Aquina Blog

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) conducted member research in July 2017 to better understand the cost and challenge of complying with federal government regulations and mandates.

The results of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) 2017 Regulatory Burden Survey reveal there are no shortage of opportunities to reduce regulatory burdens on physician practices.

The survey includes responses from 750 group practices, with the largest representation from independent medical practices with 6 to 20 physicians. You can view the full survey results here.

Below are some key findings.

Micro-hospitals are popping up around the country, but many providers still lack a solid understanding of what a micro-hospital is and how it can help satisfy emerging needs in their markets.

Micro-hospitals are 24/7, small-scale inpatient facilities—around 15,000 to 50,000 square feet—with between eight and ten inpatient beds for observation and short-stay use.

Like their name implies, these are small facilities with an average of 10 beds and a focus on emergency or middle to medium high acuity care, higher than urgent care, but lower acuity than a trauma center. They have everything needed to operate an emergency department: imaging equipment, lab services, everything except an ICU and MRIs.

Using a collection agency may seem like a good idea. If your practice is struggling to get debt paid, handing it off to the so-called professionals seems like a no-brainer. However, using collection agencies is often less successful and not as profitable.

According to The Association of Credit and Collection Professionals:

“On average a practice recovers just $13.80 for every $100 owed once a patient’s bad debt
is turned over to a third-party collection agency.”

Instead, by implementing simple procedural changes for collecting bad debt, making patients aware of them, and enforcing them, your practice can easily increase the chances of collecting.

Here are some actions you can take to help improve the financial process and make patients’ bills easier to pay and understand.

A study conducted by McKinsey revealed that due to the increasing costs of medical coverage, consumers are taking on more of the risk associated with health care, the traditional relationship between consumers, providers, and payors is changing.

Their analysis suggests that the vast majority (more than 74 percent) of insured consumers are both able and willing to pay their out-of-pocket medical expenses for annual liabilities of less than $1,000 a year.

However, the study revealed that the lack of financing options, inefficiencies in billing practices, and consumer confusion are all major drivers of non-payment of medical bills.

“37% of patients stated lack of financing options as
the main reason for nonpayment.”

Your industry is becoming more and more competitive. Retail clinics, telemedicine options, and other local practices can threaten your bottom line. One way to overcome this concern is to grow your practice size.

In fact, a recent report by MGMA states that larger practices tend to be more profitable than small practices.

A quick review of the data points to the fact that larger practices are also more apt to include medical and surgical subspecialties that can be supported by the practice’s larger base of primary care physicians.

This leads to the practice having the ability to provide more services which have greater complexity and generate greater amounts of revenue.

“As practices grow in size and production units increase, those larger practices have better
opportunities to decrease costs as they become more spread out.”

This is reflected in the data provided:

A recent study into the changing shopping habits of consumers has yielded some interesting insights. With the rising costs associated with doctor’s visits, it seems patients are now beginning to behave more like traditional consumers when shopping for any other professional service. It concludes people want healthcare that is more convenient, inexpensive, and of high quality.

Patients are no longer willing to wait for 3 hours to see a doctor. They expect to know what they’ll need to pay before service is provided, and they want easy methods of making those payments.  To stay competitive, practices need to anticipate and embrace these rising expectations.​

“26% of patients expect to speak with
a doctor within an hour”

While the majority of patients still prefer real-time interactions with providers, many are willing to use other methods if it’s more convenient or reduces wait time for an answer.

A recent story on NBC.com shared an all too common experience of an unexpected hospital visit for a young couple, the Raymans. As more and more people struggle to pay hospital expenses, a sudden medical emergency can break the bank. For the hospitals who provided the service, it can often mean going unpaid.

“77 percent of Americans cannot afford an unexpected
medical bill of $2,000 or more.”

Despite having health insurance, Rayman was hit with a $2,800 bill for surgery to have a golf-ball sized lump on his neck removed.

The family couldn't afford to pay the surprise bill right away. But they spotted a phone number for a payment program and were able to secure a 0 percent loan for 36 months.

Provider Web Capital Funding, LLC (“Provider Web”), the leading finance provider for healthcare small businesses in the United States, is pleased to announce that it has consummated a minority equity investment from Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: ATLC).

 JUNE 20, 2017, Provider Web Capital Funding, LLC (“Provider Web”), the leading finance provider for healthcare small businesses in the United States, is pleased to announce that it has consummated a minority equity investment from Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: ATLC) (“Atlanticus”). Atlanticus is a financial holding company with investments primarily in companies in the financial services sector. Atlanticus’ portfolio companies are leaders in consumer financial services with a focus on consumers with limited access to credit. The proceeds of this investment will be used to increase staff, deploy new technology solutions, and grow the balance sheet at Provider Web.

For nearly a decade, Provider Web has been helping medical practices serve their patients by offering financing solutions uniquely focused on the challenges in the industry. The company offers programs that allow their customers to normalize cash flow in an increasingly complex reimbursement or claims-based industry. Provider Web’s application and underwriting process is technology driven – allowing medical practices to receive funding in as fast as two business days.

 Over the last few years, the healthcare marketplace has seen a rapid evolution of the patient’s financial responsibility for their medical treatment. Medical practices are in need of solutions for their patients to finance these rising costs. Provider Web is now uniquely positioned to solve this critical need with Atlanticus’ core expertise in consumer credit. Provider Web will be rolling out new finance programs that will bring payment flexibility to all healthcare consumers.

 “In the ever-changing, complex landscape for healthcare reimbursement, the pressures on both providers and patients have never been more significant”, stated Chris Stenglein, CEO of Provider Web. “The new normal of high-deductible plans has put providers in the consumer finance business, particularly for patients with limited financial resources, thus making their primary mission of delivering care to patients more difficult. We are extremely excited to have partnered with Atlanticus to expand our broad array of financing solutions to help both patients and providers. Our mission is to eliminate the stress of managing cash flow and allow medical practices to stay focused on patient care.”

 Jeff Howard, President of Atlanticus added, “We have followed Provider Web for the past few years and have been very impressed with their ability to understand the complex issues in the healthcare system. They have partnered with the leading companies in the healthcare ecosystem, which have tens of thousands of provider relationships, to deliver their solutions. Their practice finance products will be game changers for providers of all sizes, and we believe that our consumer credit decisioning expertise will help serve the patient finance needs, especially those who need it most. Provider Web has seen a significant increase in client demand, and our investment will allow for them to meet this demand by growing their staff and having a large balance sheet from which they can scale.”

 About Provider Web Capital
Provider Web Capital is the only technology company with healthcare payment solutions that are simple, trusted, and complete. We believe the revenue cycle model in healthcare is fundamentally broken, and we exist to empower healthcare providers to serve more patients. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with offices in New York City, Provider Web Capital works with clients across the United States.We have developed solutions to allow our customers instant access to payment on their claims with a simple, automated process.

About Atlanticus
Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: ATLC) is a financial holding company with investments primarily in companies focused on providing financial services. Through its operating subsidiaries Atlanticus endeavors to offer a broad array of valuable financial products and services related to personal loans, retail credit, credit card lending, auto lending, loan servicing and portfolio acquisitions.JUNE 20, 2017

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal explores the rapid rise of consumers and doctors turning to easier, faster and more convenient ways to meet - Telemedicine

Doctors are linking up with patients by phone, email and webcam. They’re also consulting with each other electronically—sometimes to make split-second decisions on heart attacks and strokes.

Patients, meanwhile, are using new devices to relay their blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs to their doctors so they can manage chronic conditions at home. Telemedicine also allows for better care in places where medical expertise is hard to come by.

“35% decrease in patients’ average length of stay and
30% fewer deaths than anticipated.”

As a measure of how rapidly telemedicine is spreading, consider: More than 15 million Americans received some kind of medical care remotely last year, according to the American Telemedicine Association, a trade group, which expects those numbers to grow by 30% this year.

A McKinsey & Company report discussed a rising concern for healthcare providers, the concept of retail health. Rather than visiting a traditional practice, many patients are simply visiting clinics located in their local grocery stores or pharmacies.

 “2 out of 3 patients are more willing to use
retail services over traditional healthcare providers.”

The main reason is that the cost is typically lower due to employee health plans or out of pocket expenses. Similar services compare at $110 for retail and $166 for a doctor’s office.

The article suggests that while patients may not be seeing a doctor at a retail clinic, they’re typically seeing a nurse practitioner. Other benefits are wait times are almost always shorter and there is no need for an appointment. Retail health is becoming a more viable option every year. On average, there are 10 million visits in over 1,800 locations each year. That amounts to $1,952 in lost revenue for each primary care provider.