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Billing process is simplifiedAt the beginning of the year, the New Ulm Medical Center took the first of several steps to improve their billing process in direct response to feedback from patients. More changes are on the way. “We know that the billing process itself can be very difficult to understand so we are working hard to streamline things to ease the process for our patients,” said Steve Massey, Finance Manager for the medical center. The first change patients will begin to notice is that they will no longer be receiving the “This is not a bill” statement that was previously sent to all patients following a hospital visit. As of January 17th, the first statement that patients will receive is after the claim has been submitted to the insurance company. “We know that this has been a source of frustration and confusion for our patients,” Massey said. “Patients do not want to receive a statement before the charges have gone through their insurance carrier. They want the first statement to show what the insurance paid and what they have to pay out of pocket and now that is exactly what will happen. New Ulm Medical Center is the first facility within the Allina Health System to eliminate that extra statement and Allina is looking at the same process being implemented at all of their facilities.” Another significant change is that beginning in 2007, patients who are insured by Medicare, Medicaid, and some Medicare Advantage plans will receive one statement for clinic and outpatient services. In the past, these patients would have received two bills from Allina– one bill for services in the hospital and one bill for services in the clinic. “Our plan for the future is that all patients, regardless of the type of insurance coverage they have, receive one statement for all of the services they receive at NUMC.” Last year, the facility joined other Allina hospitals and clinics when it implemented MyChart, an internet tool (www.allina.com/mychart) that allows patients to view their health information, test results and schedule appointments. Late in the year, MyChart added the ability to view and pay bills online as another improvement to the billing process. “This is a fantastic benefit for our patients,” Massey said. “Patients can look at their most recent hospital and clinic charges, or at a range of dates. They can look at outstanding charges and use a credit card to pay their bill on our secure website.” The next objective in simplifying the billing process, Massey said, is to make the statement itself more patient-friendly. “NUMC is working with Allina to evaluate all options that would help us meet our objective.” Massey said. “Our end goal is for the patient to easily understand the statement they receive and know exactly what their payment responsibility is.” |
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New Ulm Medical Center
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