A recent survey of health insurance plans and providers shows that use of automated systems to verify patient insurance eligibility and benefits information could significantly reduce administrative costs for both.
The survey was conducted by the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare, a not-for-profit healthcare alliance, as part of its Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE) initiative. CAQH launched CORE to develop operating rules that build on existing standards, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, to make electronic healthcare administration transactions more efficient, predictable, and consistent, regardless of the technology.
By moving from labor-intensive verification methods such as the web, fax, and phone to automated HIPAA transactions, providers may reduce labor costs associated with verifying insurance coverage as much as 50 percent, according to the study findings. Health plans also could achieve significant labor savings, as the study showed that average labor costs per phone call are $1.38 versus $0.00 for an automated transaction. Read the press release.
