| 摘要 |
A method and apparatus for remote management of patient accounts for the healthcare industry comprising key flashpoints in the patient account lifecycle and a centralized management unit that oversees and manages the entire patient account lifecycle. The centralized management unit comprises a manager and a plurality of management control reports, alerts, edits, and checklists. The manager communicates with the healthcare provider, patients, and payors to obtain information required to ensure maximum reimbursement of claims for healthcare services. Operating reports are included whereby healthcare providers can monitor the performance of the system and continuously improve the process resulting in improved cash flow, reduced bad debt, reduced costs, and reduced healthcare days in receivable. Standards are defined for each of the performance measures. An apparatus for remote management of patient accounts using this method is described comprising an encrypted communication network with user authentication to protect patient privacy and the security of the healthcare service provider's data and network whereby the centralized management unit can use the existing healthcare service provider's patient accounts system or whereby the healthcare provider can outsource any portion or all of the patient accounts system for management by the centralized management unit without having to maintain two sets of patient accounts.
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