According to the latest report by TransUnion Healthcare, hospital patients are continuing to face an increased financial burden as healthcare costs rise and revolving credit becomes less available. The report analyzed data from around 400,000 providers and found an 11 percent decrease in the consumer's ability of pay for select medical procedures. CNBC claims that the findings highlights the fact that consumers of medical services are shouldering a larger share of the bill, even though overall healthcare cost have been rising a much low rate in the last few years.
"Our latest report demonstrates that consumers continue to feel the pressure of rising healthcare costs," said Gerry McCarthy, president of TransUnion Healthcare in an official statement. "Despite a slowly improving economy, many consumers are finding they have less money to make these payments. This issue is not just about patients, though, as thousands of healthcare administrators across the country face the challenge of providing quality care while also seeking fair compensation."
CNBC reports that in 2014, there was an 11 percent jump in average patient costs from $2,245 in late 2013 to $2,491. Rising costs for popular joint-replacement procedures can be primarily blamed for sharp increase, with the average out-of-pocket costs for these procedures growing from $2,535 to $3,135. At the same time, patient deductible costs rose by almost 7 percent the last year from $1,062 to $1,133 and expected to rise even further in the coming years.
With increasing costs, more and more patients can be overwhelmed by medical debt. By taking advantage of Professional Medical Services' outsource receivables management tools, hospital administrators can reduce their backlog of claims and increase their operational efficiency.
