Managing patient payments in your practice is more challenging than you think with the manual intake process. Anyone responsible for managing the revenue stream at their practice knows how difficult this can be. Tasks such as collecting co-pays and outstanding balances and verifying insurance demand significant attention and effort.
Utilizing revenue cycle management (RCM) services or digital patient payment tools to improve revenue and enhance the patient experience is an ideal solution to this issue. This rising demand has led to the adoption of platforms like CERTIFY Health, which offers innovative patient payment options to streamline the payment process.
Collecting Patient Payments at Point-of-Care:
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What are Deductibles in Medical Insurance?
A deductible is a set amount patients must pay out-of-pocket before their insurance coverage kicks in. For instance, if a patient has a deductible of $1000, they must pay this amount first. Once this deductible is met, the insurance plan will cover the patient’s expenses.
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What is Co-Pay?
A Co-Pay in medical insurance is a fixed amount your patients pay each time they visit your practice. This amount differs from deductibles and can be as low as $10. The co-pay amount varies by the type of covered healthcare service and is applicable starting from the first visit after the insurance coverage begins. For instance, if the deductible is $1000, and the co-pay is $20, the patient will pay the $20 co-pay at each visit. However, they must still pay the $1000 deductible and not $980 before the insurance plan kicks in. The co-pay does not reduce the deductible amount.
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What is Co-Insurance?
In most cases, insurance plans typically do not cover the entire patient's medical expenses. Instead, they cover only a percentage, leaving the patient to pay the remaining amount. Patients get the co-insurance costs once they meet their deductibles, and it is in the 80-20 percent ratio, where the patient pays 20 percent of the cost.
5 Ways to Enhance Patient Payment at Point-of-Care
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Patient-Friendly Payment Types
To enhance payment flexibility, ensure that your practice offers easy payment options before, during, or after the treatment within the revenue cycle process. Such payment types could include:
- Health Savings Account Transfers (HSA)
- Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
- Credit card
- Debit card
- e-check
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Flexible Payment Plans
Practices should implement payment plans that allow patients to pay overtime, enhancing patient payment experience. By offering flexible healthcare payment options tailored to patients' financial situations, practices can alleviate the burden of large outstanding dues. Now, it is easier for patients to pay their medical bills. Integrating payment plans into your practice billing process increases financial accessibility, leading to improved revenue collection and reduced instances of unpaid bills
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Transparent Payment Process
It is important to maintain a transparent system with your patients in terms of costs, especially those on high-deductible plans. Check your patients' insurance plans to inform them about out-of-pocket expenses before treatment. Ensure that you maintain an explicit billing policy to avoid miscommunication. CERTIFY Health’s insurance eligibility verification provides clear data on the current benefits of the patient’s insurance coverage to maintain transparency with your patients.
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Secure Patient Payment Data
Protecting patient data remains a paramount concern in healthcare, whether it is relevant to payment or other sensitive information. Healthcare practices that offer patients the convenience of making payments via mobile phones must ensure robust security measures to prevent data breaches. Practices should employ advanced security standards to safeguard patients’ sensitive financial information. CERTIFY Health prioritizes the security of patient data, adhering to HIPAA and PCI compliance and stringent security standards to build trust between providers and patients.
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Efficient Payment Reminders
Following up with patients and maintaining clear communication after their visits is crucial. Administrative staff can send patients payment reminders regarding any outstanding balances to reduce unpaid debts. CERTIFY Health provides payment reminders to patients, ensuring timely payments, reducing bad debts, and increasing revenue collections. The platform even sends payment links to patients upon request, making the payment process easy with mobile phones.
Maximizing Patient Payments Through Digital Intake:
When a practice integrates with the right digital intake platform, it will gain several benefits:
- Staff benefit from reduced administrative tasks and time saved with streamlined payment documentation.
- Patients find it convenient to complete payment-related forms online, making the process more accessible and efficient.
- Practices see faster payment processing and improved data accuracy through digital intake.
- With cashless payment options, both patients and providers enjoy easy payment processing
- Enhanced revenue collections contribute to the financial stability and growth of the practice.
We know that patients expect a frictionless payment experience. By implementing digital intake platforms like CERTIFY Health, your practice can offer diverse and easy payment options, maintain transparency in billing, and ensure robust data security.
