The journey to patient financial engagement: Lessons learned
Abstract
As health-care consumers face increasing responsibility for medical care costs, health systems have launched innovative programmes to help patients successfully engage in the financial process from pre-service to final billing. Both national and regional organisations are employing automation, optimised workflows and dedicated patient teams to improve transparency and communicate more personally with patients as they make important financial decisions. This article explores how to leverage processes, technology and automation to give patients the full financial picture, access to affordability tools and the ability to self-serve. A host of important steps were used to measure patient preferences with the desired outcome of enabling patients to make self-service payments. Other target outcomes included moving a significant proportion of patients onto self-service payment plans, with the goal of reducing accounts receivable (A/R) days and collection costs while improving patient satisfaction. Also envisioned were digital patient engagement tools that would allow patients to view their entire financial picture, understand costs, self-enrol in payment plans and access critical information, providing convenience and ease of access and making it easier for patients to financially engage while improving the overall patient experience.
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Shannon Dauchot is the Chief Executive Officer of Parallon’s Revenue Cycle Point Solutions Division, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. In this role, Shannon is responsible for driving the organisation forward and ensuring world-class customer service for Parallon’s clients and their patients. Before assuming her current role, Shannon served as Senior Vice President of client relations for Parallon’s revenue cycle services and as Regional Chief Executive Officer, where she led the buildout and implementation of a shared service centre, serving a US$3bn, 22-hospital health system. Prior to joining Parallon, Shannon held several leadership roles at HCA Healthcare, including chief operating officer of the revenue cycle shared services division and chief financial officer of the Tampa Shared Services Center. An accountant by trade, Shannon began her healthcare career as a hospital controller and chief financial officer at multiple HCA Healthcare facilities. Shannon is a certified public accountant with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a concentration in accounting from Texas Tech University. As a leader in the industry, Shannon is an active member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and the Institute for Collection Leadership. As an advocate for healthcare systems, she also sits on the American Hospital Association’s pricing transparency task force.
Kevin Adams is the Director of Revenue Cycle for Anderson Regional Health System in Meridian, Mississippi, a 400-bed acute care system. His responsibilities include oversight and management for the system’s revenue cycle teams for functions ranging from pre-certification, scheduling and patient access to final resolution in the back office for the healthcare system, which includes 12 clinics owned by the company. Kevin is currently a member of Healthcare Financial Management Association, co-chairs a state-wide Revenue Cycle Roundtable, participates in the Mississippi Hospital Association Society of Presidents Council, an active member of Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM), and holds a green belt in Lean Six Sigma.
Angela Taylor is Regional Vice President with 14 years of healthcare experience. Angela is currently responsible for client experience improvements and performance drivers specifically for HCA Healthcare, focusing on HCA Healthcare’s use of Parallon’s Medicaid eligibility, self-pay and small dollar insurance specialty lines of business. She expands collaboration between a wide audience of important constituents serving HCA Healthcare, including executives, subject matter experts and financial analysts. Previously, she served as an assistant vice president of payment compliance and process innovation, where she was instrumental in leading the implementation of HCA Healthcare’s enterprise-wide patient payment portal, overseeing support teams and expanding the use of workflow tools. Angela’s other prior roles have also given her strong expertise in the areas of compliance and audit.
Kevin Fleming is the Chief Executive Officer of Loyale Healthcare, a leading healthcare patient financial engagement technology platform company. Loyale’s Patient Financial Manager and advanced digital patient payment solutions are installed at over 2,000 providers throughout the United States, including large health networks and ambulatory and physician services groups. Kevin has had a long and successful record as a senior executive in the healthcare, technology and professional services industries. Previously, he served as the President of Paradigm Outcomes, an accountable care organisation (ACO) and a nationwide industry leader in healthcare services. Kevin was also a managing director for Electronic Data Systems and a senior partner with Ernst & Young, where he specialised in healthcare and financial services.
Citation
Dauchot, Shannon, Adams, Kevin, Taylor, Angela and Fleming, Kevin (2020, March 1). The journey to patient financial engagement: Lessons learned. In the Management in Healthcare: A Peer-Reviewed Journal, Volume 4, Issue 3. https://doi.org/10.69554/VFWS5624.
Publications LLP