Qualifying Your Self-Pay Services
In a report released by the Access Project, a resource center affiliated with Brandies University, 6,884 uninsured people in 18 states were surveyed regarding their use of “safety-net” institutions designed to provide services to the poor and uninsured.
The survey found that 60% of respondents said they need help paying their medical bills and nearly half (46%) reported being unable to pay at all. About one-quarter (24%) of respondents said their debt(s) would deter them from seeking additional medical care.
The need for financial assistance was high no matter where patients received care. However, uninsured patients who obtained ER services were consistently more likely to experience financial hardships than those who received services on either an in/outpatient basis.
But here lies the problem. Among those who reported needing financial help, nearly 70% said the hospital staff never offered information about financial assistance programs or suggested referrals to state/federal programs.
Other findings include: 56% of respondents who received prescriptions reported they needed help to pay for the medications. Those patients who received services from rural providers are most likely to report needing financial assistance with the medications. 14% who received prescriptions in urban/suburban hospitals obtained none or only some of the medication prescribed. In rural areas, the situation was worse at 27%.
See the cycle here? Patients are reluctant to seek medical treatment due to their inability to pay, and if they do receive treatment, they either forgo the medication prescribed or take it in dosages that negate the desired effect when prescribed. A sick patient either stays that way or gets worse.
How is your facility addressing this issue? Do you have an effective and proactive financial counseling program in place? One which will direct these patients to the programs that will assist them, and in turn generate recovery and repeat business for your facility. If not, it is an asset you can’t do without and one that your facility should address aggressively.
Our company has trained Business Office personnel or staffed financial counselors in hospitals for over 40 years. Contact us to see how we can help you recover more dollars on your self-pay services.
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