Operations & Revenue
Charity Care Programs
Washington state’s charity care laws are complicated and constantly evolving, which can make them challenging to implement.
Procedures must follow the law. Policies must be complete and accurate. Training must reflect the policies and, most importantly, staff need to consistently follow their training. Hospitals may benefit from seeking a third party to review policies, training, and how staff discuss payment responsibilities with patients. Outside vendors should be experts on charity care and up to date on the consistently evolving laws and regulations. Detailed information can about Washington State’s charity care laws be found here: Charity Care and Financial Assistance at Washington State Hospitals
Partner with the top charity care experts in Washington. The collaboration between Washington Hospital Services and the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) ensures delivery of actionable insights from consultants with expertise in charity care statutory and regulatory language negotiations with lawmakers, agencies and stakeholders. Our team regularly guides hospitals through state charity care and federal financial assistance laws. The Check Ups include a review of the following:
- Patient Informational Sheets and/or Summary Documents
- Staff Training Materials, Scripts, Checklists and Guidance Documents
- Admissions Policy-Bad Debt Policy-Debt Collection Policy-Collections Policy
- Charity Care and/or Financial Assistance Policy(including how bad debt, assets, and discounts are handled)
- Plain Language Summary of Charity Care
- Charity Care Application & Community Health Needs Assessment (if applicable)
- Role plays with staff to learn how common scenarios are handled
The Charity Care Check Up helped us identify areas for improvement and ensure our charity care practices are compliant. It also helped us engage with our board about our hospital’s charity care policies so that we could discuss what we’re doing with them. Every hospital should have a Check Up!
Washington Rural Hospital CFO
