Relating to price estimates and billing requirements for certain health care facilities.

Contracts

• Revenue Cycle Management (RCM): Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with third-party billing vendors must be amended immediately to guarantee estimate generation within 48–72 hours to ensure the 5-day statutory delivery deadline is met.
• Debt Collection Agencies: Placement agreements must be updated to include a warranty that the facility complied with HB1314. Agencies will likely refuse accounts without proof of the compliant estimate to avoid liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Hiring/Training

• Patient Access/Intake: Staff must be retrained to identify "pre-scheduling" requests immediately.
• Workflow Hard Stop: Implement a protocol where failure to send the estimate within 5 days triggers an automatic write-off, as the debt is legally uncollectible.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Mandatory Email Logging: The law explicitly requires delivery via e-mail. You must configure your CRM or EMR to log the exact timestamp of the sent email to serve as your evidentiary defense in a collections dispute.
• Form Updates: Your "Good Faith Estimate" template must be revised to include the specific notice required by 45 C.F.R. Section 149.620, informing patients of their right to dispute charges exceeding the estimate by $400 or more.

Fees & Costs

• Revenue Forfeiture Risk: There are no new state fees; however, the cost of non-compliance is total revenue forfeiture on the specific account.
• Administrative Overhead: Expect increased administrative costs associated with expedited processing of estimates.