In a relationship that dates to 1971, Hannibal Regional Healthcare System has turned to Commerce for everything from purchasing cards and bond refinancing to a healthcare services financing program for patients with high deductibles and co-pays.
Two years ago, it took up to six hours for the accounts receivable staff at Hannibal Regional Healthcare System to reconcile each day’s payments.
“We still received a lot of paper checks, which we processed manually,” says Heather Hipkins, accounting manager for the healthcare system, which includes a hospital, a clinical group and a home health organization. “It was time consuming and complicated by the way our payers often combined payments for all of our areas,” she explains.
Today, daily cash reconciliation takes no more than 30 minutes. The difference, Heather says, is RemitConnect®, a Commerce service that automates healthcare payment processing.
RemitConnect® is one of many banking solutions Commerce has implemented to help control costs, improve back office efficiency and meet patient needs. “Healthcare has a unique language, and Commerce speaks it,” says Stephen Keppner, group director-patient financial services.
"Commerce is always looking for ways to streamline our processes and improve our productivity. It’s very important to them that their healthcare solutions work for us in the real world."
A new healthcare services financing program for example, makes it possible for patients with high deductibles and co-pays to pay their medical bills over time with a zero-interest loan from Commerce. The bank’s 2015 refinancing of a $10 million bond resulted in savings that the healthcare system could put to better use elsewhere. In a relationship that dates to 1971, the healthcare system has also turned to Commerce for everything from lockbox services to purchasing cards.
“Because they know us so well, Commerce can be proactive,” says Todd Ahrens, president and chief executive officer. “They bring us solutions that address current healthcare market issues and help us achieve our goals.”
As leaders in the community, Commerce also sees the bigger picture, adds Todd. “They not only care about our healthcare system’s success, but the community’s success. We appreciate that.”