The Impact of Surprise Bills – What’s Your Lab Going to Do About It?

In the time of information accessibility, patients are still left in the dark when it comes to their insurance coverage, which leads to surprise medical bills flooding one out of five American mailboxes. This distress creates a negative ripple effect that not only disrupts their financial situation but also affects labs. How did this happen?

According to Kaiser Family Foundation, 72% of health plans sold through the Affordable Care Act have limited options of services for patients.¹ As a result, patients may not be able to receive the required care without risking exposure to an out-of-network service provider. The motivation behind this healthcare reform is to create accessibility and affordability. Unfortunately, it has limited options and has created confusion, which resulted in patients getting stuck with expensive and unexpected medical bills. 

Based on a survey conducted by the University of Chicago, 51% of surprise bills were charged by labs which equates to a high-effort/ low-reward scenario and eventually lost revenue.² The fact is that medical bills hold the last place on an American’s priority list for debt repayment when compared against education, housing, and auto expenses.³

If payments are not made, labs will send the bills to collections or write it off as bad debt. In either case, labs will only recoup a fraction of the earned revenue, or even worse, nothing at all. In this competitive space, most labs are consolidating, improving efficiencies, and cutting costs to ultimately stay in the black. What is your lab doing?

At FrontRunnerHC, we understand the intricacies pertaining to the lab revenue cycle and have built solutions addressing specific pain points. Our insurance discovery solution allows labs to minimize unnecessary write-offs, speed up collections, and drive patient satisfaction. When integrated with XiFin’s revenue management solution, XiFin RPM, this combined solution helps find and fix inaccurate patient information fast so your lab can…

Can your lab afford not to take action? Since FrontRunnerHC has integrated with XiFin RPM, more than $3.5 million in net new billable coverage has been identified.

Discover how Sonora Quest and Cordant’s labs are gathering more accurate patient data, lowering cost, and increasing revenues below.