are doing so without being asked."
Collections were decreasing
a.cess staff have done point-of-service collections for inpatients, same-day-surgery, imaging, and ED patients for about four years, says Younggreen, but over the past two years, collections have been slowly decreasing.
"We are currently in the process of implementing an initiative to increase collections," she reports. "We have identified the most successful collectors, and are having them coach the others."
The coaches do some role-playing, says Younggreen, which gets less experienced staff more comfortable with collecting from patients. "We are emphasizing that customer service and respect for the patient is more important than collections," she adds. "This was just initiated at the beginning of the year. We have no results yet, but we are optimistic."
While the hospital's financial counselors are a part of patient accounts, these individuals work closely with the registrars, notes Younggreen. In November 2010, the hospital revised its financial assistance process, which included a 65% self-pay discount for uninsured patients, she adds.
"We increased the visibility of our financial assistance program on our website, as well," says Younggreen.
Patient satisfaction is always a priority, says Younggreen, so staff members attempt to address any concerns the patient has about his or her bill as soon as possible in the patient experience. "This may be at pre-registration time, or the day of the visit," she says.
The coaches offer refresher sessions to the registrars, says Younggreen, which review the different methods of financial assistance. "We provided scripting for the registrars to use when offering the financial assistance application," she adds. "The scripting was designed to put the patient at ease. We offer assistance in a way that is not embarrassing."
Major changes made
The hospital's financial assistance program was already "fairly liberal," according to Younggreen. "We use a sliding-fee scale. Anyone applying who makes 250% or less of the poverty guidelines qualifies for a 100% write-off of their balance, even including the deductibles and copayments after insurance," she reports.
a.person making up to 500% of the poverty guidelines could qualify for a percentage discount ranging from 15% to 90% of the balance, adds Younggreen, depending upon income and the size of the bill.
The sliding-fee scale also changed, so the least amount of discount a patient without insurance now receives is 65%, says Younggreen. "In November 2010, our charity write-offs were 21% over budget, but we were still running 4% less than last year," she reports. "The full impact of the change has yet to be determined."
New access roles
"We have seen a steady increase in self-pay/underinsured patients in the past two years," reports Lee Anna Mull, patient access manager at Mission Hospitals in Asheville, NC. Managers recently created a financial counselor position to focus solely on the inpatient "self-pay" patient, due to greater volumes of these patients.
"Currently, we have someone on site that gets a report each day on the self-pay patients," says Mull. Staff screen these patients to see if they have insurance that was possibly not entered into the system, explains Mull, or if a patient might be eligible for vocational rehabilitation or Medicaid.
"If the patient is a true self-pay, a financial counselor will visit the patient's room and complete a charity care application," says Mull.
In the emergency department, financial counselors meet with self-pay and underinsured patients at the time of their visit, adds Mull. "They meet with any patient who needs financial assistance or has an outstanding balance," she says. "We are hoping to reduce the amount of uncollected dollars in A/R."
Many options to offer
"We have many options for self-pay patients expecting a large balance," says Mull. "We are able to offer the patient a prompt-pay discount. We can assist them with an affordable, interest-free monthly payment plan."
The patient can apply for a charity care discount based on federal poverty guidelines, household size, and income. Staff offer a catastrophic discount for balances of $10,000 or greater, if the patient is incurring large hospital bills.
"Financial counselors actively pursue collection efforts on bad debt accounts that have been placed with a collection agency," says Mull. "Accounts are placed with an agency, if all attempts to work with the patient have been exhausted."
These steps are taken before an account goes to collection, says Mull:
1. The patient receives a series of monthly billing statements requesting payment in full.
"Those with insurance do not get a statement until after their insurance has paid," Mull notes.
2. Patients receive a past-due statement if they do not respond.
a.collection representative may place a call to the patient and offer a payment arrangement or a discount for payment in full, says Mull. "They also take financial assistance applications for charity care consideration over the phone with the patient," she says.
3. Patients receive a final notice statement prior to their account being placed with a collection agency.
"Ample time is given for the patient to settle their account balance before moving it to an agency," says Mull.
[For more information, contact:
Lee Anna Mull, Patient Access Manager, Mission Hospitals, Asheville, NC. Phone: (828) 213-1617. Fax: (828) 274-6895. E-mail: [email protected].
Susan M. Younggreen, Director of Patient Financial Services, St. Joseph's Hospital/Candler Hospital, Savannah, GA. Phone: (912) 819-8428. Fax: (912) 691-9034. E-mail: [email protected].]
The utilization of services by self-pay patients has increased by 6.9% over the last fiscal year at St. Joseph's Hospital and Candler Hospital, both located in Savannah, GA, says Susan M. Younggreen, director of patient financial services.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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