Overall healthcare spending in the U.S. topped $3.3 trillion dollars last year according to a new report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). And while private health insurance spending grew by 5.1% to $1.1 trillion last year, the issue for healthcare providers and hospitals is a continued delay in collecting patient payments for co-pays, deductibles, coinsurance, and uncovered expenses. This issue has driven providers to search for ways to automate payments collections to lower the probability of not collecting balances after the service is rendered.
Of the healthcare spending in this country previously mentioned, 11% is collected by self-pay; meaning an individual owes and must pay for out-of-pocket to a provider for a service, medical device, procedure, etc. And of that amount, there is about 18% of uncollected/bad debt that healthcare providers are unable to collect on and are then stuck with. This uncollected debt is a big problem that we can help solve by automating patient payment procedures from the time they check-in, until the insurance has been submitted and paid out, to the final balance due from the patient is determined.
The Solution is Simple: Improve the collection process at the point of care and integrate your card-on-file and patient payments via credit/debit or ACH into your practice management software. This does several exciting things:
- Minimizes confusion about what will be due for an office visit or procedure
- Allows providers to get paid now and to schedule recurring payment installments for higher balances
- Our integration solution imports invoices and saves time and money on not having to mail out statements to collect balances – providers can change their payments policies to include upfront payment or card-on-file to get paid; regardless of what the insurance company ends up paying. The patient can then accept a minimum payment amount to complete the payments and satisfy the entire balance over time or agree to be charged the whole amount.
- Our system also integrates text-to-pay or email-to-pay so once the final balance is determined you can simply activate those features to notify patients of their final balance due – giving them fast, convenient options to satisfy the outstanding balance. This reduces or eliminates the need for paper statements and balances are collected faster electronically
We are also working on a solution where the front office assistant will be told what to offer/collect from patients as they check-in; even further simplifying this complex process.
The bottom line is the healthcare system is looking for ways to collect payments faster and make the process easier and more convenient for patients, and Payfac in a Box™ does that and more. Learn more about payment integrations for healthcare now.
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