HFM Magazine Article: A FAIR Way to Reduce Uncompensated Care
5/1/2010
Abstract
Despite strong overall financial performance, Intermountain Healthcare, a Salt Lake City-based regional health system, had seen its uncompensated care double, from $128 million in 2003 to $255 million in 2007, with growth in bad debt outpacing charity care.
With uncompensated care levels continuing to rise, the system faced additional challenges that threatened to exacerbate the problem, including the increasing shift of healthcare costs by employers to employees (patients) and some concern from the community regarding Intermountain’s collection processes. All of these issues were a challenge to one of Intermountain’s core missions: providing excellent health care to the residents of the region regardless of their ability to pay.
Intermountain Healthcare’s leadership committed the organization to a systematic redesign of the initial patient encounter process. The redesigned process ensured clear and timely application of the organization’s charity care policies. Project results included an 11 percent decrease in bad-debt expense and a 40 percent increase in charity care approved.
a FAIR way to reduce uncompensated care (749KB .pdf file)