St. Clair Hospital Joins With Experian Health to Unveil Cost Transparency Tool

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- St. Clair Hospital and Experian Health, the dedicated healthcare business of Experian, today introduced a cost transparency tool available through a patient-friendly portal on the Hospital's website, www.stclair.org. Patients now have the ability to learn, in advance, what their estimated out-of-pocket cost will be for services at the Hospital or its Outpatient Centers.

St. Clair is the first hospital in the region to implement Patient Estimates, a product developed by Experian Health. Patient Estimates is designed to help insured, and uninsured, patients get clear, real-time, easy-to-understand cost estimates for St. Clair's services so patients can make informed decisions about their care.  

The tool is not a list of charges, but an interactive and user-friendly tool that provides information that is highly specific to the individual. Estimates are designed to determine, in advance, each patient's out-of-pocket costs (deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance) for services at St. Clair based upon his/her insurance coverage. The estimates also incorporate St. Clair's discounts for payment on the date of service and for those without insurance. The estimates remain in the system and can be recalled for future reference.

Patient Estimates is simple to use and is conveniently available 24/7 at www.stclair.org. On the home page, patients will select the "Financial Tools" option, then click on Patient Estimates. They will then enter their health insurance information before choosing from the drop-down menu one of the 100 listed clinical services (e.g., a procedure, treatment or diagnostic test). The tool then provides a customized estimate of their out-of-pocket expenses.

"St. Clair is committed to being a leader in high-value healthcare," said Richard C. Chesnos, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer. "In addition to our award-winning patient safety and clinical outcomes, and nation-leading patient satisfaction scores, St. Clair provides very cost-effective services, and we want our patients to feel secure knowing, upfront, how much their care will cost them."

Traditionally, patients have not had access to cost information prior to their medical procedures. Today, healthcare cost transparency is a growing trend in several regions across the country, and has become law in at least one state. In Pennsylvania, healthcare cost transparency is not yet required, but the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) requires all member facilities to pledge to educate patients and provide information when requested so they can make informed decisions. The goal of transparency efforts among Pennsylvania's hospitals and health systems is to eliminate surprises and help consumers navigate a complex billing system that involves many parties, including insurance companies, physician practices, hospitals, employers, and government entities.

For more on Patient Estimates, please visit www.stclair.org.

About St. Clair Hospital
St. Clair Hospital is an independent national leader in quality and patient satisfaction. It is an acute care medical center with 2,300 employees and 550 physicians serving residents of western Pennsylvania. With 328 beds and five satellite locations, St. Clair offers advanced, high-quality care in multiple specialties, including heart, oncology, orthopedics, mental health, women and children services, stroke care and more. For more information, please visit www.stclair.org.

About Experian Health
Experian Health provides a single solution for the healthcare industry that redefines revenue cycle efficiency and effectiveness. More than 3,040 hospitals and 10,000 other healthcare organizations representing over 100,000 providers nationwide rely on the company's best-in-class technology through every facet of operations—including revenue cycle management, identity management, patient engagement and population wellness. From front end patient access, to back end claims and collections, all coupled with actionable, real-time data and analytics, our platform combines Touchless Processing™ and an exception-based workflow to help healthcare organizations achieve payment and care certainty for every patient by automating processes, optimizing payments from patients and payers, creating business intelligence and mitigating risk. For more information about the Experian Health suite of products and services, visit www.experian.com/health. 

About Experian
We are the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to our clients around the world. We help businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. We also help people to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft. In 2015, we were named by Forbes magazine as one of the "World's Most Innovative Companies."

We employ approximately 17,000 people in 37 countries and our corporate headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil. Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2015, was US $4.8 billion.

To find out more about our company, please visit http://www.experianplc.com or watch our documentary, "Inside Experian."

SOURCE St. Clair Hospital

Related Links

http://www.stclair.org