63
HEALTHCARE
NEWS
ADVERTISINGINDEX
Note: Ad page number(s) given in parentheses
ADVERTISER
Aesculap. www.aesculapimplantsystems.
com/spine / (866) 229-3002 (pgs. 14-15)
Allen Medical. www.allenmedical.com/bs2
/ (800) 433-5774 (pgs. 49-52)
Amendia. www.amendia.com / (877) 755-
3329 (pg. 11)
Bioventus Surgical. www.bioventussurgi-
cal.com / (800) 637-4391 (pg. 13)
Boston Scientific. hcp.controlyourpain.
com / (866) 360-4747 (pgs. 39-42)
Centinel Spine. cs@centinelspine.com /
www.centinelspine.com / (484) 887-8810 (pg. 3)
Cerapedics. cerapedics.com / (303) 974-
6275 (pg. 10)
Medtronic. www.medtronic.com (pgs.
21-24)
Meridian Surgical Partners. www.
meridiansurgicalpartners.com / (615) 301-8140
(pg. 44)
National Medical Billing Services.
info@nationalascbilling.com / www.nationalasc-
billing.com / (866) 948-7673 (pg. 5)
Orthofix. www.orthofix.com / (800) 535-
4492 (pgs. 29-32, 64)
Pacira. www.exparel.com / (855) 793-9727
(pgs. 7-8)
Paradigm Spine. www.paradigmspine.
com / (888) 273-9897 (pg. 2)
Pinnacle Spine Group. info@pinna-
clespinegroup.com / www.pinnaclespinegroup.
com/biologicvoid / (214) 466-1428 (pg. 55)
Spineguard. www.spineguard.com /
(415)512-2500 (pg. 35)
Spineology. marketing@spineology.com /
www.spineology.com / (888) 377-4633 (pg. 37)
Stryker. www.stryker.com/aero / (800) 253-
3210 (pg. 27)
Titan Spine. tsinfo@titanspine.com / www.
titanspine.com / (866) 822-7800 (pg. 56)
10 Things to Know About Healthcare Collections and
Patient Financial Responsibility | 2017
By Morgan Haefner
T
he prevalence of high-deductible health plans — and the resulting
increase in patients' financial obligation — have pushed hospitals
to consider new means of collection to protect their bottom line.
Here are 10 things to know about how patient financial responsibility
affects providers' and hospitals' collection efforts.
1. Health insurance deductibles have increased by 255 percent since
2006, according to InstaMed's "2015 Trends in Healthcare Payments."
2. An Advisory Board analysis of 400,000 claims found the higher a
patient's deductible, the less likely it is patients will pay the full amount
owed. Two-thirds of patients with a deductible less than $1,000 were
likely to pay a part of what they owed, but only 36 percent of patients
with deductibles more than $5,000 did the same.
3. True self-pay patients generally pay 6.06 percent on the dollar, while
patients who self-pay aer insurance pay 15.51 percent overall, an
analysis by Crowe Horwath found.
4. When patients can't afford their medical bills, hospitals absorb or
write off the cost. U.S. hospitals' uncompensated care costs totaled
$704.7 billion between 1990 and 2015, according to a recent American
Hospital Association report.
5. Seventy percent of providers reported it takes an average of one
month or longer to collect payment from a patient.
6. To combat mounting bad debt from unpaid medical bills, provid-
ers are increasingly instating payment plans. For instance, aer Win-
ston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health began offering zero-interest
loans, its patient default rate dropped from 32 percent to 12 percent,
Reuters reports.
7. Fiy-three percent of patients who had difficulty paying medical
bills said their provider worked with them on a payment plan, accord-
ing to a Kaiser Family Foundation study.
8. Roughly two-thirds of consumers are interested in using mobile
payment systems, such as Apple Pay, for medical bills. More than 75
percent of consumers pay their household bills through online pay-
ment channels, however, 87 percent of consumers said they still re-
ceive healthcare bills in the mail, according to InstaMed.
9. A study of complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau found 63 percent of consumer complaints about medical debt
collection claim the debt was never owed, was not verified debt or was
previously paid or discharged through bankruptcy.
10. For providers, the top three challenges associated with healthcare
consumerism are lack of: tools to estimate cost of care (18 percent),
staff resources (13 percent) and enough convenient payment options
(12 percent), according to a 2016 survey conducted by Porter Re-
search and Navicure. n
