The Albany Med Health System has developed a financial assistance program (FAP) that it says will benefit patients receiving care at any hospital within the system or from any provider employed by any of its facilities, including Albany Medical Center Hospital, Albany Medical College, Columbia Memorial Health, Saratoga Hospital and Glens Falls Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Albany Med Heath System is committed to minimizing the financial barriers to health care that exist for some members of our community and to ensuring that patients do not forgo necessary care due to worry about cost,\u201d said Dr. Dennis McKenna,\u00a0 <\/span>president and chief executive officer of the Albany Med Health System. \u201cThis program is another example of how the hospitals within our system are working together to make access to high-quality care easier for everyone in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n FAP helps uninsured and underinsured patients with a gross household income up to 400 percent of the federal income poverty guidelines, which is calculated based on annual income and number of persons in household. Eligibility is based on the federal income poverty guidelines in effect at the time of application.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Patients seeking access to the FAP will be required to complete a signed application and provide documentation to verify income. Financial assistance will only be applied after all insurance coverage has been exhausted or for uninsured self-pay patients. Once approved, assistance will be available for all services provided at any facility within the system or from any of its providers.<\/p>\n The Financial Assistance Program is one step in the Albany Med Health System\u2019s ongoing efforts to make access to health care easier for patients. In the future, the system will offer coordinated or fully integrated care in a wide variety of specialties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span>Patients can expect more collaboration in additional service lines. Work will soon begin on a system-wide electronic medical record (EMR) and enterprise planning resource process (ERP).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With one EMR, providers at any system location may securely access patient information for quicker connections to coordinated care. A team is also planning for a central patient engagement center that will offer system patients one number to call for scheduling physician or hospital services, checking eligibility and benefits, financial information, referrals, and authorization management. It will open first at Albany Med and expand to affiliate hospitals in the coming years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Albany Med Health System has developed a financial assistance program (FAP) that it says will benefit patients receiving care at any hospital within the system or from any provider employed by any of its facilities, including Albany Medical Center Hospital, Albany Medical College, Columbia Memorial Health, Saratoga Hospital and Glens Falls Hospital. \u201cThe Albany […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-fitness"],"yoast_head":"\r\n