Medical Providers Must Upgrade Billing Systems: HFMA Chief

The top executive of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) says the industry must redesign its billing systems due to the revenue impact on healthcare providers as more Americans pay for more of their medical care.

Mary Beth Briscoe, HFMA’s national chairman of the board of directors for 2007-08, told insideARM.com that medical providers must improve their communications with customers and move forward with the association’s Patient Friendly Billing initiatives, a program the organization says promotes clear, concise and correct financial communication.  

“Our payment systems are fragmented,” said Briscoe, who also serves as chief financial officer at University Hospital, UAB Health Systems Birmingham, Ala.  “They’re complex and sometimes they’re very hard for consumers to understand.  (A redesigned system would) really let the consumer know what the expectations are, the coverage you have and the ability to predict the out-of-pocket expense.”

Hospitals across the nation are facing record levels of uncompensated care debt, much of it for treating uninsured patients. But industry experts say a growing percentage of the expense comes from unpaid co-pays and deductibles.     

Briscoe said the HMFA recently began developing a white paper to help guide the industry in redesigning its billing system. The white paper will include various stakeholders’ perspective on the principles and possible methods to achieve a rational healthcare payment system that could be adopted nationally.

Briscoe said about 100 providers began tackling the issue last month in Washington, D.C. at a Thought Leadership Retreat on hospital payment systems.  She said the association will continue to seek support for the white paper from other stakeholders and issue a report at the HFMA’s next annual meeting in June.

The HFMA is a leading organization for financial managers of healthcare systems.