Munson Medical Center Reduces Patient-Pay A/R by 30%; Provides Easy Payment Option to Community

Portland, Ore. — June 1, 2010 — Munson Medical Center, a quality-award-winning regional healthcare system based in Traverse, Michigan, announced that by partnering with CarePayment it has been able to reduce patient-pay A/R by 30 percent and patient-pay A/R cycle time by ten days. The provider claims these improvements were immediate with the July 2009 implementation of CarePayment, and have proven to be sustainable since then.

While Munson Medical Center is recognized in an elite group of five providers nationally for its number of quality awards – including Thompson Reuters’ annual 100 Top Providers® list 11 times, the Everest Award for National Benchmarks, and the American Provider Association’s McKesson Quest for Quality Prize – it also faces demographic challenges with 23 percent of adults in the counties it serves being uninsured, and nearly 42% of those with annual incomes less than $20,000 uninsured. The provider had been burdened with unusually high and rising self-pay receivables and a 12-month, 20 percent increase in the use of its in-house payment plan.

The CarePayment plan was adopted by Munson Medical Center in July 2009 to offer self-pay patients a convenient payment plan with generous, zero percent interest terms and a low monthly minimum payment. All patients are eligible for the CarePayment plan regardless of credit history and the provider received immediate funding to improve cash flow and working capital.

Munson executives view the program as a win-win both for the non-profit and for the community it serves. “We were immediately able to transfer 75 percent of our patients’ payment plans to CarePayment,” said Karen Popa, director of patient services for Munson Medical Center. “Our patients are very thankful they have an option to address their balance, and staff members are pleased that the patients are happy with the program.”
“We’re proud to have Munson Medical Center as a client,” said CarePayment CEO Jim Quist. “It is a highly regarded healthcare facility with specialties in what can be high cost services, such as neurology, oncology and cardiology. I’m very pleased we’re able to help it help patients who need the help, afford the quality care it provides.”