"Is Your Patient Collection Strategy Affecting Your Bottom Line? Best Practices to Boost Revenue"

In 2023, many health systems are expected to continue to face financial difficulties as a result of staffing shortages, reduced patient volumes and rising inflation. Focusing on the patient payment process should be a priority to help boost your bottom line.

High-deductible health plans: Historically, providers have relied heavily on payments from insurance companies, with patients often only responsible for a small portion of their bill from employer-sponsored healthcare plans. As the cost of care continues to rise many employers now offload that expense rather than absorb it. Patients face high-deductible healthcare plans (HDHPs) for lower monthly premiums. In fact, 52.9% of American private-sector workers were enrolled in HDHPs in 2020, up from 39.4% in 2015, according to a ValuePenguin analysis. The by-product of that is a higher portion of the payment falling to patients until they meet their deductibles. That burden on patients can lead to unforeseen financial struggles and lack of or delayed payments for practices.

Antiquated processing:  Most consumers are accustomed to doing everything from their mobile devices, including making payments with the tap of a button. So why do so many practices still use outdated methods, such as mailed statements, to collect patient payments?! Healthcare practices don’t need to adopt these improved practices, (online checkout, ApplePay, Google Pay) or risk losing prospective or existing patients. Surveys reveal 44% of millennials and 29% of baby boomers would choose a medical provider because they offered digital solutions via mobile. Yet 87% of providers still use paper and manual processes for collections.

Confusing payment processes: Patients often struggle to interpret medical bills and understand what portion they owe. Furthermore, they often have to jump through hoops, such as sending in a check or placing a phone call, to make a payment. It is no wonder these payments are often outstanding for months on end and require multiple follow ups.

To set your practice apart, consider your patient payment experience. Seamless payment processes can not only improve the patient experience, but also help your practice collect payments more quickly & efficienty. It’s a win for everybody.

Here are three best practices to consider today:

Communicate up front

A recent study by the US Bank revealed that 66% of adults in the U.S. worry about unexpected medical bills. While cost of service is a complex topic, it’s important for your practice to be transparent with patients. Communication should occur at the time of check in, during the healthcare process and at the end of service, as needed. If your practice can’t answer a question directly, it is important to provide the patient with information about how to contact their insurance company to estimate what their cost will be. While you might not be able to answer every question, clear and open communication can help ease the mental burden of a surprise medical bill.

Collect at time of service

Research shows that practices only collect 50% to 70% of patient payments after patients leave the office. Therefore, collecting at the time of service can help to improve your practice’s finances. Empowering your front office staff with accurate information can help them have conversations with patients around payments. Some payment software solutions show the amount due and any outstanding balances at a glance at the time of service. Some practices implement a payment terminal to help with collection efficiency and manage online and offline sales, refunds and payouts. A payment terminal not only simplifies the process for patients, but also saves time for your billing and administration teams by reducing errors from manual entries.

Make it easy for patients to pay

Beyond time-of-service payments, patients are often still responsible for a significant portion of the cost of care. Evaluate how your practice delivers the billing statement to patients. Statements should be easy to read and balances should be easy to understand. Patients should be able to clearly see what they owe and how to pay it. Modern patient payment solutions can produce statements that include a QR code, allowing patients to scan and access a secure portal to make payment. Some have features that allow patient payment information to be sent via text message, email or traditional mail, based on a patient’s preference. The result benefits everyone: 44% of patients pay medical bills faster when they receive digital or phone notifications about billing, and 49% would pay by text if given the option. Modern payment solutions can also automate reminders on a schedule the practice determines until payment is received.

Improving your patient payment process is important to maintain a positive relationship with your patients and with your practice’s bottom line. We offer a complimentary, no obligation consultation to identify ways of leveraging modern patient payment solutions, and ways to help your staff respond to and easily navigate an ever-changing landscape.