By: Michelle Schmidt, Director of Marketing at The Midland Group
Before joining The Midland Group, Michelle Schmidt has worked with many well-known companies, such Big Brothers Big Sisters, Clara Biotech, and several private universities, among many others.
Michelle also owns and operates a private photography business and is a self-proclaimed story enthusiast who believes that everyone deserves to be heard. These days, you can find Michelle fostering new connections, learning new things, and helping people understand their options regarding medical finances.
The process of medical billing in the United States can be difficult to understand. According to the Copatient State of Medical Bill Confusion survey, approximately 72% of consumers in America are confused and frustrated by their medical bills, and understandably so.
One of the most common confusions revolves around the number of bills a patient may receive for a single visit. After all, many people expect one bill to come in the mail, but soon receive multiple bills from different entities even for a single visit. Why is this?
Most hospitals, including Newton Medical Center, will typically send you a single itemized bill for all the services you received during your stay that were provided by the hospital. This includes the costs of operating rooms, nursing services, and medical supplies. The reason you may receive several other bills is because not all the people involved in providing the services were directly employed by the hospital.
For example, many physicians, radiologists, and surgeons own private practices and are not direct employees of the hospital. They do, however, work with the hospital to provide services to patients in the hospital, then bill the patients or their insurance companies directly. This explains the additional bills you may receive outside of your itemized hospital bill.
We understand that having multiple can be very confusing. That’s why Newton Medical Center partners with The Midland Group to help you manage your payments more effectively. The Midland Group is NOT a collection agency, nor is it to be confused with direct billing from the hospital.
So how does it work?
The Midland Group wears many hats. They offer free services to help with benefit eligibility, payment plans, and a complimentary charity application. The team works daily with our on-site representative, Robin Berry, to ensure that all NMC patients understand their options and receive the financial help they need.
Given the complexity of managing bills, many NMC patients opt to utilize the Midland Payment Plan service, which is a managed payment arrangement with Newton Medical Center. NMC partners with Midland to simplify your bill payments and provide you support.
How The Midland Group helps
The goal? To make it simple for you to pay your bills. All our plans feature:
- Low interest. Compared to typical loans, the Midland Payment Plan offers NMC patients low interest. The interest is also applied only for the payment plan period, so if at any point of time you are able to pay off the rest of the balance, you don’t have to pay interest for the rest of the period.
- Easy set-up. You can often set up your payment plan with a simple phone call.
- Affordable payments. Most plans can quickly be set up on small monthly payments.
- No effect on credit record or credit history. Setting up a Midland Payment Plan will NOT affect your credit score or your credit history. If you agree to maintain a payment plan, your account will be kept from going to collections.
- Simplified plan. If you have new charges, such as from a follow up visit, those can be consolidated into your existing plan with a new monthly payment. This gives you only one bill to worry about each month.
- Monthly statements. Unlike many other payment plans, a Midland representative will send you monthly statements, so you know your progress and don’t accidentally miss a payment.
- No late fees/penalties. We know that things happen, and people forget. As long as you communicate with us, we will work with you to resolve your late payments.
To learn more about this program, contact our friendly on-site representative, Robin Berry (316-281-9332) and see if the Midland Payment Plan may be a good option for you and your family.
Our job is to make your life simpler. NMC and The Midland Group are working together to help patients manage healthcare costs in a way that is reasonable and timely.
