Healthcare providers are bracing for a seismic shift in where their money comes from, and collection agencies are likely to play a bigger role in a post-COVID-19 world, according to the results of a survey.
More than 150 chief financial officers and revenue cycle managers from healthcare providers were asked about how they will be paid in the months and years ahead, and 70% of them expect an increase in the number of self-paying patients and a decrease in commercial reimbursements from health insurance companies.
That increase will come from the millions of individuals who have lost their jobs and their health insurance as well as the continued growth of employers using high-deductible health plans to keep their healthcare costs from spiraling out of control.
Only 6% of respondents think that the patient’s share of a healthcare visit or procedure is going to decrease in the next 12 months, according to the survey, which was conducted through the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
More providers also plan on using financial counseling, offering payment plans, and creating online portals to provide pricing information and to take payments, according to the survey.
“With health system margins primarily driven by elective services, the pandemic is gravely impacting provider revenue streams and payer mix,” said Timothy E. Kinney, a partner at Guidehouse, which administered the survey, in a statement. “As our economy labors post-pandemic, insured patients will struggle to shoulder greater cost sharing through high-deductible plans coupled with volatile unemployment rates. Healthcare leaders need to closely evaluate their payer mix and develop winning consumer experience strategies to overcome a slow recovery in patient volumes and an uptick in self-pay and Medicaid enrollees.”
For collection agencies, an increase in the number of self-paying patients likely means an increase in the amount of early-out collections and bad debt collections that providers will have. For companies in medical collections or those thinking about getting into the space, this does appear to present an opportunity.
