Proactive Outreach Equals Better Patient Hospital Relationships
Why don’t hospital billing statements drive revenue? Most patients want to work closely with the hospital to settle their account prior to collections, but hospitals often lack the resources necessary to help patients understand exactly what their billing statement represents and, more importantly, the entirety of options available to help them resolve their account. Patients who don’t fully understand their billing statement become frustrated and disassociate themselves from their patient responsibility – leaving their bills unpaid.
Instead of relying on your billing statements to drive revenue and an influx of questions back to your internal customer service staff, care providers are engaging The Midland Group to proactively educate their self-pay patients on balances owed and all options available for balance resolution. The Midland Group’s proactive approach to self-pay conversion ensures our partnering hospitals lower A/R days, higher self-pay revenue, and more patient satisfaction.
Reasons Why Proactive Outreach is Successful
Here are just a few reasons why our proactive outreach protocol is successful:
We Work Closely With Patients To Best Understand Their Personal Financial Situation
Hospital staff is frequently limited in the time and resources needed to work directly and thoroughly with all patients to identify the best way to resolve their uncovered medical bills. This leaves a considerable amount money on the table that ends up being written off and sent off to a collection agency usually for pennies on the dollar. I think many would agree that most patients want to satisfy their bill, but need someone to proactively step in and start that conversation. Let’s face it, they probably did not expect to need emergency care or plan to get sick, so to have the credit they have protected and built over many years be negatively affected by an unexpected medical event is deflating at best.
At the Midland Group, we understand that every admission has a story and in many cases can be a life-changing event. We aim to keep that in perspective and understand that these patients are already dealing with a multitude of stressful situations and just need someone to step in and be a partner for them to figure out what to do financially and how to move forward. Hopefully, a payment plan or payment in full is a viable option. If charity assistance or public benefits is the best recourse, we will identify and pursue those options as well. At the end of the day, our goal is to put a final resolution in place to satisfy their bill in the most appropriate manner possible while limiting your AR days and reducing recoverable write-offs.
The Midland Group Can Find a Successful Payment Resolution Plan
Patients do not want to be just another number to their care provider. Each patient has their own set of circumstances which makes their situation unique. They appreciate the effort in helping them to identify and secure a reasonable payment solution that they can afford. Working closely together creates a comfortable, stress-free atmosphere, so everyone walks away from the solution a winner. Ultimately, a patient wants to work with someone who is consultative in nature, professional and can effortlessly guide them through the entire process. The skilled staff at Midland know precisely what is required to achieve patient/hospital billing satisfaction and will apply all viable options to make that happen.
We Take the Time to Search for Solutions
The Midland Group is not afraid to research all solutions that could benefit the patient financially or help ease the burden through other available means. Ultimately, we want the facts and the patient’s true financial reality to drive the outcome. This means being really good at identifying those who can and should pay (even if over an extended period) and those that are truly in need of financial assistance. This helps to ensure you are being as accurate and efficient as possible when it comes to applying discounts or covering entire balances under your charity program. This proactive approach goes a long way towards establishing trust with a patient and building strong patient relationships for years to come.
Midland Handles Difficult Claims
Third party claims including accident recovery and worker’s compensation are often difficult to navigate for the care providers staff, especially for those with third-party claim volumes that do not dictate a specified person or department to be focused on that role. If specific steps are not followed, then the odds of settling a third party claim are significantly reduced. However, Midland’s staff are trained to recognize and pursue such claims and understand in great detail the many moving pieces and one-off challenges these types of claims present. To be most profitable, such claims must be identified correctly from the moment the patient registers and assigned to a specialist who is not afraid to get their hands dirty and enjoys a good challenge.
Our Staff Stays Informed
Navigating the ever-changing healthcare laws and regulations is difficult for anyone, especially for those in a consistently fast-paced healthcare environment. Grabbing a quick bite to eat during a shift can be seen as a luxury on most days, so taking the time to sit down and focus on legislative changes or updates to healthcare financial policy will often times takes a back seat to the rigors of the day. The professionals at the Midland Group remain up-to-date on all healthcare changes so that all aspects of a collection are aggressively utilized and effectively applied. This would include applying options such as payment plans, POS collections, charity assistance, and public benefits advocacy in an appropriate and deliberate manner.
Book your free assessment today to see how you can maximize all potential revenue surrounding all types of liability claims.
