Warning. The sanity in this post decreases as you scroll down. There. You've been warned.
I was recently at a family gathering in Lyons, CO (a place that was devastated by the flooding in Colorado) and as we were discussing the numerous trials and tribulations of the flood, my uncle made a comment that his "favorite part of natural disasters is how the community comes together to solve problems." He went on to relate a story about how a tornado ripped through the small community in which he lives and before state officials could arrive, everyone with a "pickup truck and chainsaw" had worked to remove all the downed trees and cleared all the roads. Everyone started jumping into the conversation with their favorite story of how this person helped that person or this group came in and did this other thing and how amazing it was.
The entire conversation left me with a warm heart for humanity. The conversation slowly drifted to some strange insurance issues that the flood caused (e.g. if the road to my house doesn't exist and won't be rebuilt, do I have an insurance claim?) and I found myself contemplating the current healthcare insurance environment in terms of a natural disaster. I agree that It is a stretch of an analogy, but I couldn't help wondering if the "community" came together, could we start to untangle the mess? Could community banks, community hospitals, and local doctors work together to stem the destruction caused by the ever increasing cost of healthcare? If patient financing were readily available without a high cost to close, community banks would likely offer it to everyone in the community. If patient medical loans reduced the billing nightmare for medical providers, the overhead cost of each patient would drop. If the billing overhead dropped medical providers could charge less.
Its not a stretch to see where this line of thinking is self-serving to us on the MyLoans™ team, but if we profit from improving the cash flow situation for banks, medical providers and patients I won't have any problem sleeping at night. Sure, comparing the current healthcare environment to a natural disaster is a weak comparison and easy to deflate, but are we overlooking a possible solution?
...and THAT is why at family gatherings when someone asks me what's on my mind, I usually say, "Oh, nothing."
About MyLoans™
By providing patients with fast access to medical loans at a fair and unchanging interest rate, the MyLoans™ software by Epic River enables financial institutions to ease the financial stress of health care through collaboration with medical providers. Not only can medical providers offer patient financing between banks and patients for medical care needs, but doctors and hospitals alike can finally get immediate funding of their patient’s outstanding balances. Additionally, financial institutions gain new customers and interest income with little administrative overhead in exchange for servicing the loan. For more information, visit www.myloans.co.
About Epic River, LLC
Since its inception in 2005, Epic River has been providing high quality software services aimed at solving process-intensive problems. With a focus on high quality and rapid delivery, Epic River’s methodology accelerates the process of innovation while keeping a firm grasp on the business case behind the application, enabling our partners to grow their market leadership. The company’s unique approach to the agile methodology and user experience ensures both parties work closely together every step of the way. Whether you’re looking to expand into new technologies or markets, need a custom internal tool, assistance with architecture, or simply need someone you can trust to make technology decisions, Epic River is at your service. For more information, visit www.epicriver.com.