Published: 2009-06-24 17:55:07
Author: The Olympian | June 5, 2009
Most Washington residents have struggled with the mounds of paperwork associated with visits to a doctor’s office or hospital.
Some physician groups have more employees dealing with insurance paperwork than they have workers providing care to patients.
Ensuring a smooth paper trail between medical providers, insurance companies and patients has become almost as important as a proper diagnosis and treatment. Miss a step along the way and patients can find themselves out thousands of dollars.
No one knows the burden of paperwork more than medical providers.
Every insurance provider requires a different credentialing process.
Every insurance company has a different referral form to fill out.
Every insurance company has different codes for medical billing and different payment policies.
The paperwork has become a huge burden in the efficient delivery of health care.
And its a costly proposition.
Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, chairwoman of the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee, said the medical bureaucracy and inefficient administrative costs consume one third of every health care dollar.
Keiser has introduced and passed Senate Bill 5346 which she calls the “Health Efficiencies Act.”
“The (act) directs health insurance companies, providers and purchasers to establish uniform standards of how services are authorized and reimbursed,” Keiser said, “My goal is to cut administrative costs in half.”
Dare we hope that she is successful?
SB 5346 passed the House and Senate on unanimous votes and was signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire on April 30. It goes into effect on July 26.
The legislation directs Mike Kreidler, state insurance commissioner, to designate a lead organization to identify areas where standardization will work. Kreidler will then adopt rules to put those standards into place.
“This paperwork is a significant irritant to doctors,” Kreidler said. “It’s one of their top concerns. They fill out form after form all effectively asking for the same information, just in a different way.”