The Unpredictability of Healthcare Payment
Aside from the obvious medical concerns every patient has when arriving at a hospital, they also carry a very real hidden anxiety; “What will this cost and will I be able to afford it?”.
And those are patients with and without insurance, because today almost everyone is under-insured due to the ACA and insurance redistribution to cover more of us. What’s interesting is that the good people running those hospitals share a similar anxiety; “Will we get paid for the services we’re about to provide?”.
Both patient and provider share the unpredictability and uncertainty of payment. There are many reasons for the awkward moment during registration when the patient and the registrar struggle to deal with that mutual financial anxiety. What a dilemma for both parties. What a challenge for a $12/hour registration clerk! Can you imagine having no ability to estimate the cost of groceries or automobile repair or your visit to the beauty parlor? Now imagine you run an auto repair shop and you allow customers to get services with no estimate or guarantee of getting paid – except you might keep the car until the bill is paid. Can’t do that with healthcare.