Winter 2010

President's Message

“We wanted our patients to have a positive experience with INTEGRIS’ administrative and financial operations, as well as our clinical side,” stated Brent Grimes, Corporate Director of Patient Financial Services at INTEGRIS. “Today our segmentation strategy is consistent across all facilities and patients, providing an unbiased approach to our patient relations. Using a probability of payment segmentation strategy, our staff can have straightforward and sensitive discussions with our patients, resulting in a better outcome for all. Since implementing our segmentation strategy, our patients are happier and less stressed as they understand their financial responsibility, but most importantly we have a mutually agreed upon plan to eliminate surprises.”

INTEGRIS is focused on communicating its financial assistance offering and related screenings as part of its admissions process. Due to the nation’s economic recession, more patient populations need hospitals’ charity care and/or other financial assistance programs to help cover the gap between billed charges and what their insurance plan pays. Thus, INTEGRIS is communicating its financial assistance options to patients much earlier than before. 

On the frontend, INTEGRIS uses a predictive modeling solution to segment each patient as they enter their facilities based on their probability of payment. They are quickly able to identify qualified charity care accounts, offer payment options to those who need them, and ultimately make all patients aware of their financial responsibility at the onset of their relationship.

After a patient leaves their facilities, INTEGRIS uses predictive modeling on the backend to determine the best strategy for collections, e.g., the number of phone calls, letter series, when an account should be tagged as bad debt or presumptive charity, etc.  By communicating with each patient in a unique manner based on the financial responsibly established at registration, a patient’s dignity is maintained as well as INTEGRIS’ bottom line.

Automation Delivers Consistent, Unbiased Results
Smarter segmentation is achieved only by automating the process, making it consistent and unbiased. With an automated system, the guesswork is removed and staff must follow a predetermined process that applies to all patients in a particular segment, regardless of age, race, education, etc.

In conclusion, all segmentation is not equal. Exclusively relying on credit histories isn’t likely to yield the financial, community, and patient satisfaction results that healthcare networks are looking to achieve. Understanding a patient’s payment likelihood can, just ask INTEGRIS Health.

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