5 strategies to improve collection of patient financial responsibility
Patients' financial responsibility for their healthcare is on the rise and showing no signs of slowing down.
Long gone are the days of $25 co-pays and $250 deductibles. A TransUnion Healthcare analysis showed that patients experienced an 11% increase in average out-of-pocket costs during 2017, rising from $1,630 in the last quarter of 2016 to $1,813 in the last quarter of 2017. A 2017 Black Book survey found that since 2015, patients have experienced a nearly 30 percent increase in deductible and out-of-pocket maximum costs, with out-of-pocket costs rising to over $4,400.
The dramatic increase in patient financial responsibility places a greater burden on ASCs to collect as much of what patients owe for their care as possible. With tightening reimbursement and increasing costs, surgery centers can ill afford to leave money on the table.
Follow these five strategies to improve the likelihood of collecting in full from patients.
