10 'Do-It-Now' Strategies to Boost Cash

6. Don't assume charity is only for the uninsured. Don't automatically jump to the conclusion that charity care is only for the uninsured. These days, even insured patients struggle with their healthcare bills. With ever-rising deductibles and co-pays, your insured patients simply may not be able to cover their portions of the bill. One way to address this increasingly common scenario is to include your insured patients in your charity care review; some of them may be eligible depending on their income level and the amount due, and you may not have to write off these patient-due amounts as bad debt.

7. Stop elective services bad debt. This is a proactive, easy-to-implement policy that can help hospitals improve their revenue cycle. For patients with elective services scheduled, contact them in advance of their appointment to inform them of their expected financial responsibility, in addition to rescheduling (or canceling) those procedures that may be elective and cannot be paid for.

Set up a front-end process that allows your staff to easily review the financial expectations of the hospital with the patient or guarantor prior to the date of service and be sure to establish proper financial arrangements for the account to be paid. Following through on this suggestion can nip your elective services bad debt in the bud.

8. Properly process non-emergent ER patients. Reviewing financial expectations with non-emergent ER patients (including "frequent fliers") will often result in those individuals seeking care at a free clinic, primary care office or other more appropriate venue. Implement a front-end solution that allows your ER staff to proactively discuss fees and care options once the patient has been properly medically screened (according to EMTALA guidelines). Make sure all patients (even in the emergency room) are discharged through the business office. Understand the full meaning of EMTALA and put appropriate policies in place.

9. Verify insurance at every visit. As plans are changing, and people are dropping coverage or opting for higher deductibles due to the economy, point-of-service staff need to put major focus on this step. Unfortunately, it is one task that remains especially error-prone and time-consuming. Often, systems don't provide the benefit information in a usable format for the registrar or financial counselor. Although delivered electronically, many require staff members to print a cumbersome 15-page report (or more) to try to determine benefits. Finding and implementing a streamlined, real-time insurance verification solution that is integrated with your business policies and the patients' information can go a long, long way in righting the old insurance verification wrongs.

10. Know your patients. Understanding your patients' capacity to pay is a critical step in today's healthcare revenue cycle. Hospitals must know the overall (as well as individual) financial demographic of their patient base in order to properly, and consistently, handle financial accounts. For example, in 2008 about 9 million of the uninsured in America were in households with incomes greater than $75,000. That's a piece of information that can help your facility identify patients who may need extra financial guidance when they arrive at your facility. Providers need real-time, accurate tools to identify truly needy patients and help them down the right road toward obtaining assistance or charity care.