HFMA lauds 150 healthcare providers for leading in patient financial communications
Though bulk of the organization's Best Practices adopters hail from nine top health systems.
LAS VEGAS -- At its 2016 ANI event, the Healthcare Financial Management Association on Sunday named 150 healthcare providers as leaders for adopting best practices when it comes to patient financial communications, an important benchmark as patient financial responsibility rises.
The award program was developed in 2013 to call attention to providers who excel at communications around billing, costs and payment options.
"Adopting the best practices promotes trust and helps prevent misunderstandings between patients and healthcare providers," said HFMA President and CEO Joseph J. Fifer, in a statement. "In a time when patients are paying more out of pocket for their health care, clear communication about financial matters is crucial. We encourage all provider organizations to seek Adopter recognition."
Healthcare Finance will be covering the 2016 HFMA ANI through the week. For our complete coverage, click here. Follow the event's hashtag at #HFMA2016ANI.
The organization said 85 hospitals and 68 clinics earned the recognition, though the bulk of the awardees were part of nine major healthcare systems. Those are Carolinas HealthCare, the Duke University Health System, Essentia Health, the Geisinger Health System, Intermountain Healthcare, Novant Health, St. Luke's Health System, The Metro Health System of Cleveland and UAB Medicine. Two critical access hospitals, Henry County Health Center in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia, Tennessee, earned recognition.
According to Rodney Williams, senior manager of patient revenue management organization at Duke University Health System, the system makes it priority to understand how the cost of care affects its patients.
"We perform a comprehensive analysis to make sure that patients are not going to be surprised by the costs they are responsible for on the back end," he said in a statement.
Providers must attest to a range of patient communication best practices to earn the adopter status, the HFMA said.
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