Medical FICO scoring system in the works

by Bev Sklar (Subscribe to Bev Sklar's posts)
Jan 8th 2008 9:30AM

How high is your stack of medical bills? After reading this news, you may want to whittle down the pile.

A new medFICO scoring system is currently being developed, backed by funding from credit industry giant Fair Isaac Corp., Tenet Healthcare Corp. and a venture capital firm to the tune of $10 million each. Consumer advocacy groups are abuzz with concerns. Would a low medFICO score mean inferior medical treatment ... what about scoring errors due to identity theft?

Chairman and chief executive of Healthcare Analytics, the firm developing the score, stated hospitals will only check the score after a patient is discharged. The score would allegedly aid hospitals in determining whether or not they should write off unpaid bills as uncollectible, bad debt. Hospitals are better able to balance expenses against revenue and invest in new ventures if they can more accurately gauge whether or not bills will be paid.

Personally, the whole concept makes me nervous. It could easily be abused. I wouldn't want a low medFICO score sitting next to my name as I sit in the emergency room awaiting treatment -- imagine an ER nurse calling out, "Will medFICO 650 please report to triage? Oh no, wait, I mean ... will medFICO 750 please report to triage?"

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Debbi Bishop 1-08-2008 @ 10:14AM

Hi, I'm an E.R. nurse in Texas and can tell you that we NEVER ask for insurance information or ability to pay for treatment before a patient is evaluated by a physician, and only then by a registrar, not a medical professional. The only time it becomes an issue for us is when the patient is discharged with prescriptions which they may not be able to afford, in which case a social worker might be consulted to find programs and resources necessary to assist them.