February 17, 2009

The Blurred Line Between Providers and Insurers

Dean Halverson

A bill arrives in the mail. A patient opens it up, then balks, angry that they are suddenly expected to pay for a test, a procedure, or medication they thought was completely covered. Who feels the brunt of this frustration? Well, usually it is the provider, for recommending the test, procedure, or medication, or the insurer, for not covering it. Or both.

Even though healthcare consumers are becoming more savvy, it isn’t a change that will happen overnight—there is still a learning curve. Patients may have to learn the hard way to use healthcare properly, and it’s because they don’t yet fully understand how things work. Especially when it comes to billing and financial issues, they tend to blur the line between providers and insurers, and get frustrated with both.

But instead of doing nothing, providers, insurers, etc. have an opportunity to build positive brand awareness and teach patients to be better consumers at the same time. How? Reach out to them. Offer a hotline that a patient can call with any billing question. Set up public seminars on using healthcare properly, or distribute information via marketing. Put quality customer service first, and dedicate yourself to helping your patients through challenges. Distinguish yourself so that a patient can say, “It’s okay. I can call BLANK provider and they will straighten this out for me.”

RT @wavedriven how providers can teach consumerism to patients wavedriven.com/blog

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