'Billing quality is medical quality': 5 physician-backed metrics to consider

New billing measures could help providers give their patients a quality billing experience, which two physicians argued in JAMA is a type of medical quality.

In a viewpoint article, Simon Mathews, MD, and Martin Makary, MD, of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, offered five metrics providers could use to measure whether patients are receiving a quality billing experience.

Here are the five metrics: 

1. Itemized bills: Are patients always given an itemized bill that explains charges in simple language?

2. Price transparency: Can patients get real prices for shoppable, elective services?

3. Service quality: Are billing representatives available to promptly speak with patients about any concerns they have? Are those representatives transparent about the review process?

4. Suing patients: Do patients face harsh lawsuits that could garnish their wages, place a lien on their home or take funds from their income tax return?

5. Surprise bills: Do non-network patients pay more out of pocket than the region-specific reference-based price? And are patients billed for complications from the National Quality Forum serious reportable events?

Read the full viewpoint here.

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