OH health system collecting $150 from uninsured

MetroHealth System of Cleveland is fighting to collect money from uninsured patients that it contends could conceivably pay at least part of their bills. The county-owned system, which runs 10 outpatient facilities, is collecting the fees from patients who aren't residents of Cuyahoga County. Such out-of-county patients currently account for 20 percent of the system's bad debt, which is helping to fuel the system's predicted $8 million shortfall, executives there say. The system is imposing the $150 charge, in part, because it recently acquired software allowing the hospital to better identify where patients live and what their assets are. Even with the added income, it still expects to make some painful changes. In coming months, the system is planning to cut 1 percent of its payroll, or about 73 full-time jobs. This should save it about $17 million.

To learn more about the system's issues:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
Tools for managing the self-pay patient
Bad debt savages HCA, LifePoint profits
Firm pitches credit scoring for self-pay hospital patients
Study: Better records could boost self-pay collections