HEALTHSOUTH TO JOIN ACCESSMEDICALCARD PROVIDER NETWORK. Out-Patient Surgery Centers Provide Significant Reduction in Healthcare Costs for the Uninsured and the Self-Pay Patient
PLEASANTON, CA May 3, 2004–AccessMedicalCard announced today that HealthSouth Corporation, Birmingham, Alabama, has signed a contract for its surgery centers in the San Francisco Bay Area to join the AccessMedical Provider Network. HealthSouth joins a growing network of over 400 physicians and healthcare facilities to offer affordable healthcare alternatives for the uninsured and the self-pay patients who are members of the AccessMedicalCard program. AccessMedicalCard is not medical insurance. It is a healthcare discount program.
HealthSouth Corporation’s Bay Area surgery centers that have joined the AccessMedicalCard provider network include: Blackhawk Surgery Center, Danville, CA; Tri-Valley Surgery Center, Pleasanton, CA; Castro Valley Surgery Center, Castro Valley, CA; San Francisco Surgery Center, San Francisco; Forest Surgery Center, San Jose, CA
These HealthSouth surgery centers are licensed by the State of California and accredited by The Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). HealthSouth’s surgery centers are designed to meet the highest standards of care and to perform various types of outpatient surgical procedures such as orthopedics, ophthalmology, ENT, gynecology, gastroenterology, general surgery, plastic surgery and podiatry.
โWith insurance coverage for many procedures being decreased and an increased number of self-pay patients, today’s medical consumers are looking for cost-effective alternatives. Advances in medical technology mean that many procedures that once required a hospital stay, can be now performed safely and effectively on an outpatient basis in a Surgery Center,โ said Neurosurgeon, Robert Lieberson, M.D.
Discounts for outpatient surgeries include the fees of anesthesiologists and the surgeons who are also members of the AccessMedical Provider Network. AccessMedicalCard has reduced the price of outpatient surgeries by thousands of dollars. For example, the savings on a procedure such as a knee arthroscopy average $4,000 to $5,000. Savings on a colonoscopy average $1,500 and procedures as complex as spine surgery are priced to save AccessMedicalCard members over $10,000.
AccessMedicalCard is the first program in the nation to offer global fee discounting of outpatient surgery for the uninsured and self-pay patient. โBy negotiating discounts for surgical professional fees, anesthesiology fees and surgery center facility fees we can dramatically lower the costs of outpatient care,โ said Neal Gilbert, President of AccessMedicalCard. โApproximately 90% of the surgical procedures performed in a hospital can be safely performed in an outpatient surgery center. AccessMedicalCard has further reduced the cost of healthcare by eliminating all claims processing, billing, accounts receivable management and bad debts for its providers and members.โ
HealthSouth surgery centers, along with other surgery centers in the AccessMedical Provider Network, offer overnight care. Overnight care extends the range and complexity of the procedures surgery centers can offer. Hundreds, and even thousands of dollars, can be added to the savings for AccessMedicalCard members when the discounts of services, such as diagnostic imaging (X-Ray, CT and MRI) and physical therapy are included.
Michael Ranahan, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist on the Board of AccessMedicalCard, commented, โAs doctors face a growing number of patient’s without health insurance we had to develop a comprehensive program to meet their needs. Clearly the State and the Federal Government do not have solutions for this rapidly growing problem in our State, With 7 million Californians without health insurance (one million in the Bay Area alone) members of our medical community recognized the need for a program like AccessMedicalCard.โ
About AccessMedicalCard:
AccessMedicalCard is a rapidly growing Bay Area PPO network of over 400 physicians and outpatient providers, dedicated to offering a web-enabled, fee-for-service discount, membership-based healthcare program for families, individuals and businesses. The physician and outpatient provider network includes surgery centers, diagnostic imaging centers, specialty and primary care urgent care networks, physical therapists, medical equipment, and medical supplies. Other discounted health care services include pain management, mental health and dental care. Headquartered in Pleasanton, California, and founded by Bay Area healthcare professionals, the Company is devoted to making affordable quality healthcare a reality for the uninsured and the self-pay patient. The AccessMedicalCard initiative provides a comprehensive outpatient program offering consumers’ quality healthcare in their community, when they need it at prices they can afford. There are no claims forms, deductibles, denials for pre-existing conditions or age based premiums. AccessMedicalCard is a provider network which has individual contracts with each of its providers. AccessMedicalCard also offers a low cost Business Program. Monthly membership costs for AccessMedicalCard’s โShow Them That You Careโ business program range from $14.95 to $19.95 per employee per month. For more information about AccessMedicalCard, please visit www.accessmedicalcard.com or call (925) 460-8895.
About HealthSouth:
HealthSouth is the nation’s largest provider of outpatient surgery, diagnostic imaging and rehabilitative healthcare services, operating nearly 1,700 facilities nationwide and abroad. HealthSouth can be found on the Web at www.healthsouth.com.
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