Last year, according to the data crunching gnomes in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) basement, more than $375 billion was paid by U.S. patients out of their own pocketfor healthcare. As a percent of the total, that’s about 15%.
With co-pays routinely reaching thousands of dollars for orthopedic procedures, that out-of-pocket figure is rising fast. In 2018, it bumped up more than 3%. Total joint sales, by comparison, barely rose 2%.
What happens when a patient can’t afford the $4,000+ deductible? Well, no pay usually means no treatment. No one is happy.
Ok, how about a loan to pay the patient portion of the fee?
The 15% Solution: Credit Cards
Third-party credit card issuers, who are always looking for creative ways to slip their cards into everyone’s wallet (What’s in your wallet?) have jumped into this $375 billion market. With interest rates as high as 20%, that’s an extraordinarily lucrative opportunity.
Twenty percent of $375 billion is $75 billion. Seventy-five billion in interest payments is a market that is larger, seriously, than the total hip, total knee and spine surgery equipment and supplies market—combined!
So, how’s it working so far?
If you’re a patient or medical provider, not great.
Unfortunately, third-party credit card issuers have a different way of dealing with patients than the typical orthopedic clinic. And when a patient runs into issues with that credit card company or medical financier, they often conflate it with the orthopedic practice.
In the patient’s mind, they HAD to take out a high-priced credit card or medical loan to get their hip replacement from Dr. Smith. They may love their new hip but hate the impersonal collections treatment.
Is this a necessary evil for today’s modern orthopedic practice, or is there another, better way?
MedGreen From Georgia
Recently, news about a new type of medical finance company based in Dublin, Georgia, crossed our desk. We had a chance to talk to one of the orthopedic physicians who uses the company and we got excited about what we heard.
The company’s name is MedGreen. They’ve re-imagined the method associated with patient payment plans.
The company was founded by Craig Taylor, Tim Donovan, and Kenny Kight who have a total of 20+ years of software/collections business experience.
Before MedGreen, they were providing collections and software support to the criminal justice systems of Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi. So, they know a thing or two about payment processing and collections.
