Cost containment has become a leading factor in the delivery of healthcare. What are some of the issues that are contributing to these burgeoning costs? One of them is Medicaid. We spent over $576 billion on Medicaid programs in 2017, as reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
A significant share of today’s hospital and doctor reimbursements now come from patients rather than commercial payers, yet many providers haven’t updated their collection practices. As charge amounts on medical bills continue to rise, healthcare providers are increasingly challenged to collect the high deductible amounts owed them. Patients are also more conscious of how much they spend on healthcare services as medical costs consume an increasingly large portion of their paychecks.
Declining reimbursements are one of the biggest challenges healthcare providers face today. Ask any physician or hospital and they will tell you about the daily struggle of getting paid for their services. However, many healthcare providers are leaving a significant amount of money on the table by under coding.
Most claim denials are due to the lack of verifying benefit information prior to services being provided. Insurance verification process is crucial for all hospital encounters, whether inpatient, outpatient or ambulatory care. It will ensure that the hospital or physician receives payment for services rendered and will help determine the patient’s share of the charges referred to as the patient’s responsibility.
The overall theme of this year’s HFMA Annual Conference is “Transforming the Business of Healthcare,” and it is right on target. No other industry is experiencing more evolution and transformational change than healthcare. It seems that the only thing we can count on is change — this is even more true for the business side of healthcare delivery.
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