Today we’d like to introduce you to Bethany Bailey.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Bethany. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have always loved the medical field and started out as a pre-med student. My interest was in medicine but also helping people. Even in high school, I worked on Indian reservations and took mission trips helping underdeveloped areas and working with the people. My passion was helping people, in any way that I could. When I graduated from HBU, I was married and found out I was expecting my first child. At that point I did not want to go to medical school and juggle a family, I just didn’t know how much time I could give both. I had a degree and no direction. A family friend approached me about a job he was doing and another HBU graduate was working there as well. It dealt with the medical field in a different way, a way not many people knew about. So almost 18 years ago I started working for RCA. I have stayed here because I truly love what I do and I enjoy telling people. My company helps people that cannot pay their medical bills. The term for it at a hospital is “self pay”, “uninsured”, “underinsured”, we help the population of patients who are down on their luck and cannot help themselves.
There are so many resources out there for people, but not many know what they qualify for, or if they do, how to sign up for it. When I started out in this company, I started at the bottom. I worked everyday at Spring Branch Medical Center (which is now an empty field) screening patients and working with them on assistance. We don’t just tell you what you qualify for, we actually help you through the whole process. I was completing applications with patients, explaining what they needed to return for the assistance, submitting applications, making copies for caseworkers, I am the hands of feet of a patient who needs help paying a medical bill. But it does not stop there, even when a patient discharges and goes home, I continue to follow up. We reach out to patients weekly to ask them how they are doing, let them know of any missing documentation that we need for their case, let them know status of their case and continue to reach out until they have received the necessary assistance and are approved for coverage to pay their medical bill. If they are denied and we know it is a incorrect denial, we will appeal for the patient until it is overturned. We work with disability for patients and follow up with some of our patients for years–knowing their story intimately. I worked hard from the ground up in this company but I worked hard because I believe in what I do for people.
I have been with RCA for almost 18 years and I still enjoy getting gifts from patients who have received assistance from us, screening a patient with a 500,000 bill and letting them know there is something we can do for them, seeing the relief on their face or letting them cry because there is someone out there who is willing to take the time to help. From Spring Branch, I became a director and supervised a facility, then I supervised an area, now I am vice president of operations for RCA. This came with a lot of hard work but in these 18 years I have seen this company grow and the growth is because we are really good at what we do for the hospitals. We have competition but I have never seen another company work harder for the patient than we do, work harder for the hospital than we do and work tirelessly to meet the needs of the people that we serve. Now, I work all over the United States ensuring that the hospitals we work forget the service we promise them. Hospitals have seen an increase in coverages we assist with when they work with us and I have worked hard to be responsive and build up a great reputation for myself as well as my company.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not always been smooth. RCA has chosen to continue to be a privately held company. In today’s environment of companies like ours private equity has bought out most of our competitors. This allows for companies to offer different services, not just the service of helping the patient. Some of our largest clients have bought their own eligibility companies, therefore, we have not been able to continue business. We have been offered by many of these companies to be bought, but we feel like the service is not as good, personal. Because of this, we have not chosen to sell but this decision has also lost us business.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Resource Corporation of America “RCA” – what should we know?
I told you a little about our business in my story, but RCA specializes in helping patients with financial assistance to pay their medical bills. There are several things that I am very proud of with my company, first of all, my leadership does not compromise. In today’s society, there are a lot of companies that will. They do not want me to do anything that would compromise my integrity or put me in a position I am uncomfortable with. They do not like talking bad about other companies, even if those companies have done the same to us. I enjoy working for them because they want to keep integrity, even if we lose business because of it.
What sets us apart is how good we are at what we do. When we promise you something, we will follow through with what we promise. There have been times when hospitals have changed and chosen other companies, realizing we were very good and they made a mistake about changing. We have come in behind other companies and helped so many patients that the hospitals received millions more back than they have ever received before. I am very proud of the fact that we follow through on everything that we say we will do and our numbers have backed that up at each contract we have ever started.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Determination to be the best. When I started in this company, I wanted to be the best patient support representative. I wanted them to see how hard I worked, how many people I helped. I was determined to help as many people as I could by working hard. When I managed my staff, I wanted my hospitals to be the best hospitals they could be. I was determined to train them to work hard and make a difference at the hospitals we were at. What this did for my area is growing the hospitals that wanted to use us because they worked with me and knew there was a difference in what I was offering versus the other companies they were using. I have a strong work ethic and I want hospitals to see a difference when they choose RCA and work with me. I have always been determined to show the people that I work with how much better service can be when working with us.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.resource-corp.com
- Phone: 281.334.1855
- Email: bethanybailey@resource-corp.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RCAcareers/
Image Credit:
Mychelle Levan Photography http://mychellelevan.com/
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