February 6, 2018

How Patient Financial Experiences Drive Satisfaction and Loyalty

In healthcare delivery, one size doesn’t fit all. Each patient encounter is unique and requires the care team to draw from their expertise and experience “toolbox” to deliver the best outcome. Continuity and consistency of care increase patient satisfaction and loyalty along with empathy, sincerity and personalization. But does a patient’s financial experience impact their loyalty?

As consumers, the answer is “Yes, our financial experience most certainly impacts our loyalty,” but has consumerism reached healthcare’s doorstep? Research points to the same answer: “Yes.”

Patients Are Also Consumers

According to Accenture’s analysis in “Patient Loyalty: It’s Up For Grabs,” research confirms the correlation between the customer service experience, financial experience and patient loyalty. Patients are also consumers, and the patient consumer wants responsiveness and convenience.

The study also finds that 7 percent of patients have switched healthcare providers due to a subpar experience. Dissatisfaction at even single-digit levels adds up, and 7 percent represents more than $100 million in lost annual revenue per hospital. 

Patients Want Financial Transparency and Flexibility

A whopping 47 percent of patients would switch healthcare providers for the ability to understand costs up front. These savvy consumers want transparency and flexibility in their healthcare financial engagements. Akin to excellent customer service, they want to understand their bill, and they want to pay their healthcare bill using their preferred method.

Take Steps Now to Improve the Patient Financial Experience

Creating loyalists in today’s healthcare industry requires insight. Becker’s Hospital Review interviewed James Green, a national partner with Advisory Board’s revenue cycle management division, to dig a bit deeper into the patient financial experience. The article explores how revenue cycle workflows and patient interactions can collaborate to impact patient loyalty and satisfaction.

At the top of Mr. Green’s guide to enhancing the patient financial experience is tailored revenue cycle communication. Developing an understanding of what patient consumers expect in their financial engagement is key to improving revenue cycle workflows. Patients rate payment convenience as a central component of the engagement workflow. Tailored financial communication is core to meeting patient expectations, and this level of consumer-focused engagement directly impacts satisfaction, loyalty and revenue cycle goals.

Nurturing Loyalists in Your Care Community

Research confirms that patients want a consumer experience. Providing clear communication at each stage of the care continuum and delivering multiple ways for patients to pay their bills are pivotal to achieving customer satisfaction. When providers deliver clear, consistent and consolidated billing communication, patients respond with payment action ­— they’re on the road to becoming loyalists. 

Clear Communication and Positive Patient Experiences Drive Payment

RevSpring delivers valuable insights that help care organizations communicate financial responsibility data consistently at every stage of the patient’s journey. Applying empathy, sincerity and tailored delivery to financial communication instills patient confidence in the financial experience.

We help you understand the patients you care for with greater clarity, immediacy and depth. We have the tools, analytics and expertise you need to deliver comprehensive, cohesive and finely tuned patient financial experiences.

Our business intelligence tools help you build a real-time understanding of how patients respond to your outreach, and RevSpring’s 360ᵒ Payment Communications solutions put the power of “now” in your hands.

From the first outreach to each connecting point along the patient care path, we give you the real-time insights to deliver clear payment communications that inspire action and increase satisfaction with the financial experience.

Learn more about patient communication and payment systems that inspire loyalists in your care community to maximize revenue opportunities.

We know healthcare. If you’d like to learn how to impact revenue with dynamic workflows, business intelligence, responsive messaging and behavioral analytics, we’d love to help you. We can share customer success stories and case studies, and give you the resources you need to choose the right solution for your organization. Request a demo to see how our comprehensive patient engagement and billing solutions can help your organization meet your goals, or connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook to learn more.