With patients having a harder time than ever affording health care, news media and consumer publications are running stories and articles on how to haggle with doctors over their bills. So what does a physician do to respond to patients who have read the articles and watched the news media?
The solutions will vary depending on the practice, but generally, if a patient expressed financial concerns before care is provided, physicians can consider whether lower-cost options are available without actually discounting their services.
Some patients have even made it clear up front that cost is an important factor in medical care decision-making. Some of these articles have advised patient's to ask for discounts if the bills are beyond what they can afford. Experts say practice's should be prepared to negotiate by following well established procedures. It's very important to consider any practice that may violate government regulations and third-party contracts.
The first step is to determine who should you go into negotiations with? Would it just be patients who don't have insurance, or for some, have insurance coverage but have a high deductible health plan. Discounts on co-pays and deductibles for insured patient's may be possible depending on the practice's contract with the third-party payers. Some patients need to understand that physicians are already taking a cut from what they receive from the insurance company. Some patient's either don't know that or understand it, so it should tactfully be explained.
Other questions to consider are: Who will handle the negotiating process in the office? Will a patient's word be good enough? Practice's should decide what discount is possible if a patient needs to spread payments over several months. A patient may be able to pay part of the balance on the spot. A prompt-pay discount is common, because a medical practice saves money on billing if a patient takes care of a charge before leaving the office.
The amount of a discount that allows a patient to pay his or her bill but keep the office financially secure needs to be determined. Practice's should not just look at their fee schedule but also determine how much it costs to provide certain services and you need to know what a reasonable discount is. The practice also should have a collection policy in place that tells the staff under what circumstances they can negotiate.
The next step is to decide how these policies will be implemented and communicated to the patients. Possible ways are adding wording or signage or patient forms that says if a patient has difficulty paying a bill, he or she should bring the matter up with a staff member. Advertising specific discounts is not recommended but the wording makes it the patient's responsibility to start a conversation.
The solutions will vary depending on the practice, but generally, if a patient expressed financial concerns before care is provided, physicians can consider whether lower-cost options are available without actually discounting their services.
Some patients have even made it clear up front that cost is an important factor in medical care decision-making. Some of these articles have advised patient's to ask for discounts if the bills are beyond what they can afford. Experts say practice's should be prepared to negotiate by following well established procedures. It's very important to consider any practice that may violate government regulations and third-party contracts.
The first step is to determine who should you go into negotiations with? Would it just be patients who don't have insurance, or for some, have insurance coverage but have a high deductible health plan. Discounts on co-pays and deductibles for insured patient's may be possible depending on the practice's contract with the third-party payers. Some patients need to understand that physicians are already taking a cut from what they receive from the insurance company. Some patient's either don't know that or understand it, so it should tactfully be explained.
Other questions to consider are: Who will handle the negotiating process in the office? Will a patient's word be good enough? Practice's should decide what discount is possible if a patient needs to spread payments over several months. A patient may be able to pay part of the balance on the spot. A prompt-pay discount is common, because a medical practice saves money on billing if a patient takes care of a charge before leaving the office.
The amount of a discount that allows a patient to pay his or her bill but keep the office financially secure needs to be determined. Practice's should not just look at their fee schedule but also determine how much it costs to provide certain services and you need to know what a reasonable discount is. The practice also should have a collection policy in place that tells the staff under what circumstances they can negotiate.
The next step is to decide how these policies will be implemented and communicated to the patients. Possible ways are adding wording or signage or patient forms that says if a patient has difficulty paying a bill, he or she should bring the matter up with a staff member. Advertising specific discounts is not recommended but the wording makes it the patient's responsibility to start a conversation.