Effective Financial Policies and Procedures
Effective Financial Policies and Procedures
A medical financial policy outlines the goals set by the medical facilities to provide quality care. In having a financial policy, the facility is informing their patients of the financial obligation that the patient has to the facility. Some facility objective is to provide services that are cost-effective which is essential since society is affected negatively from the economy (Valerius, 2008). In the event that a patient is uninsured, the patient could request for a sliding scale payment, or make agreeable payment arrangement to fulfill the financial obligation owed to the facility. With some insurance, the patient may have a co-payment that is not covered by the insurance company. The co-payment may be required first before seeing the provider. The patient may also need a referral before seeing the provider or the provider could risk not being paid for the services conducted for that initial visit (Valerius, 2008). Keeping in mind that a medical facility is a business and have paid contractual agreements and a financial obligation to employees, patients must be aware of procedures that is covered by their insurance company. As a courtesy to patients, some facilities print out a coverage list that highlights services the insurance company will pay and the remaining balance is the responsibility of the patient. If a medical facility fail to have a financial policy, patients can refuse to make payments since there was no guidelines to making payments. However, with such a policy in place, patients sign a form agreeing to the arrangement and in return receive quality care.
References
Valerius, J. B. (2008). Medical insurance: An integrated claims process
approach. Boston, MA:
A medical financial policy outlines the goals set by the medical facilities to provide quality care. In having a financial policy, the facility is informing their patients of the financial obligation that the patient has to the facility. Some facility objective is to provide services that are cost-effective which is essential since society is affected negatively from the economy (Valerius, 2008). In the event that a patient is uninsured, the patient could request for a sliding scale payment, or make agreeable payment arrangement to fulfill the financial obligation owed to the facility. With some insurance, the patient may have a co-payment that is not covered by the insurance company. The co-payment may be required first before seeing the provider. The patient may also need a referral before seeing the provider or the provider could risk not being paid for the services conducted for that initial visit (Valerius, 2008). Keeping in mind that a medical facility is a business and have paid contractual agreements and a financial obligation to employees, patients must be aware of procedures that is covered by their insurance company. As a courtesy to patients, some facilities print out a coverage list that highlights services the insurance company will pay and the remaining balance is the responsibility of the patient. If a medical facility fail to have a financial policy, patients can refuse to make payments since there was no guidelines to making payments. However, with such a policy in place, patients sign a form agreeing to the arrangement and in return receive quality care.
References
Valerius, J. B. (2008). Medical insurance: An integrated claims process
approach. Boston, MA:
References: Valerius, J. B. (2008). Medical insurance: An integrated claims process approach. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.