Ashville, N.C.-based Mission Healthcare, a subsidiary of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, has made its charity care financial assistance application available online following a public advocacy campaign, Asheville Citizen Times reported Nov. 21.
Portland, Ore.-based patient advocacy group Dollar For along with Mountain Maladies, a 13,500-member Facebook group where patients discuss their experiences with Mission, called on the hospital to make the application public.
The group's calls were supported by North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell, who penned a letter to Steven Gross, the CEO of HCA's billing services provider Parallon, calling for the application to be made available online.
After some consideration, Mission posted the two-page application on Nov. 17. Mission is the first HCA hospital to post the application online.
"In our experience with assisting patients over the years, a conversation with a Patient Benefits Advisor provides a more complete picture of a patient’s situation allowing us to identify solutions which help to determine eligibility for coverage that can often extend beyond their current care encounter," An HCA spokesperson said in a statment provided to Becker's. "For instance, in North Carolina over the last year, our advisors helped more than 13,900 patient accounts be enrolled in longer-term coverage such as Medicaid."