It’s no secret; it is getting harder for healthcare providers to collect and for patients to pay their healthcare bill and its going to get worse.
But why don’t patients pay? According to research by the McKinsey Group May 2010 consumer confusion, inefficiencies in billing practices, and lack of financing options are all major drivers of nonpayment even though more than 74% of insured consumers are both able and willing to pay…19% site their providers unwillingness to accept my preferred payment methods (credit cards) as reasons they don’t pay.
As healthcare professionals, you don’t think of yourselves as being in the business of financing healthcare – but look at your patients accounts receivable aging reports and you will see that you probably are.
1. Analyze your intake processes and personnel. Do you have the right type of employee managing the intake process or the front desk and are you providing them with the appropriate tools? If you are serious about fixing your bad debt you have to start at the very beginning of the revenue cycle. You have to analyze the type of person, technology and job functions of the person responsible for intake. Currently most intake department employees are considered “receptionists” or “appointment schedulers”; however to impact your receivables and reduce your bad debt your intake and front desk employees must become part of the solution. They must be able to clearly articulate your patient payment policies and provide the patient with a clear understanding of what their financial obligations will be. Check patient eligibility and benefits history at the time the appointment is set or at a minimum at the point of care and before services are rendered. If you’re not checking insurance eligibility and benefits you will likely have a problem collecting on the backend. At ClearGage we provide the ability to check eligibility real-time with over 700 insurance carriers.
2. Clearly document and train your staff on your patient payment policies. Keep it Simple. Decide exactly how you will address the following:
a) Co-pays ; paid at front desk at time of service
b) Deductibles; if the patient has not met their deductable then provide them with documentation confirming this and collect payments up front.
c) Capture and store payment vehicle; ClearGage’s PCI compliant application, the Payment Accelerator will allow you to store the patient’s payment method for future use. For example, you can enter into an agreement with the patient authorizing you to charge their credit card for any services rendered to them under $200.00.
d) Payment plans; require a checking/savings account authorization to automatically debit the patients account and establish your parameters on minimum payments and maximum terms in advance. For example: Patients with a balance of $200 to $500 would not be extended a payment plan longer than 6 months.
e) Charge Service fees; as consumers we are use to paying nominal fees on payment plans. When extending your patients payment terms it is perfectly acceptable to charge a fee for the cost of administering the service. This not only defers your costs but incentivises the patients to pay you sooner.
3. Communicate your Policies to the Patient. You must educate your patients on your payment policies as they relate to co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles and uncovered services. Here are some suggestions:
a) On your website; you should clearly present your patient payment policies (along with insurances you accept)
b) Brochures; in an easy to understand document outline your policies
c) Payment Policy and Agreement; you can create a patient payment policy and agreement that clearly articulates your policy and what is expected on behalf of you and your patient, Require the patient to acknowledge key provisions by initialling them and have them sign and date.
d) Over the phone; When the appointment is made, remind patients that payment is expected at the time of service.
c) At check-in. Collect Payments: (Write out in script format what you want your front desk
personnel to say. For example: Mrs. Smith, your co-pay is _______and you have not met your deductible, based on the procedures scheduled today you will owe XX.XX How would you like to pay for that today?)
4. Accept as many forms of payment as possible. Credit/Debit Cards. checking/savings accounts, point of sale payments, payments over the phone, through the mail or through an on-line payment portal, automated payment plans these are all ways that patients expect to be able to pay you. If a patient has a balance of $300.00 and cannot afford to write you a check, than offering them the ability to pay online using their credit card or setting up a payment plan will ensure you get paid. Although you will pay a fee to process such transactions, this fee is considerably less in the long run than the cost of repeated attempts to collect patient obligations after the fact or the cost of not getting paid at all.
At ClearGage, we have developed easy-to-use and easy-to-deploy patient payment solutions that reduces patient bad debt, gets you paid quicker, reduces administrative costs and increases patient satisfaction.