Colfax hospital hires out patient billing to Spokane

Patient billing at Whitman Hospital & Medical Center changed hands from the hospital staff to a patient billing company in Spokane, starting Dec. 1.

The hospital said it was becoming more and more difficult for staff to keep up with the nation’s complex billing regulations.

Patients are now mailing their medical bills to a company in Boise, which is sub-contracted with a company that deals in patient billing in Spokane, Complete Business Office Solution (CBO).

Patients will not be charged extra funds on their bills for the use of the new company, said hospital CEO David Womack. There were no layoffs among the three hospital employees who used to perform patient billing. They were assigned other job duties, Womack said.

He added the move will save the hospital money. Because CBO is specially trained to expertly draw up patient bills, particularly those for small hospitals, Womack believes that efficiency could streamline the billing process.

“Medical billing has become so complex and it gets more complex every single day. It’s much easier to have experts who do this for lots of different hospitals, kind of consolidating it together,” Womack said. “They can keep up on the rules and regulations and change much easier than small hospitals trying to do it ourselves.”

A mistake on a bill to a client means a second or third corrected bill must be mailed out. Womack said CBO strives for clean billing, a practice where a bill is correctly printed for a patient the first time.

“It’s going to increase our rate of clean claims,” Womack said.

The hospital was in the red for several months last year but ended the year balanced. Womack said the change to this new billing company was made primarily with an eye on saving costs, particularly with the tough economic times.

“It’s no secret that we did not do as well financially last year as we have in the past. This was one way to help with the finances,” he said.