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AbstraktMarketing2023-09-18 09:00:002023-09-24 16:27:15Unlocking Financial Success: How to Avoid Issues in AR in HealthcareHow Does the Patient Payment Experience Impact Your Bottom Line?
The traditional approach to patient payments, such as relying on billing letters and phone calls to collect, is no longer effective. And when your patients don’t pay for your services, your bottom line takes a hit.
Today’s patients have higher expectations for convenience and speed when it comes to making payments. To capitalize on the new patient-centric model, consider the following trends in healthcare payment options:
AI for Healthcare Payment Processing
AI healthcare processing makes healthcare payments more convenient for providers and patients. For instance, some organizations are leveraging AI to automatically generate itemized patient bills and to provide personalized payment plans, which helps eliminate confusion and provides peace of mind for all parties involved.
Digital Healthcare Payment Solutions
The modern healthcare landscape is rapidly changing with digital healthcare payment solutions becoming increasingly popular. In fact, studies show that 91% of patients prefer electronic payment methods for their medical bills. By utilizing digital health payment solutions, you can better manage patient data, communicate more effectively with patients, and streamline operational processes to make the patient experience smoother and more efficient.
Storing Digital Payment Methods
The introduction of services like Apple Pay has made consumers more comfortable with the idea of digital payment—and now, this same convenience is being applied to medical bills. When a patient consents to store their information digitally, they can save time and effort for the next time they need to use the service. Allowing your patients to store their payment methods helps make the process faster and easier and saves you and the patient money.
Are you tracking the right revenue cycle metrics at your facility?
How to Improve the Patient Payment Experience at Your Practice
Below are a few healthcare patient payment tools and platforms to help you provide your patients with a better experience:
Offer Mobile-First Online Payment Platforms
As healthcare providers look for ways to make the patient payment experience better, mobile-first platforms offer a powerful solution. According to recent studies, more than 50% of healthcare consumers expect more online interactions with healthcare providers, including bill payment, and about one-third of all patient payments are made through online or mobile payment platforms.
Text messages are an excellent way to engage with your patients and provide them with an easy way to pay their bills. With an open rate of around 98%, sending payment reminders via text messages directly leads patients to their bills to help you capture payments faster. In fact, one healthcare organization tested its very first text message payment reminder—and the bill was paid in just eight minutes.
Offer Flexible Payment Options To Meet Patients’ Needs
High deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses can be a barrier for patients who need medical care. To ensure your patients can access the care they need without financial stress, consider offering flexible payment options, such as monthly installments and a streamlined enrollment process.
Patients can pay their bills in monthly installments by securely storing credit cards on file and offering automatically recurring payment dates. In addition to flexible payment options, streamlining the enrollment process for financing plans is another way you can improve the patient payment experience. Using a short, simple online questionnaire that allows patients to opt in for financing can make the experience simpler and less stressful.
Get Consent
The key to creating successful digital relationships with patients is to obtain their consent to receive notifications related to their medical bills. Once you have consent, you can use email and mobile notifications to remind patients when payments are due and to inform them about discounts and other payment options. You can also use emails to keep patients up-to-date on new services and treatments available at your organization.
Communicate With Patients Based on Their Expressed Preferences
When it comes to financial communication, many healthcare organizations fail to treat their patients as individuals. By offering patients a choice of communication methods, such as text messages or mailed statements, you can improve patient satisfaction and the overall experience.
Adapt Communications to Patients Based on Their Actual Behavior
Patients often say they prefer paperless billing, but their actual behavior often says something different. While it’s important to offer digital payment options, you should also track real-world behavior to ensure maximum satisfaction and payment rates. For example, one health system recently saved more than $3 million in additional payments by switching patients who weren’t engaging with emailed bills back to mailed statements. This suggests that offering paperless bills may not always be the best option—even if that’s the patient’s expressed preference.
To ensure the best possible experience for you and your patients, take a smarter approach to paperless billing by providing online billing options and tracking patient engagement, tailoring the financial experience accordingly. If a patient isn’t opening emails, then it’s time to switch them back to paper bills.
Helping You Improve the Patient Payment Experience at Your Practice
The payment process plays an important role in patient satisfaction. That’s why Horizon Healthcare RCM offers innovative tools to meet patient payment preferences and avoid restricted cash flow. Our extended business office (EBO) services provide a holistic view of accounts receivable recovery and allow us to focus on patient financial well-being and communication strategies. With Horizon, you can give your patients the ease and convenience they need while ensuring your healthcare facility stays financially stable. Contact us today to learn more about our revenue cycle management services.
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