Progressive solutions for progressive providers
(2 min read) My wife and I recently received a new children’s book for our two toddlers. The book has been a God-send for our bedtime routine—and our sanity.
The book, “The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep” was written by Swedish psychologist Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin. It incorporates psychological triggers to help children fall asleep as you read it to them. We were contacted by Inside Edition and asked if a camera crew could come into our home to document us reading the book to our daughter. We accepted.
My experience with this book stimulated some thoughts about what keeps some of our clients up at night—and how we can help them.
Emergency, EMS and Self-Pay
For our emergency medicine clients, the number one priority is patient care. In the case of EMS, they are often the first responders on the scene. In the ER, providers never know who is coming through the door, or in what condition. Those are the important things to worry about. And yes, sometimes lose sleep over.
Every stakeholder feels the affects of the rapid pace of change within the medical industry. While more people have insurance than ever before, the patient responsibility portion has doubled between 2006 and 2014, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. High deductible insurance plans are a reality and are here to stay, along with growing premiums.
Three Tips to Sleep Better
When it comes to self-pay receivables, here are three tips to sleep better:
- Check and verify demographic information, always. The result is less returned mail and getting statements, or results, to patients faster.
- Leave no stone unturned to find payor sources for patients who present as self-pay. Many people have active coverage which is missed for a number of reasons, or presumptively qualify for a subsidy program. We find coverage when it exists, or secure other payor sources. A little effort up front can save a lot of time and effort later on.
- Gauge propensity-to-pay so better decisions can be made about how to route the bill through a provider’s billing workflow. Fifteen years ago, we wondered who had a patient responsibility. Today we wonder how much they owe.
One thing that our clients should never lose sleep over is getting paid for the services they deliver. Just as “The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep” takes a progressive approach to helping parents with the nighttime routine, AR Boost (formerly Payor Logic) takes a progressive approach to identifying payors and recovering every dollar our customers rightfully earn.
