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What healthcare organizations need to know about Reg F and No Surprises

Mar 24, 2022

Billing transparency changes under Reg F and No Surprises in 2022

In 2021, billing transparency for consumers came into the spotlight with the passing of Regulation F and the No Surprises Billing Act. While these new regulations are focused on the debt collectors, they can have a major impact on the healthcare organizations themselves if the correct revenue cycle processes aren’t in place. Here’s a closer look at what these regulations are and what they mean for healthcare organizations in 2022.

What is Reg F?

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDPCA), which underpins Reg F, was created in 1977. This act included regulations around the ways that a 3rd party debt collection agency could contact a debtor. Notably, the FDPCA was enacted in a time when voicemail, email, and text messages were not a prevalent means of communication.

Reg F provides guardrails for how collectors can and should utilize the communication methods that have emerged since 1977. While collectors have the primary responsibility for upholding these new regulations, part of a healthcare organization’s general oversight responsibilities is to make sure that their debt collection practices—third party or otherwise—are compliant.

Related: How to use price transparency to your advantage.

What is the No Surprises Billing Act?

The No Surprises Billing Act, which is a result of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, was called “one of the most critical medical debt consumer protection laws since the Affordable Care Act”. The act is designed to protect consumers from unexpected medical bills, ban surprise billing and balance billing, and increase the amount of information a consumer is given at the beginning of the revenue cycle.

Surprise bills are a mounting issue in the United States– even for consumers with insurance coverage. According to the ASPE Office of Public Health Policy, 18% of insured emergency room visits included at least one surprise bill, with the out-of-pocket cost for the consumer falling at an average of $750 for childbirth, $1200 for anesthesia, and $2600 for surgical assistants.

While this bill is intended to increase competition within the healthcare industry and pave the way for more transparent pricing practices, it creates high stakes for healthcare organizations. Heavier administrative workloads, potential loss of revenue, and even disputes and litigation can result from non-compliance at the point of service.

Related: Why you need pre-service and point-of-sale payments for revenue cycle success.

How to stay compliant under Reg F and No Surprises

While these new regulations may feel daunting, they don’t need to be. Having the right processes in place can help you prevent low consumer satisfaction ratings, dispute cases, and litigation. When leveraged correctly, they can even increase consumer referrals and boost revenue. Find out what compliance experts have to say about using these new regulations to your advantage in our free live webinar.

On-demand Webinar

What Healthcare Providers Need to Know About Reg F and the No Surprises Billing Act

WEBINAR

How the latest revenue regulation changes are impacting providers, creditors, and debt collection agencies in 2022.

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Karie Bostwick

VP of People and Compliance

As VP of People and Compliance at Revenue Enterprises, Karie Bostwick oversees People functions including recruiting, training, onboarding, engagement and satisfaction. Additionally, she is responsible for compliance training, oversight and monitoring.

Karie has a long history of working in the revenue cycle support industry. Her skills span leadership, operations start up, policies and procedures development, operations workflow, budgeting and client management.

She is passionate about the experience of our people, patients and the Healthcare clients we serve and believes that a team of diverse, talented and motivated individuals working together toward a common goal can make a difference.

Robert Sterett

VP of Information Technology

As a transformational leader Robert Sterrett has leveraged his 20 years of experience to build effective service lines and exceptional teams. In his role as VP of Information Technology at Revenue Enterprises, Robert excels at taking a unique, balanced, and strategic approach to technology leadership with people first for the best possible outcome. Using his experience from engineering, project management and service line management he takes a multi-faceted approach to ensure the right people are in the correct position coupled with the best technology to meet or exceed all expectations from security to compliance and business continuity.

Robert’s leadership style lends itself to building long term relationships and has consistently been a relied upon strength in many organizations. Over Robert’s time as an IT operational and project leader, he has spent significant time in both hands-on technology facing roles and client centric management roles to bring the best solutions that strive to meet the business and client needs.

Focusing heavily on his personal development skills and opportunities, Robert continues to foster coaching and mentorship relationships everywhere in his life, and the lives around him.

Douglas Dunbar

VP of Sales & Marketing

As VP of Sales and Marketing for Revenue Enterprises, Douglas Dunbar leads with a passion for building strategic partnerships, nurturing relationships, and upholding customer service excellence. In his role, Doug focuses on marketing and brand strategy, sales team leadership, and working closely with members of the management team to best serve company goals.

Doug has over 28 years of National sales and marketing call/contact center leadership, with 10 years of service specifically at Revenue Enterprises. Currently, Doug serves as part of Wyoming HFMA Chapter leadership and has held various roles in Colorado HFMA Chapter leadership for over 9 years.

In his spare time, Doug is very family oriented. Additionally, he loves traveling, cycling, golfing, fishing, hunting, and boating.

Kris Brumley, MBA

SVP/COO

As SVP/COO of Revenue Enterprises, Kris Brumley is a collaborative partner within the executive team and a leader for operational functions across the organization. Kris productively shares vision, drives innovation, and supports those around her in a way that elevates them and fosters continuous improvement and results. She has helped create a supportive environment for clients resulting in 98% client retention and a 65% NPS score for all clients and 75% for top clients by revenue.

Kris possesses an MBA in data analytics and has twenty-five years of experience in the healthcare industry, with 19 specifically in revenue cycle. She brings a wealth of customer service experience to her role and has worn many hats at Revenue Enterprises including Director of Business Development, EBO Division Director, and VP of Client Experience Management.

In her personal life, Kris is as busy outside of work as inside. She values spending time with her family, and enjoys fishing, hiking, traveling and interior decorating and design.

Timothy (Tim) Brainerd

CEO

As CEO of Revenue Enterprises for almost 20 years, Tim Brainerd leads by example. He promotes a shared vision and stewards a culture of Integrity, Passion, and Respect. He has assembled and empowered high-performing talent and teams to support customers, facilitate strategic planning and manage the capital of the company. Under his leadership, Revenue Enterprises has doubled in size three times over the past fifteen years while maintaining a culture of caring and gratefulness.

Tim has close to four decades of revenue cycle experience, including nineteen years with RSI
Enterprises. He has been a past president of Colorado Chapter of the HFMA and a presenting speaker on the topic of Leadership. He is a fifteen-year member of Vistage International, the world’s largest CEO coaching and peer advisory organization for small and midsize business leaders.

Raised in the Midwest, Tim values humble principles like being respectful, caring, passionate, self-reliant, and most importantly grateful. His most important lesson and the lesson he hopes to pass on in all relationships is living the Golden Rule–do unto others as you would have them do unto you. He is intentional in his choices and believes in making decisions, taking action, being accountable, and loving your neighbors.

Whenever possible, Tim spends his time with his wife of nearly forty years, his adult children, and his grandchildren. His hobbies include fishing, golfing, traveling as well as game nights and sharing great food with his family.