Emdeon and BroMenn Healthcare System implement an interactive software application for transparent pricing of healthcare

Aug 25 2009

Emdeon, a leading provider of revenue and payment cycle management solutions for the healthcare industry, and BroMenn Healthcare System, headquartered in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, recently implemented the Emdeon Patient Responsibility Estimator(SM) solution. Emdeon Patient Responsibility Estimator is an interactive software application used by BroMenn's patient access staff to inform patients of their financial responsibility prior to care delivery.

As patient out-of-pocket expenditures continue to rise, both patients and providers need transparency in the price of healthcare, particularly regarding patient financial responsibility in consumer-directed and other high-deductible health plans. Emdeon Patient Responsibility Estimator enables providers to increase revenue collection, decrease A/R days and reduce patient bad debt by delivering accurate and timely information about patient collectible amounts. This real-time solution gives quick access to estimates of patients' out-of-pocket expenses so providers can inform patients of expected costs and collect or hold funds during scheduling, registration, at time-of-service or at check-out.

"We are excited to support BroMenn's mission of improved health and well-being," said Philip Hardin, executive vice president of Emdeon Provider Services. "A knowledgeable patient is an empowered consumer. In any purchasing decision, consumers deserve to know the scope of treatment and costs in order to make intelligent choices. Healthcare is an industry that has not traditionally delivered this level of transparency to its consumer until after the service has been rendered. By setting the proper expectation prior to treatment, consumer payment estimates can alleviate patients' concerns around costs and improve the patient experience," Hardin said.

"We are delighted with the results we have achieved with Emdeon. If you read any of the industry journals, the data shows that point-of-service cash collections are down across the country, yet at BroMenn we have exceeded our cash collection goals by an average of 35% over the past four months," said Penny Nydegger, BroMenn's director of patient access. "Emdeon Patient Responsibility Estimator helps us demystify the complex financial aspects of healthcare for our patients, while increasing our opportunity for cash collections by 98% over last year," Nydegger said.