Becker's Spine Review

72 HEALTHCARE NEWS 54% of providers changed contactless payment strategy amid the pandemic By Katie Adams T he pandemic forced healthcare providers to modernize their revenue cycle practices and offer more digital op- tions, and patients want that trend to remain, according to survey results released March 23 by InstaMed, J.P. Morgan's healthcare billing and payment company. The Trends in Healthcare Payments Eleventh Annual Report sur- veyed consumers, providers and payers to highlight healthcare billing and payment trends from 2020. Below are six notable findings: 1. Fifty-four percent of providers changed their contactless pay- ment strategy because of the pandemic. 2. Thirty-nine percent of providers said their primary revenue cy- cle concern was pandemic-related. 3. Eighty-four percent of providers prefer electronic funds trans- fers from payers. However, 62 percent of payers still pay pro- viders via paper and fee-based options. 4. Eighty-two percent of consumers want to make all of their healthcare payments in one place. 5. Fifty-six percent of consumers would consider switching healthcare providers for a better payment experience. 6. Seventy-eight percent of consumers want the pandemic's prevalent contactless payment options to remain in place. n 5 states with the highest medical malpractice payouts By Ayla Ellison T exas is the state with the lowest medical malpractice award payout amount per capita, according to an analy- sis by WalletHub, a personal finance website. Medical malpractice payouts were one of 19 metrics analysts compared to determine the best and worst states to practice medicine in 2021. Access more information about the method- ology here. Based on the analysis, the following five states tied as having the highest medical malpractice award payout amounts per capita: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Alaska. Texas has the lowest award payout, according to the analysis. It's followed by Arkansas, Idaho, Wisconsin and Mississippi. n Spectrum Health ends probe of insensitive Instagram posts, takes 'corrective action' By Molly Gamble S pectrum Health said it has concluded its investiga- tion and taken "corrective action" aer photos taken in operating rooms accompanied by insensitive comments were posted to an Instagram account linked to 35 medical residents at the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based system. A Spectrum spokesperson said patients have been in- formed of the incidents. Becker's did not receive a response about what the corrective measures taken with employees involved in the since-deactivated Instagram account en- tailed. WOOD-TV, the NBC affiliate for Grand Rapids, aired a segment about the OB-GYN residents' Instagram account March 12. e account was not officially affiliated with 14-hospital Spectrum Health, although the residents were employees of the system, and photos were taken in Spec- trum operating rooms. Since-deleted posts included a photo of a physician holding an organ removed in a cancer operation. "e other game we play in the OR is guess that weight," the poster of the organ picture wrote. "It applies to much more than just babies. As always, 'Price is Right' rules apply so if you go over then you're out!" At least one patient was visible in a post on the operating table. Spectrum Health shared the following statement with Becker's March 24: "We completed a thorough and detailed investigation of the situation involving inappropriate posts on an Insta- gram account not officially connected to Spectrum Health. Our team members are expected to follow strict guidelines regarding patient confidentiality and social media use, and this incident did not reflect those standards. "We have informed the patients about this incident and have taken corrective action with the team members in- volved in the posts. We deeply regret this incident occurred despite strong policies and guidelines in place. We are working to further strengthen our educational programs to ensure this type of situation does not happen again." n

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