HASC Estimates $500 Billion Savings by Reducing Administrative Costs

In its latest report, the Healthcare Administrative Simplification Coalition (HASC) estimates that the US can save up to $500 billion over ten years by reducing administrative costs by just 10 percent.

The report, titled "Bringing Better Value: Recommendations to Address the Costs and Causes of Administrative Complexity in the Nation's Healthcare System," offers four suggested areas of improvement:

• Implementation of a universal credentialing form for payers, hospitals, and other institutions;
• Using electronic patient data to help speed up determinations on insurance coverage eligibility;
• Standardization of patient ID cards;
• And standardization of the prior authorization process for radiology and pharmacy services.

The report makes many references to cost savings for clerical work; however, MSPs know that the major focus of our work is at a higher level. Clerical work is one of those necessary-but-not-valued responsibilities.

As the experts of the credentialing process, there is a great opportunity for us to share our best practices and be a part of healthcare reform.

To read the full report, click here:

http://www.simplifyhealthcare.org/repository/Documents/HASC-Report-20090717.pdf.

Source: HASC