Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Question: Our doctors won't spring for a patient financial counselor. How can we convince them?

Maine Subscriber

Answer: A financial counselor well-versed in insurance and assistance programs is "the key to any cancer program, says MariaRita Genovese, PCP, PCS, director of revenue cycle at MDAnderson Cancer Center at Cooper in Camden, New Jersey. "They are worth their weight in gold," she continues. To express this kind of person's affordability in physician-friendly hard numbers, calculate how much that person could save you in bad debt write-offs.

There are so many variables with insurance coverage and assistance programs. Every drug company has a free or low-cost program. Someone who organizes all of this can prevent patients from signing up for programs that won't end up covering the treatments they need. "They will pay their salary over and over again," Genovese told attendees at the American Academy of Professional Coders' (AAPC) regional conference in Salt Lake City.