We at Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District have been reaching out to our community to learn how we can improve the services we provide you. We also work continually to make our administrative procedures more efficient and more cost-effective. Because of the extreme complexity of medical billing, we have relied for years on billing companies which specialize in our field, resulting in better and more prompt reimbursements from insurers, Medicare and Medicaid for the services we provide. Beginning January 1, 2018, we will be served by HRG, a billing company with extensive experience serving facilities like ours: rural Critical Access Hospitals in California and other states in the Northwest.

While our billing and collections policies will remain the same, patients should expect a new format for their bills and statements. Also, during our transition, initial billings will take longer. This could result in billing delays early in 2018 of 30 to 45 days, but please rest assured that bill collection procedures will be based on the date your bill was issued to you by HRG, not your date of service.

As of January 2nd, patients will have a new primary contact person for their billing questions and concerns who can be reached at (877) 673-0903. We all hope this transition will be smooth and error-free, but if you feel your balance isn’t correct or that a payment has not been applied correctly, please call the HRG billing office.

As always, if you’d like to speak to someone here in Garberville about these upcoming changes or about any other billing issues, you may call our Patient Financial Services Manager Jennifer Melvoen at (707) 923-3921 ext 293, or email her at jmelvoen@shchd.org.

Barbara Truitt, Former Foundation Director and Outreach Dept, Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District