How To Modernize RCM and the Patient Financial Experience

In October 2019, at Becker’s Hospital Review 5th Annual Health IT and Revenue Cycle Conference in Chicago, Rectangle Health hosted a workshop to explore how technologies can enhance the patient experience and improve revenue cycle management.

Patient Payment Makes Up A Large Share of Hospital Revenue!

From 2006 to 2016, the average patient deductible increased from $303 to more than $1,200, according to a 2018 analysis conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation.  This trend has complicated the healthcare revenue cycle.

“As the patient out-of-pocket deductible goes up, the ability to collect from patients is going down.  It’s a two-fold problem.  This results in bad debt for hospitals, healthcare organizations and patients,” said Mike Peluso, Rectangle Health’s Chief Technology Officer.

Although Technologies Exist that Could Help with Patient Payments, the Healthcare Sector has been Slow to Adopt Them!

Patients want Financial Transparency!

Patients are looking for the healthcare experience to be more like the experience they have in other industries, such as retail, in terms of financial transparency.  They want healthcare providers to give them estimates ahead of time.  Mr. Peluso noted, “When patients have that knowledge, they are quite willing to pay.  75% of insurance consumers are willing to pay up to $1,000 out-of-pocket medical expenses.

Recommendations for Healthcare Systems that want to create a Transparent Patient Experience!

• Deploy simple, mobile payment options.
  Mobile-enabled websites are essential today.  One of the links on the site should be “pay by bill.”

• Implement a card-on-file program.
  In healthcare, this conveys a message that payment is expected.  As healthcare systems get better at patient estimation, they will be able to provide a far better approximation of charges.

• Offer Payment Plans.
  Recurring payments via credit card are a good option for patients with large balances.

• Utilize Analytics.
  Analytics are fairly new in healthcare revenue cycle management.  They can be used for certain patients that are not paying or certain departments that are not collecting payments from patients.

When using technology to improve the patient experience, integration is key.  You must be able to pull the balance from various systems into the payment applications.  System integration is expected.

In the final analysis, technology is a proven way for healthcare systems to improve the patient experience and strengthen revenue cycle management.  Patients like to be presented with payment options that are easy.

Source: beckershospitalreview.com

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation