Make Patient Payments Easier for Them and You

Clinicians gather as much information as possible to know how best to treat patient health conditions. Seeing the situation clearly makes it possible to explore various treatment options and, working with patients, choose the best option.

Effective revenue cycle management works similarly. If we understand each patient’s financial picture (and how best to financially engage with them), positive outcomes—increased payment response, higher yield and more self-serve payments—are much more likely to result.

This means using data to see patients clearly. Leveraging data-derived intelligence helps revenue cycle managers to make precise decisions that empower patients to meet their healthcare financial obligations.

How does this work?

Consider a patient who may owe more than he or she can afford in one payment. Smart data can show how much that patient can reasonably afford in monthly installment payments. Presenting the patient with such a realistic payment plan eliminates their shame over not being able to pay in full. It also puts them back in control of their situation by making it easy to pay on a timetable that fits their budget.

Bottom line: provider organizations receive what they are owed and patients feel good about the experience, increasing the likelihood of future healthcare engagements.

Seeing patients clearly also lets you know how best to engage with them, such as offering self-service payment options. Linking popular payment apps, like Google Pay, to your existing patient payment portal also increases the odds that tech savvy patients will quickly pay their healthcare bill.

Likewise, offering to put a patient’s credit or debit card information on file for automatic monthly payments is another way to make financial engagement easy for them. Another plus: with automatic card payments you avoid high collection costs.

Nothing beats transparency from the start

Knowing what costs they should expect, particularly when there’s a big procedure or major treatment on the horizon, is essential for helping patients handle their financial obligations. Patients who know what’s coming are better able to plan, sometimes even making partial payments in advance. Financial transparency also builds patient trust.

As patients increasingly bear more financial responsibility for their healthcare costs, it’s in the best interest of providers to make the payment process easy. Using data analytics and smart digital solutions to meet patients wherever they may be along the digital payment continuum provides a clear pathway to positive patient engagement, increased self-service, higher yield, and greater patient satisfaction.