4 ways patient financing accelerates the ASC revenue cycle
Patient financial responsibility has surged in recent years. As a recent TransUnion Healthcare analysis notes, patients in 2017 were responsible for 12.2% of their total healthcare bill in the first quarter of 2017. This compares with just 8% percent of their total bill during the first quarter of 2012. Commercially insured patients experienced a patient balance after insurance increase of a staggering 67% percent, growing from $467 to $781 over the same five-year period.
Fortunately, new and innovative financing options have emerged in recent years, providing patients with valuable assistance in covering their expense for treatment. Such options can also help providers of treatment, like ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), more effectively collect these higher patient balances.
One such model garnering significant attention in the ASC industry is the provision of a secured loan to patients that covers their surgical costs. When an ASC offers this model and patients take advantage of it, the patient receives a loan package designed to meet his or her budget. Following the patient's procedure(s), the ASC receives funding that covers the patient's balance, with the lender then managing collections activities. This benefits both patients, as they can receive surgical care and pay down the loan over a comfortable period, and ASCs, which receive expedited payments.
But that's not the only benefit to surgery centers. Patient financing options like this model bring about substantial improvements in many areas that ultimately enhance revenue. Here are just four of the ways patient financing can greatly accelerate an ASC's revenue cycle.
