HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
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View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
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View All ProductsTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
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View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
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View All ProductsHealthStream's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
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View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreA strong trend in healthcare is for patients to assume a greater degree of financial responsibility for the cost of their care. This change has led many people to work to understand more “about the cost of care so they can shop around for services, plan for elective procedures, and budget appropriately.” To support the desire for greater transparency around healthcare costs, many healthcare organizations have begun “to rethink aspects of their revenue cycles, especially regarding pricing and cost estimation.” A recent HFMA Executive Rroundtable sponsored by Change Healthcare, Healthcare Consumerism and Transparency in the Revenue Cycle, offers valuable insights about where healthcare is heading in this regard.
Consumers Are Now Shopping for the Best Healthcare Deal
One participant, Sarah Knodel, System Vice President, Revenue Cycle for Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas, offers her experience that patients “are shopping around, trying to understand what their out-of-pocket costs are going to be for specific services. Ultimately, they are looking for high-quality care at a reasonable cost.”
Many Prospective Patients Want to Know Their Financial Obligation in Advance
Barbara Tapscott, Vice President of Revenue Management for Geisinger Health System in Scranton, Pa., regularly sees a new situation for patients “where employers and insurance companies are putting more cost responsibility into consumers’ hands, such as through high-deductible health plans.” She adds, “In these markets, patients are seeking estimates for services and engaging in comparative price-shopping.”
Just Like We Are Using Online Reviews for Consumer Products, So Goes Healthcare
We are reminded by Eric Krepfle, Associate Vice President at Change Healthcare in Nashville, Tennessee, that “Today’s patients often come from the ‘Yelp’ generation. More and more, they’re searching for the best price and want recommendations for the services they plan to have.” He tells us that folks want lots of data about the service they may be purchasing, “They pay attention to things like quality scores, waiting room times, scheduling convenience, flexible hours, a self-service portal, and so on.”
Healthcare Organizations Need to Do More Than Just Publish Prices
Tapscott advises, “So, if an organization merely publishes its prices with no context, [it] could be quite damaging. However, if it generates estimates and has a robust education program supporting them, patients and the organization can benefit. If people understand their costs, they are more likely to accept responsibility and pay their bills.”
Giving Patients Estimates Can Be Valuable
Krepfle offers that “Providing estimates can be an effective way to be more open. However, there is a danger in setting a false expectation about costs, particularly with a self-service estimation tool.” As long as there are disclaimers about the nature of an estimate, providing one can “serve as a starting point for further discussion about a patient’s liability.”
Training Can Help Staff Communicate Better About Patients’ Financial Responsibility
Tapscott also shares that for her organization, “We want them to deliver a consistent message to patients. As such, we need to give them the right tools to communicate that message in the most sensitive—yet standardized—way possible. HFMA offers guidance and sets the standard for consistency in communication. “Amy Beal, Manager of Patient Access for Baton Rouge Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, adds that her organization uses “some of HFMA’s PFC best practices as a starting point, modifying them when necessary to fit with our front-end processes.” Their goal is to “ensure that everyone in the organization delivers the same financial messages no matter how a patient accesses our facility.”
Measuring Success with Data and Analytics Helps Organizations Constantly Improve
Knodel’s organization keeps close tabs on “how many patients we’re having financial conversations with by service line and department. Our expectation is that we are talking to at least 95 percent of the patients who walk through our doors.” To ensure that patients are getting the highest standards of assistance and communication, she finds that “reviewing summary-level data by facility and department is helpful,” and they “also assess trends at the representative level so we can spot trends and the need for more focused training.”
All quotes are from “HFMA Executive Roundtable: Healthcare Consumerism and Transparency in the Revenue Cycle,” (December 1, 2017), Retrieved at https://www.hfma.org/Content.aspx?id=57035.
Learn More about HealthStream’s revenue cycle solutions.
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsImprove the preparedness of your staff, increase survival rates, and cut costs with the advanced resuscitation training services from HealthStream.
View All ResuscitationNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsDelivers everything you need to request, gather, and validate information about a provider to create a single source of truth for downstream processes.
View All CredentialingMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All Scheduling & Capacity ManagementNurseGrid and Keener - HealthStream's mobile apps built by nurses, for nurses - help nurses take control of their schedules, practice self-care, and build a more sustainable career.
View All ProductsTake the stress out of scheduling with real-time technology that engages nurses and healthcare workers from HealthStream.
View All ProductsProvide an easier way to view healthcare staff capacity insights while seeing a patient’s journey with HealthStream’s operational intelligence and machine learning products.
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