By Deirdre Ruttle, Vice President of Strategy, InstaMed
Twitter: @InstaMed
Let’s face it: patients are frustrated with confusing and inconvenient healthcare payments experiences. They can become even more frustrated at the start of a new year when deductibles reset. Patients may not fully understand deductible resets, their healthcare plan’s policies or healthcare vernacular in general. When patients are confused, they are less likely to pay, which can lead to bad debt and uncollected balances. Providers can evaluate their billing and payments processes and consider implementing changes that will improve the way they talk to patients about money.
Here are three kinds of conversations you can initiate to change the payments relationship with patients after deductibles reset.
“What payment method would you like us to keep saved on file?”
It is important to take a proactive approach to patient collections by starting the payment conversation early on. Consider creating a policy where all patients keep payment methods saved on file with your organization. This will make collecting payments from patients easier and help establish that patients are expected to cover their portion of their healthcare responsibility. If a patient asks why they need to save a card on file try these responses:
- “We ask all patients to keep a card saved on file; it’s our policy.”
- “Based on your coverage and benefit information, you’re going to owe some amount for this healthcare encounter – we’ll use this card to collect the payment once your responsibility has been determined by your health plan.”
Make sure you and your staff have visibility into patient benefit information so they can be prepared for any conversation. This will help you answer questions patients may have about their payment responsibility, or you can use this information to determine an estimate of what the patient may owe. If you do offer a payment estimate, consider collecting a portion of the healthcare payment upfront. Not only is this good for cash flow, but it also makes payment easier for patients. When they do receive a bill, they’ve already made some payment on it, making it seem lower than expected or like they’ve already made good progress on paying it back. This creates a more positive experience rather than receiving a bill that is overwhelming and repayment hasn’t even started.
“We want to make this easy for you.”
Once you have a patient’s payment method saved on file, talk to them about automatic payments. At first, patients might be intimidated by the idea of letting you charge their card to collect their responsibility – especially if it’s possible that the responsibility is in the thousands. You can ease patient concerns by establishing a charge limit. This lets patients know the maximum amount they will be charged and will also lead to conversations about other payment options like payment plans.
Interactions like this not only increase your likelihood of getting paid, but they also establish your credibility and allow patients to feel a sense of trust in your organization. Most patients are confused by their medical bills and are just looking for some guidance with the payments process; enable your staff to offer that guidance and build loyal, trusting relationships with patients.
“We know healthcare payments can be confusing.”
Being proactive about collecting patient payments means finding ways to engage patients in the process at every touchpoint Reach your patients before a healthcare interaction even occurs to help alleviate some of the confusion that comes with paying a healthcare bill. Engage with patients pre-service through their mobile devices to help them understand their benefit information and learn what options they have to make a payment. Show them how to access your patient portal so they can sign up, select communication preferences and save a payment method on file to easily make a payment once the bill comes.
Additionally, it is important to remember that every patient is different. Some patients may prefer to do everything over the phone while others may want to access their healthcare information and bills right from their mobile devices. Give your patients convenient features such as the ability to take a photo of their statement and easily pay it through their mobile phones. For patients who may not want to pay this way, make sure they know that they other options, including paying a balance over the phone or setting up payments through their bank bill pay portal. Options give patients convenience and show that you respect their preferences. Show your patients you care by giving them simple and easy ways to pay their bills.
Track Your Progress!
Now that you have implemented new payment processes at your organization, it is important to track your progress. To maximize the benefits of payment technologies, providers need to have insight into their receivables data to know what’s working and why it’s working, then adjust resources accordingly.
Use reporting tools to monitor your patient payments and see if your new payments approach is working. It is crucial to track the performance of new collection initiatives over a long period of time and have the flexibility to report on performance in a way that best suits your organization (e.g., quarterly, annually, monthly, etc.).Then use this data to make more informed business decisions to help you improve collections.
Check out our webinar “How to Guarantee Patient Payments When Deductibles Reset” to learn how your organization can change the payment conversation and guarantee payments from your patients with high-deductible health plans, or any out of pocket costs – without hurting the consumer experience or disrupting workflow.
This article was originally published on InstaMed and is republished here with permission.