Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/1133356
J U N E 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 5 H elping patients understand and prepare for their surgery expenses is important. Today's healthcare consumers are increasingly demanding this kind of cost trans- parency—65 percent say they would consider switching providers for a healthcare payment experience that would help them understand costs upfront and make payments through a pre- ferred payment channel/method. Reality is, paying for surgery is rarely a simple, straightforward healthcare experience. Often mul- tiple teams of skilled specialists are involved before, during and after a procedure, working together to deliver a successful outcome for the patient. Adding in post-operative care, rehab, physical therapy, and medical equipment, as well as pre-operative appointments, it's not surprising that many patients receive a wide variety of med- ical bills—some of them unexpected. In fact, over one-fifth of adults surveyed had major, unexpected med- ical bills in 2017, with a median expense of $1,200. For patients recovering from surgery, this can be a negative or even overwhelming experience. Surgery providers have a valuable opportunity to make real difference in their patient's financial experience by not only helping them understand their complete cost of care prior to receiving treatment, but also providing them with payment options, like third-party financing, to help them pay for their entire surgical plan. For over 30 years, CareCredit has been a proven solution in third-party healthcare financing. As a health, wellness and personal care credit card, CareCredit helps patients move forward with the care they want and need. Not only does this prepare patients with a convenient way to pay various medical bills, but it also helps providers get paid fast (within two business days). By prioritizing financial conversations, providing cost transparency, and offering financing options, providers can help patients under- stand their total cost of care, move forward with treat- ment—and deliver a better patient experience. Providers and patients alike see the value of CareCredit. In fact, 90 percent of providers say CareCredit had a pos- itive impact on patient satisfaction and 94 percent of cardholders are highly satisfied with CareCredit. A repre- sentative from Mission Valley Heights Surgical Center in San Diego, California said, "All of our CareCredit patients have been happy to see we offer it and the great promo- tional offers." Another surgery center has seen A/R improvements: "CareCredit has reduced our collection efforts and A/R by at least 50%." To learn more visit, carecredit.com/outpatient or call 844-365-3206. 1. Instamed, Trends in Healthcare Payments Eight Annual Report 2017 Published May 2018 2. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Report on the Economic Well- Being of U.S. Households in 2017, Published May 2018 3.CareCredit Payment Benchmark Study with Enrolled Providers, conducted by Chadwick Martin and Baily, December, 2017. 4. CareCredit Cardholder Engagement Study Q2 2018. Cost Transparency and Payment Options Can Improve the Patient Financial Experience Sponsored by SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT