Last Updated on Nov 17, 2022 by James W
Patients are the largest source of payment in the healthcare industry. Therefore, healthcare systems are rethinking better strategies to manage payments and improve the patient experience. They are adapting patient-centric procedures to maximize cash flow and ensure more patients can visit. Therefore, if you want to improve the patient payment experience in your hospital, here is what you need to do.
Offer Different Payment Methods
When developing payment plans in healthcare, it is crucial to ensure they are tailored toward the patient. Many people confess to having trouble paying when faced with insurance issues or unexpected medical expenses. Most end up putting off various things like vacations or significant purchases. Some cut off their household spending, and others use their savings. It is vital to ensure you have customized payment options to cater to every patient. Ensure you offer straightforward ways of helping them pay for the care they get.
A one-size-fits-all payment method is not ideal. Segmenting your patients into different groups is a good idea to enable them to pay comfortably. Allowing different payment methods improves the experience and the best results. Irrespective of your chosen methods, you will collect payments faster and more efficiently. Working with a financial partner to explore other affordable methods is also a good idea.
Be Price Transparent
Today, patients are also shopping around for the most affordable healthcare. That means that a high number of them report that the cost of the care they need greatly influences their decision and satisfaction level. Therefore, it is crucial for you as a healthcare provider to customize your services to accommodate this demand and offer transparency. Some people may not encourage this, but price transparency in healthcare is vital to help patients understand what they are paying for. However, transparency should be accompanied by education to help patients make better and more informed decisions. Therefore, ensure you offer price transparency, patient education, debt resolutions, and communication.
Evolve Digitally
It is also advisable to evolve digitally. If not, you are giving your patients a hard time paying. More than 60 % of patients want to use digital methods to pay for care. They also want to receive electronic statements from their doctors and hospital. Therefore, adopt digital methods to give your patients faster and easier ways to pay. The digital methods you use can also help you achieve affordability. In short, the better patients understand information, the more they are likely to pay. An excellent way to inform them is by developing a patient portal with self-service payment choices.
Make it Enticing
If you want to collect funds efficiently, do it before the care begins and within the period the patient receives care. However, you will need to do more than ask them to pay. Adopt practices and technologies that ensure an easy and pain-free payment collection process. That means you can invest in software that will make it easy for patients to pay upfront. Additionally, ensure your financial options are budget-friendly since many people, even those insured, have a lot of debts. Offer discounts, incentives, and promotions to increase the patient’s likelihood of paying without issues.
Use Payment Reminders
The best way to mitigate non-payment issues is to improve patients’ digital experience and add several payment avenues. Therefore, in addition to asking your patients to pay their medical debts, you also need a strategy to remind them. Channels such as texts and emails are cost-effective and provide a good way of reminding your patients to pay. Also, offer financial insights to patients to reduce payment deficiencies and transform the payment experience.
Maintain Consistency throughout the System
Inconsistent billing and different payment solutions can frustrate and confuse your patients. The best way to improve patient experience and satisfaction is by offering a consistent payment process. This is vital, especially if the patient gets statements from different entities. Remember, consistency also makes it easy for your hospital to monitor payments. It makes it easy for facilities and departments to collect outstanding payments easily.
Bottom Line
With high out-of-pocket expenses, patients spend a lot on healthcare payments. Therefore, health systems must develop payment plans to improve patient experience and boost collections. As discussed above, your hospital can ensure a high collection rate and patient satisfaction. So, strive to provide patient-centric approaches to enhance their experience. This will make it easy for them to pay, which is how your hospital can strengthen its bottom line. Try every approach you can to transform payments into a positive experience. After all, you need them to run your hospital and provide the best care.
