For negotiating managed care contracts parties should be mutually involved in ways that it benefits both of them. This article will lead you through the points of successfully negotiating managed care contracts.
- Don’t just focus on rates: Reimbursing an amount to the hospital is essential, but there are other factors also that one needs to consider before making the contract. One has to have proper knowledge as to how the payer’s business works before entering into a deal of negotiation. Some payers might reimburse late, keeping the institution to run around asking for the money of their rights.The hospital needs that money for its development to provide proper care to its patients. Before entering a negotiation, hospitals should also consider the services the payers are willing to give. If the payers offer more products and services, naturally the s=incentives go higher.SO it is well understood that many factors needs to be considered before entering a negotiation. Organisations should not simply go and sign a contract just because they have even offered a generous reimbursement amount.
- Goals: Hospitals definitely would want good payers. A sign of agood payer is their commitment. It is not wise to negotiate with a short term payer as he will be continuously chalking out ways and plans to walk off the contract. Also, they pay really small amounts, which might not be beneficial at all. On the other hand, long-term payers are usually loyal and can give enough guarantee. They are more flexible and can be urged for re-negotiation.
Compromise: A very importantthing to keep in mind to compromise. Payers and hospitals would both want to give the patients the right rates. So, there might be times when disagreements might occur between both the parties. However, these issues are not unsolvable. The parties should come in terms of the mutual understanding of both the sides and take actions that might be beneficial for both of them. The parties also need to understand that there will be times when not all their needs can be fulfilled, or their requests can’t be met. It is better than the parties respect that and work accordingly to avoid disparities.
Successfully negotiating managed care contracts, a lot of patience, determination and perseverance is required. When the negotiation is finally done, both parties must be mutually satisfied, and there must get most of what they had put on the table initially.