Why You Need Pre-Service Payments for Revenue Cycle Success

According to Forbes, the patient’s portion of healthcare payments has risen 30% since 2000. Today, that amount accounts for 35% of provider revenue, making it the third largest payer just behind Medicare and Medicaid.

As patients’ financial responsibility has changed, so, too, has their approach to making payments. Modern cloud-based technologies, easy-to-use payment methods and price transparency have allowed patients to act more like consumers browsing Amazon than patients paying for service after discharge. Mobile payments for healthcare services increased by 63% as a share of total patient payment dollars from 2018-2019, and desktop payments declined across all age groups, especially the 40-and-under demographic.

We’ve adopted digital ways of buying everything from pizzas to pianos and are now conditioned to expect easy, intuitive and convenient paths from research to shopping cart.

Our world is increasingly driven by an online experience. We’ve adopted digital ways of buying everything from pizzas to pianos, and the major brands at the heart of this model – Apple and Amazon come readily to mind – have conditioned us to expect easy, intuitive and convenient paths from research to shopping cart.

And today’s patients expect the same with their healthcare.

This can lead to a loss of revenue for healthcare organizations unwilling to embrace the reality of these trends. But leading healthcare organizations have found ways to recapture that revenue by adjusting their revenue cycle with pre-service and point-of-service collections strategies.

Why Should You Consider Pre-Service Payments?

Why do pre-service and point-of-service payments matter? Providers are more likely to collect payments before service than after discharge. Research shows providers have a 70% chance of collecting payments up to the point of service, but only a 30% chance of collecting after discharge.

Following the patient journey and implementing pre-service and point-of-service payments, your organization can see positive results. Higher patient satisfaction and fewer days in AR are possible when you collect before service.

Following the Patient Journey to Pre-Service Payments

Getting from where the healthcare system is today to an ideal state of pre-service payments takes planning and strategy. It takes reimagining the patient journey and finding the places where you can implement these strategies.

It’s important to understand the patient journey is non-linear. They may enter and exit and different points, and they can loop back to early points in the journey. Each patient also has their own preferences.

“Every patient is different,” says Howard Bright, VP of Patient Engagement at RevSpring. “Some may like price shopping and appointment reminders, and other may not. The key is to use data to learn and understand those preferences and communicate intelligently wherever they may be in their patient journey.”

Your healthcare organization can navigate this path to pre-service payments by following the footsteps of others who have done it successfully. A clear roadmap is all you need to find yourself with an improved revenue cycle and higher patient satisfaction.

Find the Way to Pre-Service Payments

Discover new ways to sustain your revenue cycle and still serve patients – whether their journey is short and sweet or long and winding. Adopt a consumer-friendly model that expands pre-service and point-of-service payments.

To learn more about pre-service payments and a reimagined patient journey, view our recent Price Transparency webinar here.