No more chasing
You might be pleasantly surprised by patients who'll appreciate the
time and effort you took to verify their benefits and determine their
financial responsibility. We implemented our payment-at-time-of-ser-
vice policy just before the Affordable Care Act went into effect. Since
that time, patient responsibility amounts have gone up and insurance
payments have gone down. Bottom line: Our patient-pay policy has
greatly impacted the financial health of our multispecialty center,
which does nearly 4,000 cases a year. Our collection rate is exceeding-
ly low, which lets our 5-person business staff spend time on more
important matters — like verifying benefits and estimating self-pays.
OSM
Ms. Zuiderveen (zuidervb@mercyhealth.com) is the business operations
manager at the Southwest Surgical Center in Byron Center, Mich.
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 9