Navigating the rocky landscape of payments can be a tricky task for practices and patients. Often so much time elapses before a patient receives a statement that they forget which procedure the bill was from. Understanding what was covered by payers and what wasn’t further complicates the issue. And when patients do get around to making a payment it is often an envelope, stamp, and a checkbook that they are looking for or the number to the practice to discuss and pay their bill.
For practices it’s not much better. The labor intensive process of printing, folding, and mailing out patient statements, tracking down patients for unpaid balances, and phone calls for billing-related questions all takes its toll on practice productivity and your bottom line.
But there’s a solution. By adopting an automated payment system, practices can save staff time, increase revenue, and enhance the overall patient experience.
Automate your patient payments
Implementing an automated payment solution can add numerous benefits to your practice.
Save staff time
Set-it-and-forget-it technology like automated payment reminders can be scheduled to go out at specific intervals via mail, email, or text, freeing up staff to focus on more critical areas of patient care.
Increase revenue
With patient responsibility now accounting for a significant portion of practice revenue, offering patients a variety of payment options has become crucial. Patients today expect a modern payment experience that includes mobile apps, patient portals, mobile wallets, contactless payments, and more. Therefore, it’s vital to stay up-to-date with current payment technology trends.
Offering modern payment solutions such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, recurring payments and payment plans can reduce the friction it takes to make a payment and accelerate payment timelines, ultimately reducing outstanding balances and improving the financial health of the practice.
Improve the patient experience
Patients find it convenient to have payment options that allow them to easily make a payment on any device, using their preferred payment method with just a couple of clicks.
Automated patient payment systems not only offer convenience, but can also enhance the overall patient experience. Patients value the ease and accessibility of digital-first payment technology. In addition, automated payment processing can also foster patient-to-practice loyalty. Patients who have a positive payment experience with their provider are more likely to return for future appointments, building a lasting relationship with the practice.
Adopting an automated patient payment solution may seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Tebra’s payment solutions offer an automated, streamlined process for patient collections. This includes communicating outstanding balances to patients at the right time on the right device, resulting in improved patient satisfaction and faster collections for practices.
Importance of automated payment solutions for practices and patients
Payments automation provides healthcare practices with benefits such as increased efficiency, reduced administrative burden, and improved cash flow. By adopting new payment technologies and leveraging robotic process automation (RPA), practices can stay relevant and competitive in an increasingly digital world.
The future of patient payments is digital, and practices that adapt to this change will be better positioned to meet the evolving needs of their patients.