4 Strategies to Simplify Patient Payments

4 Strategies to Simplify Patient Payments

With healthcare costs on the rise and an increasing segment of uninsured consumers, the patient payment landscape is changing rapidly. How can medical offices evolve and optimize collections while keeping patient satisfaction high? Thankfully advancing technologies are making it easy to simplify collection processes to increase revenue.

1) Communicate responsibility

How many times have you purchased a good or service without knowing the cost beforehand? Probably not many. Healthcare should not be any different. By providing cost expectations, care providers can give patients the opportunity to not only understand their fiscal responsibility but to also take a proactive, involved approach. Communication allows patients to determine if the value of the service they are receiving is worth the cost. When finances and choices are transparent, patient satisfaction rises.

2) Collect upfront

It’s said that medical providers collect only 25 percent, on average, of available co-pays and deductibles at the time of service. If the patient departs after the initial visit without making a payment, the likelihood of receiving the co-pay drops significantly. Consumers are used to paying for a product at service at the time of use, so why should medical care be different? Capitalize on patients that are willing to pay at the time of service by collecting upfront. Processing payment during the appointment is a step toward helping the patient to be invested in their care, which increases the chance of gaining future payments.

3) Empower patients

We know that patients are taking a more active role in their care and like to be in control of costs. Knowledge is power, and giving patients the information and tools needed is critical to empowering patients to pay. An effective strategy engages the patient early to learn their payment and communication preferences, then proving the proper options.

4) Build awareness

When adding payment options or considering changes to your payment workflow, increasing awareness is key. Be sure to engage your staff and provide the most accurate information on your website and within advertising tools (such as posters in the waiting room). If time and budget allow, conduct a survey to gain patient feedback. A small sampling of users will give insight into the likelihood that patients will adopt new tools and practices. It’s critical to explain the value in an informative, yet simple to understand the way that will resonate with your audience.

Thinking your practice may not have the staff or means to optimize payment processes? Consider tools from TriZetto Provider Solutions that can enable patients to conveniently pay by utilizing a variety of methods, including easy-to-understand statements. Learn how our partnership can help you streamline your workflow, improve efficiencies, and get paid faster.


ABOUT EZCLAIM:
As a medical billing expert, EZClaim can help the medical practice improve its revenues since it is a medical billing and scheduling software company. EZClaim provides a best-in-class product, with correspondingly exceptional service and support. Combined, EZClaim helps improve medical billing revenues. To learn more, visit EZClaim’s website, email them, or call them today at 877.650.0904.

EZClaim’s Best Blog Posts of 2020

EZClaim’s Best Blog Posts of 2020

It goes without saying that 2020 will go down in the history books as unprecedented for us at EZClaim. Still, we worked hard to stay positive and navigate the storm by offering resources to you, our clients, the content that matters to you. As an end-of-year bonus, and a ‘kick-off’ for 2021, we reviewed the blogs and social posts you read and reacted to the most and thought we would share them.  

 

So, here are the best blog posts of 2020:

#1: How to Improve Medical Billing Revenues
As a medical billing company, we work hard to understand how we can help our clients increase their revenue and improve their billing process. Those who do this best are experts in the medical billing and coding industry. So, it makes complete sense that your interest peaked on our article concerning improving revenues. Enjoy reviewing our number one article of 2020!  [ Click to read the post ].

#2: What Will Be New for E/M Coding in 2021? 
Last year brought about a long list of changes to billing and coding, as well as, the medical industry as a whole. From the obvious boom in Telehealth, to the updates in evaluation and management services, those working in the industry were impacted immensely. Based on these shifts in industry and the impact on you, our clients, we thought a look into what was coming in 2021 would be useful—and so did you. You read, reacted, and shared the value of this content with others. Now we are sending you a reminder that this was our number two article for the year.  [ Click to read the post ].

#3: Collecting Payments from Patients. Find Out How.
No matter how chaotic things get, there is still a practical side of our industry that needs to be addressed. That is why we worked to keep the focus on the basics, speaking about the ‘bread and butter’ of our industry, collections. In this practical article, we focused on the keys to educating the patient and how doing so will help keep you ahead of the collection as a whole.  [ Click to read the post ].

#4: Reports – Nuisance or Necessity?
At the end of the day, you want to go home and no one wants to be stuck in the office doing double-duty on reports. You know as well as we, that getting reports done correctly the first time is key to reducing stress and going home happy. That is why we distilled some of the keys in running reports that would make your life more straightforward. The fourth article on our list will do just that by helping you make sure the dates, details, and destination of your reports are in the right place.  [ Click to read the post ].

#5: Why Do I Have A Balance? – Patient Payments
Saving the best for last, especially as we approach tax season, we come in with our final of our best of 2020 by talking about balances. Every practice ends up spending those final hours of the year figuring out where those dollars and cents went. In this article, we gave you tips on deductibles, co-pays, and max out-of-pocket that helps your bottom line. Closing out 2020, don’t miss a few keys to help you balance the books.  [ Click to read the post ].

 

These are EZClaim’s best blog posts of 2020, but these were not the only blog posts we did. So, if you would like to explore the other blog posts we did, click here for our blog page.

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ABOUT EZCLAIM:
EZClaim is a medical billing and scheduling software company that provides a best-in-class product, with correspondingly exceptional service and support. Combined, they help improve medical billing revenues. To learn more, visit EZClaim’s website, e-mail support, or call a sales representative today at 877.650.0904.