Patients can be difficult to collect money from, particularly when they pay themselves. As per the Crowe RCA Benchmarking Analysis report, the self-pay-after-insurance collection rate declined from 76% in 2020 to 54.8% in 2021. You can increase patient collections with revenue cycle modules offered by medical billing solutions. You’ve come to the right place if you want to learn additional techniques for enhancing collections.
Importance of streamlining collection processes
Many providers still use manual and paper-based collection procedures today. It may result in payment delays and reduce staff productivity. In 2021, 75% of providers employed manual and paper-based collection methods, according to InstaMed’s Trends in Healthcare Payments Annual Report published in 2022.
The following are some difficulties you could experience as a result of manual collection workflows:
- Billing and coding mistakes
- The low recovery rate for collections
- Security risks
- Loss of patient information
- Problems with the payer contract
The latest MGMA Stat Poll found that 56% of medical practices expect their A/R days to rise in 2022. The delays in collection significantly impact your revenue cycle.
You can offer electronic payment choices and send in-app payment reminders to urge customers to pay on time to solve collection issues and enhance patients’ financial experiences.
What is the impact of patient volume on your cash flow?
The number of patients you encounter overall over a given period is known as patient volume. To assess the financial success of your practice, you should compute the number of patients.
Your revenue cycle may be affected by low patient days. In September, the number of equivalent patient days decreased by 4%, according to Kaufman Hall’s National Hospital Flash Report from October 2022. It is clear from the data that operating and outpatient revenue declined by 4%, and inpatient revenue fell by 5% in the same month.
The following are a few causes for the low patient volume:
- Trust among patients is low
- The increased cost of healthcare
- There are no payment arrangements.
- Lack of sufficient payment choices
- Negative feedback
There are several techniques to increase patient volume:
Continue regular outreach
Patients should occasionally get marketing messages. You might nudge them to schedule yearly check-ups or reschedule any missed appointments. They can also receive updates about new health plans by phone, text, or email.
Making use of digital tools
Telemedicine technologies should be implemented to allow patients to schedule virtual visits, view X-rays and lab results, and make payments online. Dashboards allow you to analyze past and present trends in patient volume.
Provide mobile accessibility
Patients want to save time digging through piles of paper documents. Their materials must be accessible online.
Giving access to online payment options
The sole purpose of a patient’s visit to a hospital or clinic is not to pay their expenses. They favor paying their debts online. 62% of patients use debit or credit cards to make payments using an online patient portal, according to Salucro’s Patient Engagement Report 2022.
Setting up follow-up appointments
Clients should be informed of the following evaluation appointment time after the session. Their loyalty will grow as a result of your care, which is demonstrated through sharing information regarding their future moves.
The more patients you have, the more money your clinic makes. You must create plans to keep current patients and spread the word about your clinic or hospital to draw in new patients.
Strategies for increasing collections
70% of providers require more than 30 days to collect payments, according to the InstaMed research that was previously mentioned. Your medical institution may incur financial losses as a result of these delays.
We’ve outlined a few measures you can take below to expedite your collections.
Gather reliable information
You should instruct your personnel to record patient demographics and insurance information accurately. Encourage patients to complete surveys, consent and intake forms, and benefit information before visits. You can provide error-free statements if you have current, reliable information. Hence, time is saved on invoice rework.
Point-of-service collections
The best strategy to increase your collection rate is to make money at the moment of service. Your billing department should communicate the client’s expenses for the services delivered.
Ensure that there is always staff on duty at the billing counter. Patients might walk away without paying if no one is working the counter. Allowing patients to pay using credit or debit cards, online wallets, and net banking will boost point-of-service collections.
Utilize patient portals
Patient access to real-time payments and other health-related information is becoming necessary. Clients can quickly and easily make electronic payments by using patient portal software to view, download, and upload data.
A recent study by Experian Health and PYMNTS.com on patients’ use of digital health channels showed that 22.1% of patients made payments to their medical providers through the patient portal. Ensure the patient portal you choose complies with HIPAA privacy and security requirements. A portal that does not adhere to HIPAA regulations may be subject to legal action and fines from the federal government.
You may hasten collections with a medical solution by reminding customers to make payments automatically. Additionally, you can easily share superbills with customers. You may also include your business’s logo in statements to raise brand recognition.
Make thoughtful statements
Patients are less likely to make payments if they don’t comprehend their bills. You must make sure that your statement is simple to understand. It must include all fees for goods and services rendered and any modifications. For statement-related inquiries, you should have your phone number, the name of the person to contact, and your email address.
Establish a payment policy
The power department makes plain the repercussions of not paying your bills: if you don’t pay your light bill, the light goes out. In light of this, paying your electricity bills becomes a key responsibility. The same goes for creating a payment policy that outlines the consequences of not paying medical bills.
Make sure your patient comprehends the policy completely before asking them to sign it. Therefore, the client cannot later claim they were unaware of the implications.
Present payment options
Only some patients have the money to pay in full. According to the Healthcare in America 2022 survey by Gallup and West Health, 55% of women and 45% of men lack confidence in their ability to pay for medical care as they age.
Offering payment plans can aid individuals in lowering their financial stress. They assist you by:
- Create a relationship with customers that will last
- Boost the number of patients
- Boost client financial experiences
- Cut back on A/R days
Trends in patient collection
Receiving unpaid amounts can be frustrating. Modern technology’s introduction facilitated the streamlining of the collection procedures. Each year, providers strive to incorporate new trends into their operations. Some of these trends are listed below.
Increase in telehealth
The utilization of telemedicine services by healthcare organizations grew as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The American Medical Association categorized telehealth initiatives administered by practices into five levels in its 2021 Telehealth Survey Report.
Here are some of them:
- Implementation: 5%
- Optimizing: 37%
- 69% of the time is spent on sustainability
- An increase of 26%
- Other: 7%
Telehealth modules are propelled by artificial intelligence (AI). Making data-driven decisions and improving clinical results and patient experiences are possible. Cost projections can be created to assist patients with budgeting.
Telehealth solutions allow you to assess and store patient statements using cloud-based servers instead of the prior physical filing approach. Patients can receive payment reminders by email, text message, or phone. You can view the collection dashboard to keep track of accounts payable and receivable.
Age of contactless transactions
Patients do not typically go to hospitals to pay their expenses. Through online payment portals, they are able to pay off their bills while remaining in the comfort of their homes. Over 80% of customers will choose to pay their bills using contactless technology in 2021, according to a Raydiant poll. These days, customers can make purchases by touching their credit or debit cards on POS devices.
Customers can set a transaction restriction to stop fraudsters from taking too much money from their accounts. The younger generation likes using online wallets like PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and others to pay off their obligations. According to the U.S. Bank Healthcare Payment Insight research noted above, 28% of patients between the ages of 26 and 35 prefer paying through mobile apps. You can affix QR codes to statements to help patients swiftly pay their debts. According to Insider Intelligence’s QR Codes Forecast and Trends 2022 report, 83.4 million Americans used smartphones to scan QR codes in 2022 and 99.5 million in 2025. You can decrease A/R days and enhance collection procedures using self-pay collection strategies.
Hiring billing experts to share your load
Managing collections from dozens of patients can be difficult. Working with medical billing and coding professionals can relieve some of your burdens. These specialists can accurately categorize medical services, enabling you to calculate the appropriate patient charges.
Practice should be run with knowledgeable billers. Patients can sue you if you misread the codes and produce an inaccurate bill. Additionally, these legal actions may result in federal fines. Medical institutions use licensed professionals in coding and billing to avoid these consequences.
Summing up
Effective patient-collecting tactics are essential, including clear communication, open billing, patient education, technology use, and solid patient relationships. With the help of these tactics, the healthcare industry may grow while increasing revenue and performance.