The vision
During the chaos of the pandemic, price transparency and No Surprises Act (NSA) regulations required health systems to prioritize providing patient estimates in consumer-friendly ways and implementing new technologies and processes. Leaders at Columbus Regional Health in Indiana saw compliance as more than avoiding fines. Here was an opportunity to make financial transparency a strategic initiative, improving collections and consumer engagement.
Key requirements of a compliant price transparency program:
- Price estimate tool available for patients and guest shoppers
- Compliant machine-readable file of service prices
- Proactive delivery of self-pay cost estimates prior to service
- No Surprises Act disclosures
- Dispute resolution process
Co-creating the solution
Columbus Regional Health partnered with Chartis on a comprehensive workplan to update its manual process for providing price estimates, ensuring compliance by the 2021 and 2022 deadlines. This included implementing Epic’s Price Estimate tool and NSA workflows, process definition, job description updates, marketing collateral, training, and a communication plan inclusive of clinical departments and patients. Chartis provided IT advisory and build support, applying leading-practice principles to deploy a robust and compliant technical solution.
Chartis also informed the health system’s comprehensive plan to turn these compliance efforts into a strategic advantage. This plan increased automation and operational change to manage the increased workload without adding to workforce needs. Over a multiyear initiative, Columbus Regional Health was able to go live with all the requirements on time, passing all audits, and even receiving a perfect score from the Employers Forum of Indiana in its evaluation of Indiana hospitals. The work has helped further shift the health system leaders’ thinking about the patient financial experience.
