By Jim Musslewhite, President, Oncology Convergence, Inc
During the past several months, the tenor of the conversation in the oncology community has shifted, focusing on the economy and its impact to health care and oncology infusion. Several oncology practices have experienced an increase in uninsured and underinsured patients, meanwhile other practices have reported an increase in medical bankruptcy filings. Current economics aside, another unexpected increase in bad debt is due to some self-funded and county-funded insurance plans that are having an increasingly hard time paying their claims due to a lack of financial resources.