AMA Campaign Against Administrative Waste is Joined by Cigna
Toolkits, webinars rolled out for “Heal that Claim”™ month
CHICAGO - Oct. 31, 2012 - The American Medical Association (AMA) announced that Cigna Corporation has joined a growing list of private health insurers that have pledged support for the AMA’s Heal the Claims Process ™ campaign. More than 130 supportive organizations, including Aetna, Humana, Regence and UnitedHealth Group, have demonstrated their commitment to cutting unnecessary administrative costs by bringing transparency, simplicity and consistency to the medical billing and payment system.
“Working constructively with Cigna and other insurers, the AMA has made significant progress toward our goal of slashing administrative costs from the medical billing system since the launch of the Heal the Claims Process campaign in 2008,” said AMA President Jeremy A. Lazarus, M.D. “The AMA’s call for improved payment accuracy from insurers resulted in $8 billion in savings this year due to a reduction in unnecessary paperwork to reconcile errors.”
According to findings from the AMA’s National Health Insurer Report Card, error rates for private health insurers on paid medical claims dropped from 19.3 percent in 2011 to 9.5 percent in 2012. While dramatic improvements have been made, private health insurers still paid the wrong amount for nearly one in ten medical claims. The AMA estimates an additional $7 billion could be saved if insurers consistently pay claims correctly.
“November marks Heal that Claim™ month and to kick-off the annual campaign the AMA is offering innovative toolkits and a webinar series to help physicians streamline the claims process so they spend less time on claim hassles and more time caring for patients,” said Dr. Lazarus.
Physicians can turn to the AMA for nuts and bolts resources that resolve costly bottlenecks in the claims process. New toolkits and webinars on insurance eligibility verification and point-of-care pricing can help physicians use instant electronic transactions to process medical claims and provide costs to patients in real-time when care is provided. By encouraging increased electronic transactions and payment transparency, the AMA seeks to cut unnecessary administrative costs while helping patients take control of their out-of-pocket costs.
To learn more about how the AMA can generate savings by helping make the claims process run more smoothly, please visit the AMA Practice Management Center.
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Media Contact:
Robert J. Mills
AMA Media Relations
(312) 464-5970
robert.mills@ama-assn.org
About the American Medical Association (AMA)
The American Medical Association helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important professional, public health and health policy issues. The nation’s largest physician organization plays a leading role in shaping the future of medicine. For more information on the AMA, please visit www.ama-assn.org.
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