September 7, 2022

Data and Dynamic Portals Help Patient Payments Deliver

Thanks to the explosion of smart technology, consumers now expect their appliances, entertainment platforms, favorite retailers and social media outlets to know them. They want content that is relevant, and expect regular updates and recommendations for new products, services and content that they are likely to enjoy based on their past behavior. And they require content to be pushed to them via the platforms they prefer and use regularly.

These same expectations for highly personalized service apply to healthcare billing and payments.

Yet patients typically receive either a standard issue paper or digital statement, regardless of their preferences or past communication behavior. And, often, “pay in full” is the only option they receive. The payment process also is rarely personalized. A statement might reference a legacy portal but that can present other obstacles, such as creating an account or remembering usernames and passwords.

Fortunately, it’s now easier than ever to make patient billing and payments smart and responsive to each individual. It begins with analytics, which can be used to assist providers in seeing each patient quite clearly. Unlike invasive credit score-based propensity-to-pay models that often miss broad swaths of a provider’s patient base, you will want to use models that have a well-considered blend of wide-ranging demographic data and dynamic modeling techniques. This approach also recognizes human context, such as behavioral characteristics and where a patient may be in their healthcare financial journey.

In other words, engaging data analytics should result in making patient intelligence personalized and actionable. This is essential to offering the most appropriate payment journey for each patient and may include multiple touchpoints. But no matter which touchpoints are involved, empowering patients to make payments using a dynamic payment portal is critical to achieving the best results.

Dynamic patient portals deliver

A dynamic patient portal personalizes the payment experience for every patient, ensuring consistency at every touchpoint. Through the use of analytics, it can fit the payment to the patient and reduce customer service inquiries. This type of portal is easy for patients to self-serve based on clear payment options tailored to each patients’ personal financial situation: pay in full, a payment plan (again, with personalized terms based on what makes most sense for the individual), or financial assistance.

When a dynamic patient portal provides precisely tailored messaging and payment options upon first portal access, providers’ pay rates—the amount paid over the amount billed—can increase as much as 1.55%.

That adds up quickly and can range, based on total receivables, from a $250,000 to a $2.33 million increase in additional revenue. See examples below of the impact a 1.55% increase in pay rate can have on additional annual receivables.

Accounts Receivable Volume                      Accounts Receivables Annually

Dynamic portals also increase the likelihood that patients will opt in for electronic statements. With precisely the right messaging tailored to the right patient profile, average enrollments in electronic statements can double when using a dynamic portal versus a static legacy version. This saves print and postage costs for providers, while increasing convenience for patients.

Technology makes it nearly effortless to leverage analytic-based patient intelligence for dynamic portal payments that are fast, easy and convenient. Beyond measurable financial results, satisfaction and loyalty will thrive as patients experience empathy, convenience and a palpable sense that providers know them.