When we introduced our STEP (Sensitive Times Economic Program) a few months ago, we knew we were doing a very good thing for our community. We knew that we were (and are) in the middle of very tough economic times. Rather than waiting for a governmental solution to health care, KHC stepped up to the plate by making it possible for our communities to avoid missing or putting off necessary health care for financial reasons.
We also broke typical health care patient financial service traditions by aggressively marketing our financial assistance program to our communities. We also implemented a web-based application process, where patients can confidentially apply for financial assistance on our website (http://knoxvillehospital.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=104). Traditional health care financial assistance programs tend to be “hidden” in the back business office, can be difficult to access, and confusing to patients.
To support this marketing initiative, we have wonderful people working at KHC to help our patients navigate through the process. Our excellent customer service team of Amy Vroegh, Lynda Graves, Stacey Hall, Carol Kozak, and Liz Mitchell are lead by Nancy Swim and Holly Johnson. They do a wonderful job of working with our patients and helping them with their financial assistance applications, insurance, and various billing/collection concerns. As with anything, the success of a program is only as good as the people that work with it on a daily basis – and we are very fortunate to have a great team doing this.
Now for the great news! During the first three months (May-July 2009) that STEP has been in existence, we have been able to help 37 families with their hospital/clinic bills. These 37 families have received financial assistance from KHC totaling $74,475!! This averages out to a little over $2,000 per family! Given these tough economic times, we know that this is very important to these family’s household budgets and we feel very fortunate to be able to help them!
One of the great components of the STEP program is that these 37 families only have to apply for financial assistance one time per year. This component is a very important part of the program, in that it allows these families to fully utilize any and all KHC providers and services without having to worry about the financial consequences.
In summary, many thanks to our great staff that is involved in making the STEP program a success and modeling our “Committed to You!” approach on a daily basis! We hope that this program continues to grow and that we will be able to help many more families in the future!
