posted
on Thursday, February 4, 2016
It’s no mystery that patients are shouldering 40% of their medical bills during a time when deductible health plans continue to soar.
Just last week I was dealing with a provider regarding insurance coverage. He couldn’t have been more sincere or eloquent when he said, “I apologize. The biggest frustration I have is that the process just isn’t very patient-centric.” Oh, how true.
In 2015, CNBC conducted a survey of insured consumers that showed only 25% received some sort of pre-treatment cost and insurance coverage estimates that they considered helpful in managing medical expenses.
The same study also revealed 54% were sometimes or always confused by their healthcare bills. Furthermore, 62% said they were always or sometimes confused by the out-of-pocket costs.
But there are some things that you can do to make it easier for patients to UNDERSTAND their bills and insurance coverage. But first, you need to look at your practice financial communications, especially that patient statement. Is everything as clear and concise as it could be? Read more next week about how to be more patient-centric in your billing practices.