Healthcare providers are getting better at accommodating patients who are paying more of their medical bills on their own, but there still a lot of organizations struggling to deal with the new dynamic, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Healthcare Financial Management Association and Navigant Consulting.
Twenty-two percent of the 107 healthcare organizations that participated in the survey said that increased patient responsibility for their healthcare costs are having a significant impact on their operation, down from 40% in 2017. Nearly 20% of organizations said the increased responsibility is having little or no impact, compared with 8% a year ago. Overall, 81% of healthcare revenue cycle management executives believe self-pay patients will impact their organization, down from 92% in 2017.
What’s interesting is that more health systems and larger hospitals are expecting a larger impact than hospital groups and smaller hospitals, according to the survey’s results.
“The impact of consumer self-pay on providers will only increase with the popularity of high-deductible health plans and negative changes to the economy,” said James McHugh, a Managing Director at Navigant, in a statement. “Providers must take advantage of opportunities to more holistically educate patients on out-of-pocket costs, predict their propensity to pay as early as possible, and secure alternative payers or financing when needed.”
Improving revenue integrity remained the most popular capability within RCM that organizations are going to focus on during the next 12 months. Self-pay management was fourth on the list.
Nearly 70% of healthcare organizations expect their revenue cycle IT budgets to increase next year, down from 74% a year ago.
