Anyone who may be anticipating medical testing or elective procedures in the near future may want to have them performed at Memorial Hospital before April 30 to take advantage of the hospital’s half-price offer.

Throughout the month of April, those who make full payment at time of service are being given a 50 percent discount.

The discount policy began in February and was initially focused on people with outstanding balances after their insurance had paid. It has since been extended to cover new procedures and self-pay patients.

For those who have medical insurance, this eliminates the time gap that exists from the time a claim is filed with the insurance company and paid, and the patient is billed for their share, a process that can sometimes take months.

This is just one of the new methods put in place by the hospital to help their cash flow.

Chief Financial Officer Bill Huling said the response from the public has been extremely good.

“We have experienced a significant decrease in the outstanding balances of our self-pay accounts over the past 60 days,” Huling said.

There will always be those who cannot pay and the hospital can arrange payment plans for them. They often take months, even years to pay.
For those who can pay, this is the way to go. It helps the patient save money and helps the hospital’s bottom line.