All Entries Tagged With: "self-pay"
Bad debt in a shifting economy
As more Americans become unemployed and potentially also become uninsured or underinsured, a new challenge is being added to the patient financial counselor’s responsibilities.
Add to this the continued increase in high deductible health plans, and providers are starting to see increases in the self pay dollars owed for services.
We are also seeing software tools being used which provide a propensity to pay score for self pay patients or patients with a self pay balance.
My question is this — what impacts on bad debts are you seeing both because of the shifting economy and because of the new technology being deployed?
Editor’s note: This post was provided by Sandra J. Wolfskill, FHFMA, president of Wolfskill & Associates, Inc., in Chardon, OH.
Patient Access Advisor, March, 2008
Check out the March 2008 edition of Patient Access Advisor, which features:
- Get your suit on
- Just pay them
- Inquiring minds want to know
- Centralized or decentralized?
- Special report: Self-pay patients (PDF only)
Training tool: Self-pay checklist
The following is a self-pay checklist used by registrars at one hospital.
Sample job description: Manager (self-pay/customer service)
“The Self-Pay/Customer Service Manager is responsible for all communication and research regarding patient accounts and patient inquiries; ensures payment on all self-pay accounts and oversees the securing of sponsorship; manages all clerical support staff.”