A patient notice is one of the most powerful communication tools in healthcare revenue. Without them, the patient wouldn't know how much to or when to pay. Unfortunately, 57% of patients are confused by their billing statements. The result of their confusion leads to payment delays and an increase patient call volume. 

Let's be real here.  Billing offices don't have time or the resources to manage more calls and they certainly don't want to wait longer to get paid. Emerald's research team decided to tackle the problem. We worked with industry experts to improve the patient statement. We compared multiple notice templates, analyzed patient calls and other concerns related to the statement.  When we finished our analysis, we narrowed our improvements to three main areas.  

There’s a goldmine hidden within your billing processes but finding and extracting the extra revenue on your own can take time and resources that few organizations have – unless they have the right partners.

Since Medicaid is a program that is jointly run by the federal and state governments, the billing requirements will vary from state to state. It's important that medical administration personnel in charge of billing understand the rules and protocols, especially where it relates to patient coverage. If a patient is denied Medicaid on the basis of failure to renew benefits, it may still be possible to receive Medicaid coverage through the program's reinstatement process. Note that this is different from situations in which a patient is denied Medicaid on the basis of income or has been otherwise excluded from Medicaid eligibility.

By Kaylee Riddle and Audrey Cooper