A Full Spectrum Solution For Your Health System
Over the past months, news reports have shared stories of overwhelmed hospitals: emergency departments swamped by patients, shortages of ICU beds and ventilators, and in some cases the creation of new space to accommodate extra patients. At the same time, there has been a focus on hospitals furloughing staff, cutting salaries, and cutting retirement benefits all in an effort to remain afloat. How can hospitals be so busy and still be losing money?
If you would have walked through some of these hospitals the last several months, you would have seen why this may be the case. While large health systems’ hospitals typically run near capacity, many have been largely empty. This is in part due to the preparation for a surge of COVID-19 patients and the decrease or cancellation of elective procedures. As far as financials go, procedural services such as hip or knee replacements are for the most part cash cows for hospitals, while they break even or lose money on non-procedural admissions. So the profitable procedures and tests subsidize unprofitable care and hospitals can remain financially healthy. Except when it doesn’t, such a seen during this viral pandemic.
Due to COVID-19, hospital margins, volumes, and revenue performance have all experienced a brutal couple of months, but in May, there were signs of financial improvement. One large factor in this increase in financial performance is the resumption of elective surgeries and non-urgent procedures, which were halted when hospitals shifted their focus to treating coronavirus patients. That cut off health systems from some of their more lucrative services, and though many patients are hesitant to enter hospital doors, the ones that are returning are providing much-needed revenue.
Still, the industry is not out of the woods and won’t be for quite some time. Hospitals aren’t the only ones battling financial problems as many patients have taken a financial hit throughout the pandemic. And there must be in some manner a working relationship between patients and health systems to ensure that care is affordable and hospitals receive payments.
As elective surgeries ramp back up, how will health systems address the two-way street and implement a patient-centric financial solution while simultaneously reducing accounts receivable and bad debt?…
The answer is with a full spectrum solution. Thankfully for providers, this exists and there are now ways to address the patient affordability gap, while simultaneously receiving funding within 24-48 hours with Curae™ by Aquina. Moving forward through these strange and difficult times, the only option as a provider will be to address both sides (patient and provider) and leverage the power of a true non-recourse patient financing solution.
With Curae™, providers can now offer a revolving line of credit for patients exclusive to their Health System. As a full-spectrum lender, while utilizing Curae™, your Health System will be able to support not only prime credit profiles but also mid-prime and sub-prime, significantly improving the approval rates. Now is the time to improve your patient experience and engage your patients throughout their journey.
Health systems are currently addressing how to best serve their communities in the “new normal” and innovative healthcare providers are leading the charge by adopting cutting edge financial technologies that acknowledge the cost burden and create financial flexibility for patients. In return, they are seeing increased revenue and greater patient satisfaction. There is no better time than now to improve your health system by collecting more of the patient’s responsibility, faster and at a lower cost with no risk. With Curae™, your organization can move forward confidently while increasing revenue and patient retention.
To learn more about Curae™ or find out if Curae™ is the right solution for your Health System, visit Curae™.