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Daily Bread
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10
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Memphis, Tenn., April 3, 2008 – Baptist Memorial Health Care has launched Expense Navigator, a new, online tool that offers cost estimates for outpatient and inpatient procedures and tests at Baptist’s 14 hospitals in Tennessee and North Mississippi; NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital in Jonesboro, Ark. will be added to Expense Navigator later this year.
By going to baptistonline.org, users can click on the Expense Navigator banner and obtain the average charge for a procedure or test and calculate an out-of-pocket estimate by providing information about deductibles, co-payments, coinsurance percentage and out-of-pocket maximums. Expense Navigator can search for procedures or tests using three different methods: drop-down category menus, such as circulatory system or digestive system; keyword search; or by entering specific diagnosis-related group or current procedural terminology codes.
The average charge amount is calculated by adding the total hospital charges for all patients who had a specific outpatient test or procedure or were assigned a particular inpatient DRG during the past 12 months. The total number is then divided by the number of patients in that same group for each hospital. The averages are recalculated each quarter.
Using the estimator does not affect any past, present or future transactions with the hospitals. The results provided are calculated estimates based on user-provided information. The actual cost can vary depending on additional medical complications and additional procedures not included in the specific estimate.
"Because health insurance plans often require patients to pay a portion of their bills before they undergo medical procedures, we wanted to provide our patients with an easy-to-use tool that can give them an idea of what they may have to pay up front," said Bill Griffin, vice president of finance for Baptist Memorial Health Care. "That is why we created Expense Navigator, and we feel it will be a valuable resource for our patients."
One of the largest and top-rated integrated health networks in the country, Baptist Memorial Health Care comprises 15 hospitals in West Tennessee, North Mississippi and East Arkansas; more than 3,100 affiliated physicians; home, hospice and psychiatric care; minor medical centers; a network of surgery, rehabilitation and other outpatient centers; and an education system highlighted by the Baptist College of Health Sciences. In fiscal year 2007, Baptist provided $429 million in community benefit, and, according to a 2005 University of Memphis study, the organization had an economic impact of more than $2 billion on the communities it served in fiscal year 2004. For more information about Baptist, please visit www.baptistonline.org or call 800-4-BAPTIST.
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