4 ms·
She mentions that the product helps screen for the patient's "propensity to pay". From that I gather that if the patient has a low propensity to pay, then they
by jerry1979 7y ago
She mentions that the product helps screen for the patient's "propensity to pay". From that I gather that if the patient has a low propensity to pay, then they get denied by the hospital.
This is from the product's lit:
"Predict propensity to pay using our proprietary Healthcare Financial Risk Score, which factors in historical healthcare payment outcomes and the patient’s credit history"
She mentions that the product also lets them pull "FPL", which in this case I imagine means "Federal Poverty Level", in addition to household size. Cincinnati Childrens has some info that might put that info into context: https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/patients/resources/financial-assistance https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/patients/resources/finan...
- tptacek 7y agoShe says explicitly that she's pulling that information in the context of eligibility for "the charity program". Further, unstated, perhaps speculative context: most people who go to the hospital pay through insurance and out of pocket. But if you go to the hospital without insurance, or can't cover your out of pocket component, most (every?) hospital will negotiate a lower rate; almost nobody pays rack rate out of pocket. So what they're calling "charity" might just as likely be the name they give the program where they come up with their real rate on the fly (I've been through this process with a large hospital chain in Chicagoland). Either way: it doesn't support the post's claim that Experian's health score --- which I'm disinclined to trust, just like everyone else --- is being used to "deny care". That's an argument the article does not appear to marshal evidence to support.
- jerry1979 7y agoMaybe you are right, but what difference does it make if the program is used to screen out people who can't pay?