hospital payment plans Archives - The Midland Group

As a Healthcare Facility, How Do I Reduce Large Statement Balances?

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 18:40:10 +0000

Did you know? Treatment costs of a single illness, accident, or pregnancy can easily reach five figures. Even with insurance, that can leave you with worry about how to reduce large statement balances. We understand that receiving a medical bill with a large statement balance can be extremely stressful and overwhelming. But here’s the thing: there are several options for paying off that large balance, and most patients don’t even realize that! Many people also have no idea that there are programs or payment plan options out there that are available to them to reduce large statement balances.

What’s Causing Large Statement Balances?

A recent study showed that patient statement balances after insurance grew by more than 52 percent between 2012 and 2017. To break that down even further, that is an increase from 8 percent of the total statement to more than 12 percent. Approximately one-third of Americans can’t afford unexpected medical bills over $100 and many hospitals are struggling to find a solution to recuperate costs.

Individuals who spent any time uninsured or who were underinsured reported to have problems paying large statement balances or said they would pay the medical debt over a long period of time. A quarter of those individuals who were always insured and did not meet the threshold of underinsurance also reported having problems paying their large statement balances.

Attempting to Collect Patient Payments

Many hospitals are attempting to collect payments from the patient at the time of service to address the problem of self-pay balances. The problem with that is that patients are usually at a loss for what their insurance will pay. Patients are typically going through very stressful situations where staff may feel uncomfortable trying to collect large payments. In addition, most hospitals don’t have the appropriate amount of staff or budget to follow up with patients by a phone call or mailing more than a couple of collection letters for their large statement balances. Other hospitals might not even have the technology or familiarity to offer payment plans or online payment options.

Ways You Can Reduce Your Facility’s Outstanding Balances

One way that hospitals and providers can increase available resources is by participating in third-party early out solutions programs. Early out programs offer customer-oriented proceeding toward collecting balances from patients. Early out programs are very often successful with this because doing so is their main focus. In fact, early out programs are able to center their attention on patient collections at a much lower cost than a hospital trying to do the same. This is because hospitals would have to hire additional staff, pay for statement costs, credit card fees, additional phones and computers, employee benefits, and much more.

Another way that you can reduce your facility’s outstanding balances is by making sure that the hospital leaders aim to implement a healthcare revenue cycle that is data-driven. This helps revenue cycle leaders to be able to know the hospital’s financial health of the organization. It also allows revenue cycle leaders to see if staff are performing their tasks efficiently to ensure quick reimbursements.

Offering Different Payment Options for Large Statement Balances

Early out solutions programs allow hospitals to offer more than one payment option to patients. Many individuals aren’t able to pay their large balance statements because of poor timing, lack of payment plan options, or having to pay for other bills. In addition, COVID-19 is now playing a huge role in financial hardships for individuals. Some may be experiencing a reduction of hours at their job, or some might be experiencing being unemployed altogether.

When self-pay patients are notified of all of their options for payment plans, when they are educated about the financial assistance that is available to them, and when they are able to speak to someone on a personal level and someone who takes the time to sympathize with them to find a solution that works for them, they will be more likely pay and reduce large statement balances.

What’s Next?

With The Midland Group’s early-out program, patients are able to pay their financial obligation in full with no negative impact on their personal credit record or credit report. For hospitals, it is an opportunity to collect 100% of charges owed with greatly reduced administrative costs. Book your free assessment today to see how you can maximize all potential revenue surrounding all types of liability claims.

The post As a Healthcare Facility, How Do I Reduce Large Statement Balances? appeared first on The Midland Group.

Why Outsource Hospital Payment Plan

Mon, 21 Sep 2020 21:02:57 +0000

Many Americans struggle to pay their medical bills, or choose to forgo needed health care from fear of the expense or lack of access to government benefits. Self-pay customers are especially vulnerable to not being able to pay large bills in bulk, leaving hospitals with strings of unpaid bills. In 2020, up to 79 million Americans have medical debt that they are struggling to pay off, and hospitals consequently suffer when they are not able to collect payments to cover their overhead. Just this year, hospitals have faced additional financial pressure from the strain of COVID-19, with estimates of up to $202.6 billion of revenue loss in only four months 1.

Now imagine a tool that increases hospitals’ reimbursement rates and advocates for patients’ best interests, helping them to get the care they need while assisting your facility to recoup due payments. A third-party revenue cycle management company can do just that. The Midland Group offers hospitals a wide range of revenue cycle services, including our proven patient-focused payment plans and bill tracking that works (and our partners love!) While hospitals can certainly attempt to manage their own in-house payment plans, there are several benefits to outsourcing payment plans to an experienced third-party vendor.

Tailored Payment Plans Offer Hospitals a Competitive Edge

Looking at how payment plans are the most attractive and affordable way to pay off large purchases in every other industry, it makes sense that having a solid payment plan system gives hospitals a strong competitive edge in the healthcare industry as well. When purchasing a car, a home, or even a television, consumers seek out a payment plan that works for their income and budget. A hospital having the same flexibility with medical bills is more likely to have patients more satisfied with and loyal to their healthcare provider, especially if the hospital is able to provide personalized payment plans to their patients. Unfortunately, many hospitals offer a few general payment plan options without the personalization necessary. This can be due to several reasons, including lack of expertise to design the individual plans or lack of personnel to identify and follow up with each patient’s needs. When hospitals outsource payment plans to a trusted third-party RCM vendor, however, they are tapping into specialized resources that can assist them with the implementation and management of patient-tailored payment plans. As such, having such a personalized payment plan system in place often inspires strong patient loyalty and thus more effectively increases collected revenue.

Outsourcing Payment Plans Free Up Resources

When a hospital outsources their billing to a third-party vendor, they free up valuable resources within their billing department. While seemingly simple, payment plans can be a huge time-consumer for many hospitals due to the complexity and tediousness of designing the most effective payment plan for each patient and tirelessly following up with them through endless calls, emails, and regular mail. Many hospitals choose to outsource payment plans to a specialized third-party billing company because they find it to be more efficient and beneficial for their billing department. What they find is that a specialized team of RCM experts can manage the thousands of payment plans in a fraction of the time it takes your billing staff to do the same, and often with greater effectiveness. As such, outsourcing hospital payment plans means that you won’t need to hire as many billing staff, and the team you do have can focus on servicing patients’ immediate needs and thus do it with utmost excellence, significantly improving efficiency and decreasing overhead costs.

Personalized Billing Solutions = A Win for Everyone!

When individuals and families have adequate payment options, they are far less likely to be burdened by medical bill debt. As such, a deep understanding of patients’ financial options is key to effective bill collections. Outsourcing to an RCM vendor with experience and expertise in all aspects of RCM is especially useful in cases where patients need more assistance than regular payment plans. For example, 41% of adults under 65 struggle to pay off medical debt, while only an estimated 19% of adults over 65 struggle, because they are covered by Medicare. 2 The Midland Group specialize in all forms of patient advocacy, including payment plans, charity assistance, public benefits, and so much more. By connecting patients to all available resources, hospitals can help patients figure out the right solutions to help them pay off their medical bills in ways that work best for them. Outsourcing your facility’s payment plans allow you to set up hundred and thousands of payment plans effectively and efficiently, which builds a strong pipeline of consistent revenue for your facility.

About the Midland Group

The Midland Group’s team of RCM experts are dedicated to providing our clients with first-class patient advocacy and maximized reimbursements. We work directly with patients in our partnering facilities to help them understand their coverage options and design a plan that works for them. In a time when hospitals are needed more than ever, third-party billing can assist hospitals in making sure that both their and the patients’ financial needs are met. As a result, our partnering hospitals see increased revenue, increased patient satisfaction, and simplified, streamlined billing processes, which means fewer headaches for your staff and more health care coverage for those who need it. Book your free assessment today to see how you can maximize all potential revenue surrounding all types of liability claims.

Sources:

1. https://www.aha.org/guidesreports/2020-05-05-hospitals-and-health-systems-face-unprecedente d-financial-pressures-due

2. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletter-article/survey-79-million-america ns-have-problems-medical-bills-or-debt#:~:text=A%20recent%20survey%20from%20The,from %2034%20percent%20in%202005.

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