(originally published March 13th, 2005)

Hospitals in today’s world are not doing well financially. As much as most people think hospitals are bringing in money hand over fist, and they think the same about doctors, but it’s not the truth.

Thing is, a big part of why both entities aren’t doing well financially is our fault; rather, the fault of the patients. Most denials of payment have to do with bad information obtained from the patients themselves. It can be almost anything; bad address, bad date of birth, one bad digit in a contract or social security number, insurance that’s been changed or denied or delayed, wrong guarantor,…

Any number of things give insurance companies a reason not to pay a claim, and delayed claims can stretch out into months and years without being paid. Unpaid claims means cash runs low. Cash running low means prices go up, so that those claims that are paid help keep just enough cash coming in.

This is just a short lesson. I’ll admit that I’m one of those people who hates being asked those same questions over and over whenever I go to see a physician about anything. Now, you know one of the reasons why it must occur.