Making The Patient Experience Better Through Easier Payments

Patient experience is vital in healthcare, as every interaction between patients and healthcare practitioners can impact their perception of your healthcare services. It is vital that patients feel comfortable, respected and that they are being listened to. After all, who doesn’twant that? If patients think they can rely on your service, then it is more likely that your patients will return, as well as the revenue of your practice increasing. Not only this, but having a good patient experience means you can care and treat for a variety of patient needs, which is also a beneficial experience for you. 

When it comes to patient payments, patient experience is also precious. If you have a payment system that allows easy payments, patients are more likely to use your service. This is especially considering that smooth online payment systems account for almost 50% of high client satisfaction results. Sound payment systems will increase patient retention rates and allow you to treat a broader reach of those who need it effectively.

More manageable payments are one of the most important processes you can implement in your healthcare practice, as easy management of patient payments can secure financial and patient responsibility. 

This can include minimizing the events of surprise or complicated medical bills, where patients are confused with the amount owed or cannot make payments due to poor planning. While this is the minority, as many patients are satisfied with their prices, changing the interaction dynamic between the practitioner and patient can significantly improve your healthcare service. Informing patients early of their financial responsibilities can prevent and mitigate billing and payment issues that are prominent and can occur. 

Notifying patients of costs transparently also means that they can understand what is required before attending appointments. Almost 75% of patients wish they’d been informed of out-of-pocket costs before receiving treatment, which would have influenced their decision to undertake certain services. 
It is important to note that some generational differences can be kept in mind regarding efficient medical billing. For example, younger patients, from the ages of 27 to 39, tend to be more likely to switch services and more likely to use online payments. Those 65 and older are more likely to mail bills and visit the same healthcare facility frequently. This is something to consider when brainstorming straightforward ways to facilitate efficient medical billing systems.

To guide you along the bill-paying process, we have compiled top tips to ensure and maintain high patient satisfaction regarding your patients’ finances and patient billing. These include improvements concerning:

• Mobile online payment - Having mobile-friendly options for patients to pay provides an intuitive option to review history and medical billing statements. They are an alternative option for patients to pay, even when the clinic is closed, allowing for higher engagement amongst patients. For example, patients can receive a payment reminder, and within 8 minutes, they can pay the bill from the convenience of their phones.
• Gathering contact information - Collecting email addresses and phone numbers means healthcare businesses can transition towards a business-to-consumer model that allows for greater digital engagement. For instance, for promotional services concerning your healthcare clinic, you can easily send out information to have their data easily retrievable. 
• Prioritizing patient preferences - Everyone works differently so that some patients may have stronger preferences for some services than others. A good practice will attempt to treat each patient as an individual clinically. For instance, some patients may prefer mailed statements of payment as opposed to text messages, so offering their choice of communication will increase patient satisfaction of communication-based patient behavior. While it is helpful to honor patient preferences, sometimes it is important to follow this up to provide a better service. For example, patients may opt to receive billed paper bills but may take much longer to pay bills than those who do not. If this became an issue, offering the option to pay online may be best to monitor their behavior and accentuate your financial performance. 
• Optimize outreach timing based on patient data - Based on historic open rates, payments and reminders should be centered around optimal periods where engagement and response rates are high. This way, you can increase the retention rate of patients and improve satisfaction, as your business can also respond better during specific periods. Based on this information, communication can be optimized as patients may be more likely to react during the day than in the evenings.
• Having flexible payment options - Some patients may find it difficult to pay on time due to external circumstances, so offering alternative ways to pay can prove especially beneficial in retaining patients and building trust. This includes schemes such as minimizing interest or monthly payment amounts, automatic payments with cards on file, or long-term financing options. This way, you can cater to a variety of financial needs. 
• Creating an excellent staff and client experience - An intuitive and user-friendly design of online payment systems is 20% more likely to appeal to users and their willingness to pay. An easy process means individuals can increase engagement and staff productivity. Your healthcare business can compete with other forward-thinking consumer businesses that concentrate their efforts on the user experience. 
• Using performance-based incentives - Providing staff with incentives based on real-time payment data can boost productivity and staff engagement, contributing to better online payment systems. For instance, organizations can look at department data to see who signs up the most patients, and financial incentives could see further improvements. ‍
• Using data analysis to inform business decisions - To improve strategic planning and decision-making, healthcare businesses should be looking to improve through data analytics. Insights generated from machine learning can help guide healthcare businesses, making a big difference in revenue and results.

The consumer experience and medical billing are inextricably linked; to have easy payments with medical bills delivered on time, the patient’s experience must be prioritized. Patients are less likely to pay after encountering negative interactions, and having surprise out-of-pocket costs also affects their selection of healthcare providers. To avoid chasing people up to pay bills and prevent customers from being dissatisfied, it’s best to clarify any financial responsibilities that the client must pay. That way, there is clear communication between both parties. Physician practices, in particular, have a clear advantage when it comes to medical billing as they are more able to estimate costs upon request for patients. 

Many healthcare businesses, such as Carepatron, provide intelligent tools for healthcare businesses to successfully implement medical billing technology and software. Online payments have never been more manageable, with information all accessed from one place and scheduled reminders to promote prompt payments from patients. Advanced systems like these are quickly becoming integrated into practices to provide the best care for patients and contribute to the seamless medical billing trend. 

Final thoughts

Patient payments are essential for your practice to maintain financial responsibility and forge strong connections with clients to treat them shortly. It is vital to get the payment process right, as this can encourage patients to return and continue using your healthcare services and promote a high customer satisfaction rate. Patients are more likely to pay on time if they feel respected and that your services provide value and flexibility with their finances, as well as if you have an easy-to-use system.

Carepatron is an excellent platform for you to improve the medical billing and online payment process, as patient payments can be easily accessed through protected online portals, and practitioners can quickly review patient information. To encourage high practitioner-to-patient engagement, there are also free scheduling reminders and various payment options to meet the different needs of your practice. Online payments don’t have to be tricky with the right help, and we know how important it is to ensure patient needs are being treated. Switching to an online system is a surefire way to improve and smoothen the patient experience and ensure your patients get the help they need.

Further reading:

• Patient Financial Experience 2020 | KLAS Report
• Greater transparency and interoperability in health care