Powell Valley Healthcare is preparing for the roll out of a program that staff hope will bring relief to many self-pay and high deductible patients working to pay medical bills.

The CarePayment program, which offers no interest, flexible payments for patients who go on the program, is scheduled to be available May 1. Staff were trained on the program in early March.

“I am very excited about getting this going for our patients,” PVHC CFO Joy Coulston said. “It is great for flexible payment options to help protect the financial health of our patients. The payment options far exceed what we are able to offer.”

She said the program, which can either work as one patients opt in to or one where certain patients are automatically enrolled, is especially helpful as the number of patients with high deductibles increases.

“It has become increasingly common for our patients to have $3,000, $5,000 and $7,000 deductibles,” Coulston said. “This large amount is difficult for many patients to cover, and we are hoping this can be a great option for our patients.”

It’s also a great option for the hospital, Coulston said at the March 27 hospital board meeting, noting that the hospital receives payment right away once the patient starts using CarePayment. Also, the fees for the program, which vary from 6%-8% of the total bill, are less than the alternative of paying a debt collection service.

CarePayment is instead a healthcare finance company and a financing option that allows patients to pay off initial charges in manageable monthly payments at 0.00% APR.

And, Coulson said, it also helps patients in that they can pay their bill in almost anyway imaginable, including on a phone, where the hospital finance department has more limited options.

“Care Payment can be used on existing accounts, but also with services scheduled in advance, such as radiology or outpatient surgery,” she said. “Because the lack of payment options creates hardships for our patients, our goal with Care Payment is to help patients find ways to pay deductible and co-payments not covered by insurance, as well as for self-pay patients.”

CarePayment

*The CarePayment program does not require an application or credit approval process and can be managed online.

*You can set your contact preferences, review your balance and transaction history, set up automatic monthly payments, go paperless or make a one-time payment at any time.

*Request a CarePayment account by speaking to a Powell Valley Healthcare representative at 307-754-4559 or visit learn.carepayment.com/PVHC.