It’s no surprise that many patients will go through a hospital’s doors completely uninformed on how to take advantage of government insurance such as Medicaid. What is somewhat baffling, however, is when hospitals fail to thoroughly assist their patients in qualifying for public health programs.
St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers in New York emerged from bankruptcy with the help of a focused effort to collect $100 million simply by helping their patients get on Medicaid. The organization hired New York firm that specializes in helping people qualify for government programs.
“We literally went to patient’s homes, shelters, or wherever else we could find them to get their cooperation,” says Michael Calder, former senior vice president of revenue cycle at St. Vincent. “It involved a lot of hand-holding and walking them through the process including helping them file papers with the state, but it obviously paid big dividends for us.”