Alignment of Financial Policies and Medical Office Procedures

Basic Elements of an Effective Medical Office Financial Policy

The basic elements of an effective medical office financial policy are simplicity,
alignment with relevant laws, and ability to cover all possible scenarios regarding patient
payments for services provided by the healthcare organization. Simplicity means that the
financial policy should be easily understood by both staff and patients (Cone Health, 2020).
When staff understand the policy well, they can effectively explain it to patients. The patients
can also read the policy on their own and understand it without any guidance if it is simple
enough. The policy should also be aligned with the relevant federal and state laws (Cone
Health, 2020). One of the laws that the policy needs to be aligned with is the Affordable Care
Act.

With regards to the second element, there should be not a possible scenario that the
policy fails to address. For instance, the policy should have details on who to pay for the
services, how to pay for them, when to pay, and penalties for late payment, if any. A highly
detailed financial policy ensures that no misunderstandings develop between the patient and
healthcare organization regarding payment of healthcare services provided to them.

How Medical Office Procedures Support Financial Policies

Medical office procedures such as the patient’s details that are collected, who collects
them, and how they are collected have a major impact on financial policies (Cone Health,
2020). For instance, if a healthcare organization has a financial policy of offering discounts to
patients that are financially disadvantaged, the policy may not be of use if the economic
status of patients is not captured at the medical office.

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Consequences of Office Procedures not Aligning with Financial Policy

One of the consequences of office procedures not aligning with financial policy is
non-payment of services provided to patients. For instance, if the policy states that payment
can only be done through debit or credit cards but the office procedures do not require staff to
collect information on the patient’s debit or credit cards, there is a possibility of the service
not being paid for.

Recommendations, Strategies or Tools That Medical Offices Can Use to Ensure Effective
Alignment of Policies and Procedures

The best way of having medical office procedures align with financial policies is to
involve the same staff in preparation of financial policies and medical office procedures.
Having the same people get involved in the preparation of both policies and procedures goes
a long way in ensuring that the two get aligned as they can easily spot any contradictions or
non-alignment in the policies.

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References

Cone Health (2020). Full Billing and Collections Policy.
https://www.conehealth.com/app/files/public/27a61b22-f1bc-49cd-8370-
94f4f7e7c4fc/billing-and-collections-policy.pdf