WASHINGTON, D.C., March 20 -- The Healthcare Administrative Simplification Coalition (HASC), a public/private partnership of organizations committed to reducing the administrative costs and complexity of health care, has announced its support for PATIENT FRIENDLY BILLING©, an initiative spearheaded by the Healthcare Financial Management Association in partnership with the American Hospital Association, the Medical Group Management Association and other leading provider, consulting and technology organizations.

"Hospitals, physicians and health plans alike have an obligation to make patient bills and explanations of insurance benefits as clear and understandable as possible," said Bruce Perkins, senior vice president, Humana Inc., a member of HASC.

"Humana strongly supports the Patient Friendly Billing initiative, which runs parallel with our organization's goal to provide health-plan member guidance and solutions to the complexities in the health care industry," Perkins said. "In fact, we recently launched a SmartSummary statement designed with a similar goal in mind to provide a clearer, more understandable explanation-of-benefits form for our members."
HASC members agreed to issue the following statement and to support the efforts of the Patient Friendly Billing project.

"The health care industry should strive to make patient financial communications clear, concise, correct and patient-friendly.

* The needs of patients and their family members should be paramount when designing administrative processes and communications;
* Information gathering should be coordinated among providers and insurers, and this collection process should be done efficiently, in private, and with as little duplication as possible;
* Patients should be informed about financial expectations as early in the process as possible. This includes assistance with financial arrangements, if applicable; and
* Health care financial communications should be concise and easy to read. All written and spoken terminology should be readily understood by consumers. All communications should describe their purpose, any actions the patient needs to take, and provide contact information for questions or for additional information.

Find more information on the Patient Friendly Billing project at www.patientfriendlybilling.org.

About HASC
The Healthcare Administrative Simplification Coalition was organized by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). It is committed to reducing the administrative costs and complexity of health care. Other members of the coalition include the nation's leading physician and hospital organizations, health and benefits plans, employers, government agencies and other groups sharing the coalition's goals. Positions taken by the coalition are determined by majority vote and do not necessarily represent the position of individual members.

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