Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/821337
22 CFO / FINANCE Nebraska Hospital to Send 2 Types of Invoices to Address Patients' Billing Concerns By Morgan Haefner H ebron, Neb.-based Thayer County Health Services altered its billing system to send patients two types of statements — one "regular" and one "detailed" — to alleviate patients' billing concerns, The Hebron Journal Register reports. Doug Wismer, CFO of TCHS, said the regular invoices will include what the patient owes after their insurer's payment. The bills will be mailed to patients in 30-day increments until 90 days have passed, after which the bill would be sent to collections. The detailed statement will contain a list of services and their costs, and will be mailed to patients before a claim is filed with an insurer. "We're hoping the new statements will address a lot of these con- cerns and … find out if there are other concerns that need our at- tention," TCHS CEO David Burd said during a March 29 meeting, The Hebron Journal Register reports. He said the regular payments will roll out in 30 days, and the detailed payments will be released in May. TCHS intends to host a public forum to gauge patient satisfaction with the system. TCHS officials are also working to address patients' request for an online payment option, the report states. n Global Healthcare RCM Market Projected to Surpass $100B by 2024 By Kelly Gooch A new research study projects the global healthcare revenue cycle management mar- ket will exceed $100 billion by 2024. The study, published by Market Size Forecasters, notes several expected driving forces of the market, including the shift to value-based care, the demand to reduce billing errors and implementation of big data analytics. "A steady stream of government compliance re- quirements such as ICD-10 transition and HIPAA v5010; and increased fraudulence screening are generating demand for more robust solutions," the report states. Other expected market drivers are a growing de- sire for accountable care participation and reim- bursement and payment reforms, among others, according to the report. n Study: 20% of Americans Try to Compare Costs Prior to Care By Kelly Gooch A mid the rising popularity of high-de- ductible health plans, healthcare con- sumers are searching for cost infor- mation before receiving care. However, they oen have trouble finding what they are look- ing for, according to a study conducted by the nonpartisan Public Agenda. e study, which was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the New York State Health Foundation, examined data from a nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 American adults and representa- tive surveys of 802 New York state adults, 819 Florida adults, 808 Texas adults and 826 New Hampshire adults. e surveys took place from July through September 2016. Here are eight study findings. 1. Half of Americans have tried to determine their out-of-pocket costs, excluding copays, and/or how much their insurers would pay, before receiving care, the study found. 2. More Texas, Florida and New Hampshire residents have tried to find healthcare cost in- formation price comparisons than New York state residents and Americans overall. 3. Twenty percent of Americans have tried to compare multiple providers' costs before re- ceiving care, according to the study. 4. Researchers found 70 percent of Americans believe higher healthcare prices do not reflect better quality of care. ey said the percentage was similar in New York state, Texas, Florida and New Hampshire. 5. Fiy-nine percent of Americans who tried to compare prices picked a physician, hospi- tal, medical test or treatment that was more affordable. 6. Among those who have never tried to find price information prior to care, 40 percent specified they would be prone to pick less ex- pensive physicians if they knew prices before- hand, according to the study. 7. Researchers said more than half of Amer- icans (57 percent) who had not tried to find price information before receiving care spec- ified they want to know the prices of medical services in advance. But they said 51 percent of them also specified they are not sure how to accomplish their goal. 8. e study found a vast majority of Amer- icans — 63 percent — believe there is not enough information about how much medi- cal services cost, compared to only 23 percent who said there is enough information. n