Case Study: Kootenai Health qualifies more patients for the right financial assistance with Experian Health's Patient Financial Clearance

With confidence in data, Kootenai Health qualifies more patients for the right financial assistance or charity programs

Kootenai Health, a 299‑bed community hospital serving north Idaho and the Inland Northwest, faced a clunky third‑party Medicaid vendor and manual financial screening that often led to incorrect charity write‑offs, wasted staff time, and a poor patient experience.

Working with Experian Health’s Optimization Team, Kootenai implemented the eCare NEXT Patient Financial Clearance solution to use data‑driven income estimates, Federal Poverty Level ratios, propensity‑to‑pay segments and a healthcare‑specific risk score to recommend real‑time financial pathways. An eight‑week validation showed 88% accuracy, saved 60 staff hours by automating presumptive charity decisions, reduced unnecessary paperwork, improved patient experience, and recovered revenue by replacing three external vendor staff with two internal employees (including a case where a $200,000 bill qualified for Veterans benefits instead of charity).

Kootenai Health

Wendy Bird

Manager, Financial Counseling & Cash Fund Posting