The challenge Mercy is the nation’s 20th largest non-profit healthcare system, primarily serving Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. They operate or manage 45 acute care hospitals, 11 specialty hospitals and more than 700 physician practices and outpatient facilities. Needless to say, an issue with even one aspect of the rev cycle is quickly compounded when operational scope is that vast. Betty Wikoff, Vice President of Patient Access at Mercy, has a keen understanding of the impact of point-of-service collections. “If you are collecting more up front, you reduce your likelihood of bad debt,” Wikoff notes. She is equally perceptive about what it takes to collect more from patients at the time of service—an accurate estimate of what they owe. “Higher out-of-pocket costs compel

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