Focus groups improve billing practices, patient relations.

Abstract

The billing process plays a key role in maintaining good patient relations. Recognizing this, one California hospital conducted focus groups to discover how recently discharged patients viewed its billing process. The former patients gave patient accounts staff high marks, but found the bills themselves difficult to understand. Another source of irritation was receiving separate bills from outside specialists for treatment provided in-house. The hospital is using the participants' suggestions to enhance its billing process.