A P R I L 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 5 3
can't let patients proceed with surgery unless they first pay their
deductible or copay, unless you're willing to spend time and money to
(try to) collect on the back end. But on the other, your ORs can't sit
empty because patients would rather delay a meniscus repair than
tear into their credit limit with a big deductible. Better to limp than to
skimp, they figure.
Healthcare financing throws us both a lifeline. Patients can go for-
ward with surgery without worrying about paying large out-of-pocket
deposits at check-in, and surgical facilities can lock in the patient-pay
portion of their facility's revenue, a growing part of our bottom lines
that you can't afford to neglect in today's healthcare landscape.
It's obviously great for your cash flow when the lender "reimburses"
you in a few days whatever amount the patient financed — minus the
transaction fee, which rises along with the length of the loan — but
the hours we save not having to review accounts and call patients to
collect balances is priceless. It almost feels like we've outsourced our
patient accounts payable to our credit company.
OSM
a 7.9% fee for a 12-month plan (minimum balance $1,250). We
limit the terms we offer patients to 6 months.
You can also offer patients a fixed-rate extended-payment plan
over 24, 36, 48 or 60 months. Interest is built into the low pay-
ment, which stays the same each month. A leading creditor's
interest rate on a 60-month plan is 16.9%. — Joan Minnis
Ms. Minnis (jminnis@ hesc1555.com) is the business manager at Hoffman
Estates (Ill.) Surgery Center.
